This is a very good interview with Zombiehamster favourite Bruce Campbell. Not only does he get to do a bit of his regular schtick, but he also gets a few nice little digs in at the movie industry.
He voices concern over the state of Hollywood’s output in a very truthful, eloquent manner. His cases are sound and incredibly relevant. Enjoy.
It was going to happen eventually. Over the last few months I have found myself going through another massive Exploitation phase. For the uninitiated, this is far less sinister than it sounds. Basically, Exploitation cinema consists of everything that is cheap, sleazy, violent, sexy, horrific and well, exploitative I guess.
The image that you see above is of the infamous 42nd Street, New York. This was the epicentre for unsavoury celluloid throughout the 60’s and 70’s (with the eventual and unfortunately inevitable decline and corporate reconstruction of the area taking place in the late 1980’s). Notorious for its XXX adult features, but more interestingly, for some of the strangest and most entertaining alternative movies of the time. It was the polar opposite of the glamour that surrounded Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Grindhouse cinemas lined the street and they played to their audience. For better or worse the audience of this particular district was made up of pimps, hustlers, gangsters, dealers, hookers and johns.
It was all about shock; sometimes (more often than not) an attention grabbing title would be used to drag people in of the street. Lascivious and violent posters promised flesh, blood and action, and this was what they delivered in abundance.
It wasn’t just 42nd Street that created the genre, but it was definitely the hub. It was back in the 1930’s when ‘Cautionary Films’ were released, that the true origins can be pinpointed. Every second student has a ‘Reefer Madness’(1936) poster in their squalid, unwashed, shared accommodation, but I’m sure if a survey was taken, less than a third could actually profess to having seen the movie. In all honesty, they probably aren’t missing much, because it’s not very good, but it serves as a good example for all intents and purposes.
The ‘Drug Warning’ movies of this period stood alongside examinations of teenage pregnancy and pre marital sex, the dangers of peer pressure and jazz music. All of which show us that our generations are no more revolutionary and rebellious than those that existed almost a century ago. There was also a very obscure run of indescribable films at this time which signified the beginning of the B-Movie genre, films such as ‘Omoo Ommo the Shark God’ (1949), ‘Slaves In Bondage’ (1937) and ‘The Terror Of Tiny Town’ (1938) an all midget western.
Over the coming weeks and months, I invite you on a sporadic journey to familiarise yourselves with some Exploitation classics, their cousins, some of their cousins’ friends, and some chap they met down the Mess Hall named Bernard. We will examine the new generation, the classics, the forgotten gems, the ridiculous offshoots. We will prod inquisitively at the genre crossovers such as B-Movies, Trashy Horror, Giallo and Euro Horror, without retreading well worn steps. There would be no point in me telling you that Dawn of the Dead is a good movie, or how Evil Dead is worth watching, you already know this, if you didn’t, you wouldn’t have made it to the end of this article.
The last point and possibly the most important thing to remember in all of this is:
Keep telling yourself…………….
NB: 42nd Street now consists of McDonalds, Madame Tussauds, Lousy off-Broadway Theatres and loads of other shiny crap that holds no interest to anyone of discerning taste.
I have a guilty secret. I have been watching a LOT of wrestling recently. The way I look at it is that I don’t watch sport and I don’t watch soap operas. Wrestling is the perfect substitute for both. The ongoing dramas are better than ever and the recent run of guest hosts on Monday Night Raw (Don Johnson, Mike Tyson and Bret Hart) has made it unmissable viewing.
Last week’s host was the legendary William Shatner, with a hilarious performance. Here is one of the intervals, in which our beloved captain treats us to his own inimitable renditions of some popular WWE Wrestlers Entrance Tracks.
When I heard him do ‘Sexy Boy‘ (Shawn Michaels) I almost ruptured a funny fuse. Not least because I have a propensity to sing it myself on occassion.
This is for anyone who has decided to quit cigarettes this Year. Don’t bother.
Look!
Fred Flintstone And Barney Rubble do it, and they’re cool….right?
No, they’re not, they’re both dead, but I thought it would be interesting to show you these two gems from the good old days when we all lived to the ripe old age of 46.
Who the hell were they appealing to with this ad? Oh yeah, children.
Ok, well here’s one for the adults then….
That’s right kids, more doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette. Proof if we ever actually needed it that television is inherently evil and will destroy you and all that you love eventually.
Rotund implausible pop culture icon Ron Jeremy has struck out against the gaming industry claiming that violent video games are a worse influence on children than pornography.
