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Reviews & Commentary by Adam Groves
LOOKER
1981 SF from writer/director Michael Crichton that deserves points for its prophetic concepts—but that’s ALL it deserves points for
THE BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD
A 1973 grindhouse product, of note primarily because it was directed by future arthouse auteur Alan Rudolph
ROAD GAMES
A standout Ozploitation flick from 1981, with Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis in a stealthy and suspenseful truckbound varient on REAR WINDOW
THE CORPSE GRINDERS
A vintage splatterthon whose appeal I don’t get
THE BRIDE!
I wanted to like this mega-flop, but have to admit there’s a reason for its non-success
MANIAC SIREN
From the always-irrepressible Ramble House, here’s a compendium of two early 1960s sleaze novels by the late pulp meister Jim Harmon
DR. BLOODMONEY
One of the late Philip K. Dick’s greatest novels, involving nuclear war, mutants and a disc jockey in space
ASHES, ASHES
An extended Hieronymus Boschian cavalcade of destruction in a futuristic milieu, written back in 1943
ANCIENT OF DAYS
An “Anthropological SF Masterpiece”? Not quite, but a damn good novel nonetheless
JOYRIDE
The word for this splatterific book is fun—dumb fun, yes, but fun, nonetheless
HORRORS!
A strong, if quirky and outdated, horror media overview from the 1960s
IN DEEP WATER
A most compelling true-life account involving a shipwreck, sharks and near death on the open seas
SURREAL LIVES
A most welcome history of the Surrealists, marked by richly detailed, narratively informed prose
CANNIBAL WORLDS
A knowledgeable and wide-ranging tome that more than delivers on its promise of being the most comprehensive tome on Italian cannibal cinema of the 1970s and 80s
HOLLYWOOD ANIMAL
This 700-plus page memoir by a Hollywood insider was to the aughts what Julia Phillips’ notorious YOU’LL NEVER EAT LUNCH IN THIS TOWN AGAIN (1991) was to the previous decade
James Williamson: 1959-2026
This week we bid farewell to one of the most mercurial, enigmatic, and questionable author-publishers in recent history
Obfuscation and Misunderstanding in the Film Adaptations of Philip K. Dick
About the film adaptations of Philip K. Dick, arguably the least understood SF writer of our time
The Disconcertingly Familiar Horrors of PENPAL
All about what is arguably the most impacting work of fiction to emerge from Reddit.com
Harlan Ellison: The Redemption Arc
About how, in defiance of my expectations, the late Harlan Ellison is becoming a posthumous success story
Remembering That Which Is Better Forgotten: THE REAL CANCUN
An inaugural entry in the reality film genre, which sought to do for feature filmmaking what reality TV did for television