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‘As a filmmaker, Herschell Gordon Lewis was a businessman above all else, and his 12-year movie career was spent either chasing or creating trends. But the one trend that he is directly responsible for — the splatter film, where Grand Guignol theater is translated to the screen for the sole purpose of allowing the viewer to ogle the dripping viscera of the human body — has endured, inspiring an entire new genre of film and breaking down the barriers of what is allowable in onscreen violence. All of Lewis’ artistic choices were made for strictly mercenary reasons, and retaining a competitive edge over Hollywood was prime consideration. In simply showing more onscreen than other filmmakers would dare, Lewis inadvertently created a monster that still stomps messily among us and influenced American culture (popular and otherwise) forever.
‘His film career began one day when he was complaining to an associate at his ad agency that the only way to make real money in the business was to shoot features. When the man asked why he just didn’t make one, Lewis realized he didn’t have an answer, and the seeds for The Prime Time were sown. Lewis produced but did not direct this inaugural project, a mildly sleazy melange of juvenile delinquency and beatnik jive, and his experiences with the film encouraged him to take the reins of further productions. He was dismayed by what he considered to be unnecessary wasting of time and resources while the picture was made, and he was determined to trim every financial corner in hopes of larger profits. He debuted as a director with Living Venus, notable primarily for introducing Harvey Korman in his first feature film role.
‘Around this time he went into partnership with David F. Friedman, an ex-carny and road show man who had the background and instincts to help exploit Lewis’ films to their utmost potential. They wasted no time in jumping into the nudie film business, producing low-budget product for display at striptease clubs. The Adventures of Lucky Pierre cost only 7,500 dollars to make and was a hit, a silly burlesque-style rip-off of Russ Meyer’s The Immoral Mr. Teas. The pair then turned to nudist colony films, one of the few ways that filmmakers could legitimately show skin in those stringent times. Their films were successful enough, but both Lewis and Friedman were hungry for something that could separate them from the rest of the pack. While watching a gangster film one night on television, Lewis noticed that a character’s bullet-riddled body barely bled, and a brainstorming session with Friedman led to a whole new genre of film.
‘While blood had been shown onscreen before in other non-Hollywood productions, no one had devised a film that would focus directly on the carnage, with scene after scene of graphic, stomach-churning mayhem as the sole point of the show. The gimmick was something that might give the filmmakers an edge over their competition. After wrapping up their nudist colony epic Bell, Bare and Beautiful, the two were inspired by the Egyptian facade of the hotel they were staying at and developed a script on the spot about a sinister caterer who collects body parts for use at a feast designed to raise an ancient Egyptian goddess from the dead. Blood Feast was completed in two days and was a hit in 1963, filling drive-ins and outraging decent citizens. Lewis and Friedman had found their cash cow and were determined to milk it.
‘They would continue down the exploitation path with 2000 Maniacs, Color Me Blood Red, Alley Tramp, Monster a Go-Go!, Sin, Suffer and Repent, and Moonshine Mountain, and even tried his hand at two children’s films: Jimmy, the Boy Wonder and The Magic Land of Mother Goose. Lewis explored a number of exploitation subjects in the latter half of the 1960s, usually following proven trends in an effort to strike while the iron was hot. She-Devils on Wheels arrived early in the popular surge of motorcycle action dramas, while Blast Off Girls was a belated attempt to exploit rock & roll. Suburban Roulette was an uncharacteristically tame story of wife swapping, and Something Weird’s plot included LSD use along with witchcraft and extra sensory perception.
‘While Lewis may have been playing the field, he hadn’t given up on the gore genre completely. The bizarre horror comedy The Gruesome Twosome arrived in 1967, as did his lengthy vampire epic A Taste of Blood. But his final two horror features helped cement his legacy as the creator of gore films with an enthusiastic exclamation point. 1970’s The Wizard of Gore is a surrealistic, confounding tale of a mysterious magician who uses sleight of hand and mind control to physically tear his victims limb from limb. Even more grotesque, though, was The Gore Gore Girls (1972), a jaw-droppingly tasteless nudie-horror-comedy that found Lewis outdoing every outrage he had ever perpetrated on the audience. While the effects remained as cheap as ever, the audacious brutality and mutilations (set against corny humor and an inappropriately jolly musical score) earned The Gore Gore Girls the first X rating given solely for violence.