Sterling and profound words from a man who makes a living sodomising teenage girls on camera. Although, when I see the brutality and carnage that can be inflicted in some of these games, I may be entitled to agree. See how this disgusting advertisement actually encourages children to ‘take out your frustrations’ amongst the brutality of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Witness how you can actually involve yourself in the depravity of John Carpenter’s Halloween. I’m affronted, appalled and I’m going to go and get sick now.
If you care, you can read what Ron Jeremy had to say here.
What? You want me to try and be highbrow about this?
Not gonna happen.
Bwa Ha.
Ha Ha Ha.
Although why in the world we are importing salt from the UK rather than using the grit taken from areas that contain high salt levels as they are by sea water is beyond me. Still, that’s what you get when your country is run by a load of corrupt, educationally sub normal farmers and their cousins.
Oh, and some of their cousin’s friends.
And a bloke they met down in O’Dwyers who seemed alright.
Whooop for democracy!
A good friend of mine gave me this for Christmas a few weeks ago. I think I probably came across as being taken aback somewhat. This was not ingratitude, oh no, far from it. I was simply thrown twenty years into the past, joyously so.
Then I opened the cover.
I remembered instantly how I would sit and look at this image for hours. THIS was Eternia,it was unseen Eternia. It is such a bizarre image, so much of it is drastically out of context with anything contained in the stories or the animated show. I particularly love the dragonflies in the swamp section.
It is the bottom row of images however, that really struck a chord with me. The giant centipede creature, the rivers of molten lava and oddly enough, some deer. All of this would set my imagination running and I would conjure up stories to accompany each individual section.
It also kind of made me slightly melancholy, but that’s probably just an after effect of being transported to more colourful times, when hope and dreams assimilated in a magical formation, undashed by the jagged, vicious path that lay ahead.
Maybe I’d have been better off taking my chances in Eternia.
Joy! A new year is upon us. I love everyone’s blind optimism at this time of year. It’s kind of refreshing to see people all full of hope. Give it a month. ^_^
I was going to write all sorts of round ups and end of year retrospectives, but they are unavoidable and everywhere, so I just drew stuff instead. The fruits of which you will see very soon. It’s been exciting, the comic is coming along brilliantly and there will be a few other surprises in store.
Firstly, I want to help you all out with a problem I think we can ALL relate to.
I know that many of you will have received an excess of cosmetic products over the holiday period.
I would like to suggest a use for them:
Dig a big hole in the middle of your basement / living room.
Acquire a funny little dog.
Put people in the hole.
Give them lotion, by means of a basket.
Ask them nicely to apply the lotion to their skin, as it may be quite dry, what with them being in a hole and all.
Reacquire lotion via said basket.
Repeat.
Rinse.
Do a little dance wearing a suit that you made out of your vanquished enemies.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
During an early morning discussion on the subject of toys from the 1980’s (M.A.S.K., He-Man & The Masters of the Universe etc), I was reminded of the existence of Super Naturals. I definitely had the guy who looks like Skeletor, as I still have that eyeball shield. The figure, I fear may have been lost to the annals of the history of toys that have to get thrown out/given away becasue you’ve left home and they’re turning your bedroom into a guest room, and you can’t bring them to where you live because you live in a hovel and everyone that you live with is an untrustworthy swine who would nick them / break them / give them away.
But anyway…
…thanks so much Jamie for the link and bringing this all back.
Beside that little nugget of forgotten wonder, I spotted this:
..which answered a long nagging question in my mind, which was:
‘What the hell were those little elemental monsters called with the tiny hologram on their chests?‘
Answer: Battle Beasts! I only had a handful of them, but anything with a hologram was pretty much the coolest thing ever in the 80’s. Finally, I thought for a moment on my favourite board game as a kid. It had a glow in the dark skull for Pete’s sake! How could you NOT want this?
GHOST CASTLE!!!!!!!
Which has all put me in a very good mood for the day and will maybe manifest itself upon my Christmas list this year!
(NB: I am still in possesssion of the vast majority of my toys and was never at any stage forced to give them away or throw them out. I am claiming creative license on that one. That and I got in trouble for saying it)
Oh my God. Sticky Fingaz and Fredro Starr are in a rap musical.
It’s from Lionsgate as well, who DID Repo! The Genetic Opera, one of my favourite films of the last 12 months. And Sticky made it! This is going to be EPIC!
I am ridiculously excited!
Am seeking this out as we speak.
To read a review of Repo! Click HERE
Repo! Trailer:
