Graphic Novel • Lists • Fails • 70’s Cinema • K-Horror • Arthouse • Canadian Horror • Film Noir • Grindhouse • NC-17 • J-Horror • Exploitation • Sci-Fi • Pulp • Evangelical Horror • Favorites • Cult • Fantastique • Surreal • Animation • So-Bad-It’s-Good
Reviews & Commentary by Adam Groves
XTRO
A rare example of a film that justifies the oft-abused Ed Wood comparison
HUMAN ANIMALS
A little-known Spanish made post-apocalyptic drama, of primary interest due to its complete lack of dialogue
TEOREMA
A very strange Marxist parable from Italy’s Pier Paolo Pasolini, starring the late Terence Stamp
PERFORMANCE
Perhaps the ultimate example of a “60’s film” (although it was released in 1970)
WARNING SIGN
A bio-thriller that could, and should, have been lots better
GHOSTS IN THE SWAMP
A long-forgotten German horror-science fiction-fantasy epic, translated by indefatigable Joe E. Bandel
CHOICE CUTS
Initially published back in 1965, CHOICE CUTS is, despite some affecting passages, strictly a product of its time
TRAPPED
I maintain that the Edmund Plante authored 1987 horror-fest TRANSFORMATION is a rotgut classic. TRAPPED, Plante’s similarly oriented 1989 follow-up, is not.
TRANSFORMATION
Heavy reading this novel isn’t, but in terms of sheer grossness it’s a standout.
THE KILLER
The apotheosis of the British author/philosopher Colin Wilson’s crime fiction was THE KILLER, presented by the UK’s Savoy Books in its most complete version
JAN-MICHAEL VINCENT: EDGE OF GREATNESS
This is far from the ideal account of the life of the late Jan-Michael Vincent, but it is (as of 2021) the only one
MY ADVENTURE WITH SHEENA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE: THE MAKING OF THE MOVIE SHEENA
This entertaining memoir offers further proof that even the lousiest movies have interesting histories
SHOOTING MIDNIGHT COWBOY
It’s taken 52 years, but we now have a thorough account of MIDNIGHT COWBOY’S making and reception
THE LONG-LOST AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GEORGES MELIES
Possibly the most important film book of 2020, and one that fills a longtime void in silent film studies
I APPEARED TO THE MADONNA
Contra Mundum Press deserves credit for publishing this, a book whose potential readership is not what anyone would call broad
Science Fiction Unfilmed: RONNIE ROCKET, INTERFACE, and THE TOURIST
I feel that had these scripts been filmed the face of cinema may well have been transformed irrevocably
Peter Straub: 1943-2022
If you’re a reader of horror fiction the chances are better-than-average that you’re at least partially familiar with the writings of Peter Straub
More Illustrated Oddments
Here we have a new batch of Illustrated Oddments, books that deserve some ink on this site, even if I can’t justify writing full reviews.
1982—The Greatest Summer Movie Season Ever?
I say yes!
Four Films Called ELDORADO
Edgar Allan Poe, diptheria, improvisation, an unlikely road trip, slumming stars and eldorado!