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Reviews & Commentary by Adam Groves
THE GARDENER
1970s horticultural horror that features the legendary male sex symbol Joe Dallesandro in his first non-Andy Warhol affiliated film
BEETLEJUICE 1988
Tim Burton’s second feature was this 1988 triumph, his first collaboration with novelist Michael McDowell
SLEEPY HOLLOW
You won’t find much of Washington Irving’s 1820 tale “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” in this 1999 film, but you will find plenty of Tim Burton
THE NIGHTMARE NEVER ENDS
Featuring a stand-out non-NIGHT COURT performance by the recenlty deceased Richard Moll
RAWHEAD REX
Not a good movie, although it is a fun one
STAR
A dark and idiosyncratic look at the dream factory, drafted in a highly dense and poetic style (“Explosively Hilarious” it isn’t)
ZARDOZ
A novelization as weird as just about any you’ll read, and no wonder: the film it novelizes, the 1974 science fiction oddity ZARDOZ, is one of the absolute nuttiest releases of its decade
HEARTSNATCHER
Boris Vian’s final novel, combining surreal fancy and disturbing child abuse
BEYOND THE THRESHOLD
The most morbid and sensationalistic funeral home expose you’re ever likely to encounter, written by an actual funeral director
THE SECRET SCHOOL
The most outlandish of Whitley Strieber’s “nonfiction” alien contact books
AMERICATHON: THE SKITS BEHIND THE SCREENPLAY
The futuristic comedy AMERICATHON has since become quite the cult item, and this book relates how the movie came about
A HISTORY OF UNDERGROUND COMICS
The first and very likely best history of underground “comix” in America
HANCOCK ON HANCOCK
This, the first in-depth account of the life and films of director John Hancock, is an extremely long book (900-plus pages in ebook format), but also a vital one
DON’T DISTURB THE DEAD
DON’T DISTRUB THE DEAD is the first-ever book about the Ramsays, and must be counted as the premiere print resource on the subject
AD NAUSEAM: NEWSPRINT NIGHTMARES FROM THE 1980s
Now here’s a fun book: a handsomely laid out collection of horror movie newspaper adverts from the 1980s
2020: Bedlam in Print
Here, in the early days of 2021, is the latest edition of my annual Bedlam in Print overview
2020: The Year in Bedlam
2020 was a hell of a year
2020: A Look Back in Bedlam
Bedlam was indeed the word for 2020 and (as of January 10) 2021 as well
Horror Novels by Horror Moviemakers
The director-novelist: it’s a rare combination, but it does exist
Weird and Wonderful Christmas Cinema from Around the World
A much-needed addendum to a previous essay, with an overview of weird holiday-themed films emerging from around the world