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Reviews & Commentary by Adam Groves
FEAR IS THE MASTER
An astounding hour long documentary chronicling the “Disco Sex Guru” Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1931-1990), who together with a bevy of followers literally took over the town of Antelope, Oregon in 1981
LOUIS THE 19th, KING OF THE AIRWAVES
A once-outlandish French-Canadian comedy about a thoroughly Average Joe who finds himself the star of a reality TV program
DARKTOWN STRUTTERS
A blaxploitation movie parody that’s funny, illuminating and often downright ugly
POLTERGEIST III
The Second sequel to POLTERGEIST, and about on par with the first, which is to say a mixed bag: bombastic, cynical and plain dumb, but with some affecting elements
POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE
A lousy movie, yes, but one that actually improves upon its predecessor in many respects.
THE TAKE
The rarest novel by Australia’s Kenneth Cook, credited here as “John Duffy”
SAX ROHMER’S DOPE
Yet another vital release from IDW that despite some enthusiastic notices did a fast fade
THE MAN FROM THE GREAT NORTH
A beautifully designed English rendering of a graphic novel that’s considered a classic in its original Italian language form
UGLY MUG No. 8
The latest entry in House of Harley’s “Industrial Strength Comics Compendium” that, in the words of underground comics legend Ed Pinsent, is “laced with heavy doses of insanity, wonder, and escapades inside the dream house”
COMBAT SHOCK (Novelization)
A unique entry in Severin’s grindhouse novelization line: a 40-years-after-the-fact novelization of Buddy Giovinazzo’s notorious 1984 no-budgeter COMBAT SHOCK, written by the filmmaker himself
KUBRICK: AN ODYSSEY
This book has been proclaimed the definitive biography of the great Stanley Kubrick, and for once the hype is correct
SALUTING THE BLOOD OF HEROES: BEHIND THE APOCALYPTIC FILM
The Second book by author Danny Stewart, who’s quickly establishing himself as one of the preeminent chroniclers of underappreciated science fiction cinema from the eighties and nineties
OMNI’S SCREEN FLIGHTS/SCREEN FANTASIES
For years this was the best book about science fiction onscreen, a title it lost only because it’s now 40 years old
PURE: THE SEXUAL REVOLUTIONS OF MARILYN CHAMBERS
The late Marilyn Chambers, was one of the most noteworthy performers to emerge from 1970s porn cinema, and this book provides a worthy epitaph
VIDEOSYNCRATIC
A book that provides a potent blast of nostalgia for those who remember the video rental era, while showing younger readers precisely what they missed
Christmas TV Specials for the Irreparably Brain Damaged: The Japanese Editon
Holiday TV specials from the Land of the Rising Sun
Remembering That Which is Better Forgotten: THE CANNONBALL RUN
One of the great curiosities of late Twentieth Century American cinema was the monster success of THE CANNONBALL RUN in 1981
Harlan Ellison AD 6
On Harlan Ellison and the long-awaited publication of THE LAST DANGEROUS VISIONS
Paul Morrissey: 1938-2024
Looking back over the career of a true renaissance filmmaker
Kris Kristofferson: 1936-2024
Looking over an eccentric yet highly distinguished acting career