‘The film turned out to be the voluntary end of Lewis’ movie career. He had kept his advertising agency throughout his filmmaking years and it was flourishing, as was his expertise with copywriting. Finding it harder to outdo his fellow exploiteers as well as the more liberal Hollywood features of the time, he gave up the grind and went on to a very successful career in direct mail marketing and copywriting; indeed, the instructional tomes he’s produced on the subjects are considered essential reading for many professionals. Lewis ended up losing the rights to his films after putting them up as collateral for a car rental business venture that failed. He didn’t mourn, thinking that they weren’t worth much, but when home video exploded in the 1980s, Blood Feast found a whole new bloodthirsty audience, and as the years have progressed, Lewis’ films are more popular than ever. After years of musing over returning to the slasher genre he created, Lewis finally began production for Blood Feast 2 in 2001.
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis has never regarded himself as a great filmmaker, and it isn’t false modesty on his part that prevents him from making such a claim. His interest in a motion picture career was predicated solely on making money, something that he has always cheerfully admitted. Whether or not he succeeded to the extent that he desired is only for him to decide, but one thing is for certain, his work opened up avenues for a legion of hucksters and con artists to make millions off the cruel desires and tasteless urges of audiences.’ — Fred Beldin
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Stills
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Further
Herschell Gordon Lewis Official Site
HGL @ IMDb
‘The Cinema of Herschell Gordon Lewis’
‘Why the Godfather of Gore came to Calgary to make his latest film
Download HGL’s films @ Something Weird
Review: ‘The Eye Popping Sounds of Herschel Gordon Lewis’
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis Returns with Anthology “BloodMania”‘
‘Splatter auteur Herschell Gordon Lewis: “I’m no artist”‘
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis and the Corpse Reviver Shot’
‘Scum of the Earth – 7 Herschell Gordon Lewis Films’
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore’ @ Slant
‘Well, life is full of surprises. For all of us.’
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis may not be one of the two greatest filmmakers of all time’
‘Gore Pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis Gets His Due’
‘Dream – Herschell Gordon Lewis’ @ Arte
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis: Exploitation with a goblet of gore’
‘Master Of More Than Gore’
‘Bad Biology and Herschell Gordon Lewis’
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Extras
Herschell Gordon Lewis Interview
THE LOST FILMS OF HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: LINDA & ABILENE (1969)
Trailer: ‘Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore’
Herschell Gordon Lewis’s Holiday Marketing Tip
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Interview
from Bright Lights Film Journal
Your background in academics was quite different from that of your partner David Friedman. Was this difference an advantage in that it allowed for two widely differing viewpoints, as far as how to market or sell a film?
The disparity of backgrounds was a heavy asset. I brought a sophisticated knowledge of advertising and communications; Dave Friedman brought a carnival barker knowledge of how to motivate people. The combination worked, and we learned from each other.
Did you ever think when you were making the now classic Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs that future filmmakers, not only those in the exploitation market, would cite your films as being influential?
I hadn’t anticipated being a footnote to motion picture history. I did realize we were producing a film of a type no one had produced before. The question was: Would any theatre play it?
Was there a particular film or even a particular scene in one of your films that really outraged the public and incurred the wrath of decency groups?
The infamous tongue scene in Blood Feast was the watershed gore scene.
Did it surprise you or does it surprise you when certain films, novels, or artworks come under fire from decency groups for containing what they consider to be extreme violence?
Decency groups don’t bother me as long as they proselytize their own followers. When they try strong-arm tactics in the mainstream, I’m very much opposed.
What did you think of the gore films of the mid-1970s and 1980s that came after Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs?
Most of the follow-up films were formulaic. I don’t sense a great deal of difference among the various Halloweens and Amityvilles and Screams, although certainly their effects far transcend any I was able to include.
Was the dialogue in your films improvised or was there always a complete script that you adhered to?
After Blood Feast the films were scripted. This was self-protection to assure minimal film wastage.
When looking back to your films, are you ever surprised that you were ale to get so much from relatively small budgets?
I’m not at all surprised that I could get so much from a small budget. My rules were absolute: 1. Don’t shoot a rehearsal. 2. Make do. 3. Don’t quit for the day until you’ve shot every scheduled scene.
Did the small budgets inspire you to become more creative in the setting up of scenes, camerawork, special effects, etc.?
Yes, small budgets were the driver, forcing us to substitute imagination for dollar expenditure.
Does it surprise you when serious, or if you want to use the word “highbrow,” film journals such as Cahiers du Cinema discuss or profile your career and your films?
I once was nonplussed that serious publications took my work seriously. I no longer am, because I see the profound effect our early films had on film production.
Do you see filmmaking as an artform, as something to be taken seriously?
I see filmmaking as a business and pity anyone who regards it as an artform and spends money based on that immature philosophy.
Do you think that all works of art must contain exploitation elements?
Art is in the eye of the beholder. It isn’t necessary for all art to include exploitation materials, but certainly it’s necessary to include devices that seize and control attention from the target-group the artist is trying to reach.
How do you think the independent film market has changed since the days when you were an independent? Has it changed for the better?
The independent film market no longer exists. The industry is an Arabian bazaar, with nonaffiliated producers clamoring for attention along with the major studios. The successful independent invariably sells his/her product to a major company or direct to cable.
Just For the Hell of It (1968) is considered to be one of the most disturbing and violent juvenile delinquent films ever made, two years before Clockwork Orange was released. Were comparisons ever made between the two, and what did you think of A Clockwork Orange?
I never have drawn a parallel between Just For the Hell of It and A Clockwork Orange. Many feel A Clockwork Orange is pompous and obscure; I don’t…and I love Beethoven’s music.
A number of your films contain the theme or subject of psychic phenomena as well as witchcraft and magic or what you might term occult subjects. Are these subjects that are of interest to you?
I’m mildly interested in psychic phenomena but am no fanatic. I’d be delighted if some sort of proof ever came to light.
Who are some of your favorite directors? And what are some of your favorite films?
I admire the Coen Brothers and like just about every film they’ve made.
In films like Color Me Blood Red (1965) and even The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (1961), you poke fun at the pretensions of art and the world of art. Are you suspicious of the intentions of filmmakers who try to package exploitation as art?
I think I’ve answered that question. Yes, I’m suspicious of filmmakers who regard themselves as artists and auteurs.
How did you respond to critics who viewed your films as bizarre, either in content or style?
I don’t regard having a film called “bizarre” as an insult. If a critic offers that comment, I’d thank him for it.
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16 of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s 38 films
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Blood Feast (1963)
‘Groundbreaking in so many evil ways, Blood Feast is the simple tale of an insane Miami resident who kills women in putrid manners, in hopes of resurrecting an Egyptian goddess. Yes, it’s a load of narrative malarkey, yet Lewis’ one-note flick is charmingly despicable. It took some major balls to make a gross-out of this kind back in ’63, and Blood Feast doesn’t shy away from its vileness; the film’s most memorable (for all the wrong reasons) image is that of the antagonist pulling a hot blonde’s tongue right out of her throat. It’s a moment akin to the moon landing for gore-hounds.’ — Complex
Trailer
the entire film
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Scum of the Earth (1963)
‘The film truly belongs to Lawrence Wood, who plays Mr. Lang with such an insane joy that it’s impossible not to root for the sleazy old pornographer. Whether he’s giggling as a toy monkey somersaults across his desk or he’s politely explaining why nothing is actually his fault, Wood appears to be having such a good time that it’s just infectious. Wood’s best moment comes when Kim expresses some reluctance about modeling for more pictures and suddenly, Mr. Lang starts to shout at her about how she (and all the other kids) are hypocrites. “You’re damaged merchandise and this is a fire sale!” he shouts as sweat streams down his face and Lewis zooms in for a close up of his mouth, “You’ll do what I tell ya!” Wood screams, “Do you hear!?” It’s a scene of lunatic genius that, in the best tradition of both Herschell Gordon Lewis and the grindhouse in general, comes out of nowhere and is all the more effective because of it.’ — unobtainium13.com
Trailer
Excerpt
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Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
‘While Two Thousand Maniacs! may not be as rudely in-your-face as Blood Feast, it is a much more accomplished and effective picture, one which still has the power to make first-time viewers squirm uncomfortably in their seats. Essentially a macabre version of Brigadoon, Two Thousand Maniacs! sees the southern residents of Pleasant Valley seeking vengeance for Civil War atrocities by capturing two carloads of northerners and subjecting them to a variety of ingenious and stomach-turning tortures. Among the grisly highlights are a blonde sexpot (SHELBY LIVINGSTON) having her thumb sliced off by a muscle-bound hayseed, after which the demented townsfolk treat her wound by chopping off her entire arm! While her arm is being served up as barbecue(!), her husband JEROME EDEN is liquored up with moonshine, then drawn and quartered by four horses which gallop off in different directions.’ — Something Weird
Trailer
the entirety
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Monster a-Go Go (1965)
‘Director Herschell Gordon Lewis needed another movie to round out a double-feature with Moonshine Mountain. So he bought Bill (The Giant Spider Invasion) Rebane’s unfinished Terror at Halfday, added a couple of extra scenes, some new dialogue, some narration, and voila – Monster A Go-Go was born. The plot, such as it is, is that an astronaut has gone missing after crash-landing in suburban Illinois. At the same time, a monster that looks suspiciously like the lost spaceman (and is highly radioactive) has been terrorizing teenagers and scaring the pants off of the locals. Scientists work to study the monster, but he escapes into the Chicago sewers, only to disappear suddenly.’ — tvtropes.org
Excerpt
the entirety
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Color Me Blood Red (1965)
‘Though Color Me Blood Red is the least discussed of Herschell Gordon Lewis’s unofficial “Blood Trilogy” (which also includes Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs), it’s probably my favourite. It’s lighter on gore, but there’s hardly any boring filler, its concept is great (a mad artist using blood for paint), and it’s hysterical (sometimes intentionally, other times unintentionally). Best of all is its lead actor. Gordon Oas-Heim gives an outrageous performance as loony painter Adam Sorg. He shouts his way through the film with Zach Galifianakis-esque outbursts, bugged out eyes, and a sweaty forehead. He’s a wonderful thing to watch.’ — Dave Jackson
Trailer
the entirety
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Something Weird (1967)
‘Between the Blood Trilogy and 1970’s The Wizard of Gore, director Herschell Gordon Lewis explored a wide variety of themes outside the hard-gore arena while continuing to court viewers with the sensational and the exploitable. One of his most unusual offerings of this period was this category-defying tale from 1967. It would be too easy to simply suggest that Something Weird lives up to its title. What’s truly remarkable is that this exploration of psychic phenomena, criminology, drug therapy, and the supernatural actually manages to remain coherent throughout its running time! The concept began as a script by producer James F. Hurley, who later complained that director Lewis had compromised his serious vision. (Interestingly, Hurley’s original intent was reflected in his own subsequent film The Psychic in 1968, which utilized Lewis as cameraman. Viewing this film, one can see immediately why Lewis felt the story needed some “juicing up.”)’ — images journal.com
Trailer
the entirety
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A Taste of Blood (1967)
‘Herschell Gordon Lewis is one of my favourite directors and this was a huge let down for me. The master of gore became the master of bore in this retelling of Dracula. The pacing of this film is incredibly slow. There are many continuity errors including a chase scene where at one moment it’s midday and then suddenly it’s night and back to midday…and back to night. I thought I missed something at first and went back but no. Each scene is drawn out. A lot. I had to hold myself back from skipping through scenes. It could have easily been 40 minutes shorter. I will give him credit for trying something different from what he normally does. I think that’s important in any craft…sometimes it doesn’t work out. Skip it if you’re not a fan of HGL though.’ — Nikola Night
Trailer
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The Gruesome Twosome (1967)
‘This 1967 Herschell Gordon Lewis feature has the unique distinction of having one of the most bizarre openings in low-budget horror cinema history. After editing, the film was short in length. As filler, Lewis added two wig blocks with construction paper faces talking to each other during the opening. One of the wig blocks is stabbed as blood gushes out everywhere. Even after inserting this opening sequence, the film only runs 72 minutes. Crazy Mrs. Pringle and her mentally challenged son Rodney run a wig shop near a Florida college campus. The wigs are advertised as 100 percent real human hair. The shop also rents vacant rooms to college co-eds. The renting of rooms is only a disguise for Pringle to lure young women to the shop so Rodney can scalp and murder them.’ — Plan 9 Crunch
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The Girl, the Body, and the Pill (1967)
‘Always in search of uncharted exploitation territory, Lewis turns his attention this time to the then-controversial topic of birth control. Given the nature of the film, it is surprising that it contains practically no overt sexual situations beyond a couple suggestive dissolves. One of Lewis’s more multifaceted productions, The Girl, the Body, and the Pill follows the subject through multiple perspectives. We see a liberal high school teacher (Pamela Rhea) advocating for sex education as a means of promoting proper hygiene among her rapidly developing adolescent students. Her efforts to promote planned parenthood meet with fierce opposition from the school board as well as the parents of several of the students. Actually, one parent in particular, the hyperprotective puritanical father (Bill Rogers) of a virginal daughter whose boyfriend wants to go all the way, is the loudest voice to oppose such education. The film additionally follows the exploits of the school’s most promiscuous student, Randy (Nancy Lee Noble), and that of her considerably more promiscuous single mother(Valedia Hill).’ — Wikipedia
Trailer
Excerpt
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Blast-Off Girls (1967)
‘Sleazy music promoter Boojie Baker convinces a pop band to come work for him. He arranges play dates, publicity, record contracts, and the band’s loyalty by getting his hired girls to exercise their feminine charms on all who stand in his way. Thus he creates the new music sensation, The Big Blast, but the band is unhappy about Boojie keeping most of the money. When they try to leave, Boojie sets them up for trouble with the law, but offers to bail them out if they sign the contract. Can’t anyone stop this scum bucket?’ — letterboxd.com
Trailer
Watch Part 1 of the film here
Watch Part 2 of the film here
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She-Devils on Wheels (1968)
‘1968 saw no less than nine feature films from the prolific Herschell Gordon Lewis. Without a doubt, the best-remembered of the batch was this innovative girl gang mini-epic. Lewis didn’t invent the biker film, but the female “Man-Eaters” of She-Devils on Wheels (written by Louise Downe) were the first of their kind. The Man-Eaters live up to their name in all but the most literal fashion. Led by Queen (Betty Connell) and the huge, poetically-inclined Whitey (Pat Poston), they’re the terror of their community. To them, men are cattle–to be chosen from “stud lines” at their whim and to be tossed aside after use. Young initiate Honeypot (Nancy Lee Noble), however, hasn’t quite got the idea; she tends to stick to one particular “stud.” A challenge is set to the candidate: she’ll become a full-fledged Man-Eater once she proves her loyalty by dragging the beaten body of her beau from the back of her own motorcycle!’ — images journal.com
Trailer
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Just for the Hell of It (1968)
‘Hear the name Herschell Gordon Lewis, and you may picture in your mind’s eye gouts of blood and gore, intestines being dangled in front of the screen and the somewhat dubious acting skills of playmate Connie Mason. There’s a non-gore stream to the directing output of the man though, and although there is some blood right towards the end of the film, Just for the Hell of it eschews the trademark gore for the most part. What we have here is a foray into nihilistic morality and hippy-beatnik violence, which ends on quite a surprising note for a film made nearly forty years ago. For those of you with a penchant for vintage exploitation, you can do a lot worse than Just for the Hell of it. Aside from any thematic concerns, you’ve got the great sixties decor, clothes and soundtrack. After these surface thrills you can appreciate the pretty confronting violence and themes. Lewis has crafted a fairly potent essay on mindless evil, despite the sometimes clunky performances and low budget.’ — Girls Guns and Ghouls
Trailer
Excerpt
the entirety
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The Wizard of Gore (1970)
‘What WIZARD OF GORE does differently than most other magic films, especially of its time, is introduce popular technology into its trickery. The titular wizard, Montag, doesn’t only mesmerize his theater audiences but those viewing at home as well, with Lewis perhaps boldly starting a ‘fear of TV’ trend that would fully manifest in later features like NETWORK (1976) and VIDEODROME (1983). That the various slayings in the film also take place in the home rather than on the stage as they appear to – or do they? – root this almost firmly in the type of home invasion/slasher feature that would become popularized in 1978 with HALLOWEEN. What Lewis’s film may lack in subtlety it makes up for in blurring lines that were already blurry in the first place. The real spectacle isn’t all of the young women being dissected on screen and covered in – what was rumored to be – sheep guts, it is in Montag’s speeches about what we don’t know and can’t begin to figure out.’ — Brattle Blog
Trailer
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The Gore Gore Girls (1972)
‘The Gore Gore Girls stands alone in the Lewis repertoire in several ways. Though no stranger to sex and nudity in his non-horror work, the director had always kept these elements a safe distance from his gore films, feeling such a blend was too risky even for him. But competition had upped the ante, so the move was finally made here (Lewis remembers less nudity than the film actually contains, incidentally). The combination of sick gore and sick humor remains as potent today as ever. Many viewers (including some horror fans) still find it unwatchable. Even Something Weird owner Mike Vraney (in his audio commentary interview with Lewis, where he’s joined once again by Jimmy Maslin of Shock Films) admits his discomfort with the film’s most extreme sequence. Lewis is neither defensive nor apologetic: he made the film, he states, for adults only; and for that matter, for adults who possessed a certain sick sense of humor. No attempt was ever made to disguise the nature of the film, and the idea that anyone would take it seriously is simply bewildering to the director. This was an attempt to once again out-“gross” what anyone else was doing; and it unquestionably delivered the goods.’ — images journal.com
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Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (2002)
‘Thirty-nine years after making his groundbreaking independent horror film Blood Feast, director Herschell Gordon Lewis returns with a sequel. This time around, Faud Ramses III (J.P. Delahoussaye) , the grandson of Blood Feast’s protagonist, moves into his granddad’s catering shop. It isn’t long before Faud proves to be a chip off the old block, as he lures buxom young women into his lair and carves them up for sandwiches. Nobody ever has, nor could, accuse H.G. Lewis of being a genuinely good filmmaker – his career is built on lower-than-B-grade trash after all, but similar to the likes of Lloyd Kaufman, his movies must be viewed using a wholly different set of expectations than critical standard. In this sense, Blood Feast 2 is a raging success. Not only is it excessively gory (sickly, even, in parts), but it’s also legitimately funny. Visually, it looks cheap and uninspired – Lewis employs no glitzy camera tricks, displays no directorial flair, and blocks as easily as possible for an obviously quick shooting schedule. Again, being an H.G. Lewis film this is something to be expected, alongside lingering close-ups of the extreme mutilation conducted during the kill scenes and uniformly hammy acting from the cast.’ — dreadcentral.com
Trailer
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The Uh-oh Show (2009)
‘Originally conceived under the title of Grim Fairy Tales, The Uh-Oh Show! is gore and exploitation legend Herschell Gordon Lewis’s minimally scary second film of the new millennium. While his previous film was a sequel to arguably his most famous work, Blood Feast, this one’s a completely original idea. It blends his usual trademark extreme, absurd gore with light satire on reality TV and pop culture. The most important thing this horror comedy makes clear is that the man has not lost his sense of humor and fun in the slightest nor has he forgotten how to sling blood around or hack off body parts.’ — best-horror-movies.com
Trailer
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p.s. Hey. If you’re in the realm of London, tickets for the Halloween screening of ‘Room Temperature’ go on sale today at 11 am your time. You can buy them and get more information here. Seating is somewhat limited so I would advise getting tickets as soon as you can. ** Ilán Valdés, Hi. No, I haven’t read that Maggie Nelson, but I will. Sorry not to have gotten back to you by email yet. I’ve been waylaid. Yes, the ‘RT’ in London shebang is public and tickets will be on sale probably by the time you see this. Great if you can come. ** _Black_Acrylic, So says someone unknown. Excellent about the print workshop progress!!! ** scunnard, Hi, J. Good to see you, sir. Yes, ‘RT’ in London on Halloween is now or at least almost on sale. Bring your friends. They might not like it, but it won’t make them hostile. I’m good, still rolling ‘RT’ out a little longer and starting work on our new film. Not bad. Very happy that summer is over. And you? What’s news? ** Dominik, Hi!!! Nothing against Chipotle, but it shouldn’t be the best, for christ’s sake. No, no offers or opportunities in Vienna, sadly. I wouldn’t even know where to start in terms of finding a venue there. Would love to though. My brain seems to be upswinging from all indications. Is the song actually about Helen Keller? How odd. Love had a good eye there, duh. Let’s see … I must say your love looks very disposable, G. ** ANGUSRAZE, Hey, man! I’ve been mostly quite good, thanks. Great about the new album. Oh, first of all thank you for wanting my voice, etc. I’d have to think about it and hear the track, I guess. Reading over music is not something I’m usually drawn to do, but it is you, so, yeah, send me stuff if you want and we’ll see. Thanks again in any case. ** Carsten, What an easy moving in. Congratulations by the way. Sounds good. I respect Sirk’s art, but it’s never really excited me. I guess I’m different: seeing a film whose thematic concerns are far from my own and being surprised and blown away is a favorite thing of mine. I feel like I learn the most about film and even myself in those situations. I think I’ve found some of my favorite films by taking a chance and going far afield. The only kinds of films I tend to avoid are star vehicles in whatever category because I’m just not that interesting in acting. I haven’t liked any of Inarritu’s films, but it’s hard not to be at least curious about ‘Digger’. ** laura w., Hi. I’m happy ‘JtM’ stuck the landing with you. Yes, Halloween is in the house or at least in the blog. Hm, no Halloween-specific reads in mind at least at the moment. I’d like to go there literarily. I’ll have a think and look. Derek McCormack is always relevant. Yay, I published ‘Grab Bag’ as you probably know. ** i🌙, Hey. Brain seems more cooperative. I did end up switching coffee brands, so it might as simple as that. Well, obviously make sure all three of your picks make you excited. Strange. I certainly get your interest in imprisoned writing. I guess there are a number of really good examples. Bachmann is great for sure. I can’t remember if I’ve read her short fiction. Maybe not. Ooh. I wish I knew how to get your head into a place where you can write with utter inspiration. It just seems to pop into place, and then you have to max it out before it fades. Exciting is a word I constantly overuse. I’m sure I’ve way overused it in this p.s. already today. ** Hugo, Hi. Great that you saw the great Destroyer. He hasn’t seen ‘PGL’?! Weird. If I still have his email I’ll send him the link. That’s terrible. If you like Arthur Russell, I would try the fairly new Nirosta Steel album. He was Russell’s right hand man. The clock is about to strike or may have. ** HaRpEr //, The comments I use in those posts are extremely few and far between. Most of the comments are just like, ‘He’s hot’, etc. I need to see that Jack Smith doc. Noted. Yeah, the ‘RT’ screening is now official. Wild. That took a while. ** Steve, Exactly what I assumed about ‘Primetime’. And I’m not a Robert Pattinson fan, so that takes care of that. I don’t know the Kreusebel haunt, but I’m just about to gather my fave home haunts of the season for my annual posts, so I will. Sounds like something that will get shut down lickety-split. ** Thom, Playlist, nice, yes, please. Could be a guest-post even? Still haven’t seen ‘Camp Miasma’. I missed it in the theaters so now I’ll have to find an illegal stream. I’m not expecting a ton based on your and other trusted friends’ reports. But I want to know. Make this 13 hours pay you bigly. ** Okay. Halloween is now in the early stages of full swing. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
Hi!!
Happy 1st of the official Halloween season!
Unfortunately, I’m completely unfamiliar with the film world, here or in general, so I wouldn’t know how or where to start looking for a suitable venue either. I think streaming might be my best bet when it’s time.
Good, good. So it was just some temporary brain snooze.
As far as I can tell, the Placebo song doesn’t actually have anything to do with Helen Keller, although their lyrics are always up for interpretation.
Love looks like a ADHD, he dresses like a ADHD, he walks very ADHD, he talks very ADHD and anyone would always know he’s a ADHD just by looking at him, Od.
Got to admire anyone who can pursue the gore aesthetic as avidly as HGL did. The porn monologue from Scum of the Earth is well worth a sampling, for sure.
A former YNY colleague was last night heavily recommending Primetime to me. Maybe I should go along with her advice as I seem to have a higher tolerance for cliché bullshit than many folk around here.
God damn it. I pulled this up at something like 12.30 and the screening was already sold out, so now I’m screaming into my tofu salad. I guess I’ll just have to keep refreshing Eventbrite every five minutes until the matinee drops. But anyway, hello. How are you? Congratulations on selling out in something like a femtosecond, of course.
Over here: some film-y things, some music-y things. I was badly stuck on and dissatisfied with that one piece of writing I’d mentioned, and then some feedback from James magically unblocked my sense of where it might need to go. James’s skill and perceptiveness as a reader are never to be underestimated, in my experience. A cinema in London is screening a couple Breillat films later this month, which I hope to make.
As for HGL, I’m awestruck by this quote: “I see filmmaking as a business and pity anyone who regards it as an artform and spends money based on that immature philosophy.” I wish I could be as hard-nosed as that about anything, but also don’t.
I hope you’re at precisely the right level of spooky right now. Toodle-pip.
Oh, and congratulations on landing Andrew Durbin for the Q&A is the other thing I wanted to say.
Hey!
I’m so excited about the news that Room Temperature is getting a London screening finally!! those tickets sold out so fast, I was in a lecture at uni and missed them but I’m gonna stay very attentive for any kind of standby or refunded tickets. I also live only about 10-15 minutes away from the venue so I have to try haha. But very exciting regardless, I pre-ordered the blu-ray too so it will be in my hands sooner or later.
I’m so happy the summer is over, the sun has been out for far too long. I tried to appreciate September as much as I could, there’s been a Claude Chabrol season at the BFI which I’ve tried to see most of (La Ceremonie and Story of Women tonight). October is always the best, London Film Festival is a few days away so that’s good. I’m back at university which is nice mostly just to raid the library and stealing resources to make my own short. Halloween is so close too, a Saturday Halloween will be such a dream. I hope everything is going well for you, and that the next film with Zac is coming together satisfyingly 🙂
Hi Dennis, haha um daaaaaaaamn well that didn’t work. Never stood a chance! Looked at the link right before it went live at like 10:40 and then went back over lunch knowing it would sell out but was already over at just after 12. Oops. At least you know you will have a good turnout and hopefully lively. Yes, I am extremely happy summer is done. It’s been crazy humid and I tend to be more of an autumn sorta person anyway. How is it going with the new film? I’ve been putting together a new exhibition (early-ish stages) but have a lot of the work already mapped out in my head and is a nice mix of people have worked with as well as all new. It’s also got some people that I’ve aspired towards working with as well as some more local around here work, which I always enjoy getting that mix right. Something I’ve been very excited about is I’ve wanted to launch an edition print series for a while and that is finally happening and it’s very exciting. Like makes me genuinely happy. Went and toured a print studio that does really lovely and immaculate work earlier in the week and we’ve been working with them so pup and tiger will be launching that as an edition publisher and is much in line with what I’d ultimately like to be doing more and with a bit of a queer-led impulse as well as more art zine/publications and booklets. So I’m really excited. How have you been?
Just for the Hell of It is still one of my favorite juvenile delinquent films. The baby dumped in the wastebasket is diabolical.
Hey Dennis,
Can’t say I’m surprised that RT London tickets sold like “petits pains,” as they’d say in this neck of the woods. I have no doubt it’s gonna be a roaringly successful evening.
À propos of nothing, I came across this recently uploaded video of Sebadoh playing live in LA in 1993. Maybe you were there?
https://youtu.be/wby2qnnh7LU?si=wALNphr8U2vHIXq6
It seems like there’s a whole treasure trove of mostly LA gig footage on that guy’s channel. If it wasn’t already on your radar I thought it should be.
How’s your week going? Autumn is being a bit coquettish in its slow descent upon us I think.
Nearly finished the Joy Williams. I know it’s been said on here a lot but damn she’s good. I got a very cool UK first edition of Pinget’s “The Libera Me Domine” which I think will be up next.
ciao xo
J
Hey D. No LA visit. Forgive me if you’ve already answered this previously, have you ever spent Halloween in London? