Creation Books: 1989-2014
The demise of the UK’s Creation Books put an end not just to Creation’s tumultuous 25-year existence, but an entire era of fringe publishing
The NC-17 Rating: A Good Idea Squandered
In theory it was a good idea: an NC-17 movie rating, instituted in 1990 to replace the X rating
CALIGULA
CALIGULA is of course the legendary Penthouse-financed historical porno epic, a one-of-a-kind debacle with a background as outrageous as the film itself
WICKED CITY (1987)
A seminal anime feature, notable for its one-of-a-kind mix of sex and mutation, compelling NIGHT WATCH-like narrative and myriad of impossible-to-forget images
MIDORI
Adults-only anime madness that’s profoundly stylish, outrageous and disturbing. In addition, it’s undoubtedly the ultimate movie (after FREAKS) about a traveling freak show.
MIDNIGHT HEAT
The most famous of the handful of porno features made by the late Roger Watkins, and fairly impressive in its way, but be forewarned: it’s a profoundly dark film in every sense of the word
BLOOD OF AN INDIAN FETISH CULT
This 1984 rarity, a Hong Kong sexploitater spiced with black magic, is highly sought after by trash movie connoisseurs, but the reality is that outside of its geek show value there just isn’t much here
BEYOND LOVE AND EVIL
The undoubted magnum opus of French exploiter Jacques Scandelari, this is an undeniably striking, if laughably pretentious, explosion of psychosexual weirdness
THE BEASTS
Often referred to Hong Kong’s answer to LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, this is a potent blast of sleazy action-oriented nastiness
SMALL WHITE HOUSE
One of the key underground films of the nineties, a beyond-strange Tijuana-set reverie on the JFK assassination that freely incorporates pornography and scatology.