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Reviews & Commentary by Adam Groves
ALTERED STATES
From Paddy Chayefsky and Ken Russell, a weird and wonderful sci fi freak-out with something for everybody
CHERRY 2000
Above-average Maxploitation madness from 1986
THE RUNNING MAN (1987)
The original adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, hailing from 1987
FRANKENSTEIN (2025)
A lovingly mounted, highly reverential take on Mary Shelley’s immortal 1818 novel, this FRANKENSTEIN (2025) was directed by Guillermo del Toro, who has apparently been wanting to make it for decades
TRON
A rare example of Disney, the most risk-averse studio in Hollywood, taking a chance on material that’s defiantly unique (borderline experimental, even) in both conception and execution
GENTLEMAN JUNKIE AND OTHER TALES OF THE HUNG-UP GENERATION
A 1961 Harlan Ellison short story collection that was, Ellison claimed, the book of his he loved the most
MANEATER
An example of the type of sci fi-tinged literary erotica that was pioneered by the late Essex House
THE RED VIRGIN
A surreal take on the story of Hildegart Rodriguez, a young woman who in early Twentieth Century Spain was raised to become a genius by her domineering mother
TICK TOWN
If lines like “The decisive blast slammed into the monster’s face, which at near point-blank range exploded in a grisly splatter of tick goo” resonate with you (as they do me) then TICK TOWN is the book to read
THE HAPPY MAN
One of the great modern horror novels, a compelling and profoundly unsettling piece of work that explores untold depths of depravity in 166 well-packed pages
HITS, FLOPS, AND OTHER ILLUSIONS
In which a high-profile film director and TV producer recounts his “Fortysomething Years in Hollywood”
EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF AND GOD AGAINST ALL
The long-in-coming memoir by the German filmmaker and sometime actor Werner Herzog
HOW LUCKY I WAS: MY LIFE AND TIMES
The self-published autobiography of a writer, professional poker player and teacher who once counted yours-truly among his pupils
PAUL BARTEL: THE LIFE AND FILMS
A solid, if not entirely satisfying, overview of the life and output of the late Paul Bartel
TIME, A FALCONER: A STUDY OF SARBAN
The first and only book devoted to the life and literary output of England’s John W. Wall, a.k.a. Sarban
2024: A Look Back in Bedlam
A look back at all things Bedlam
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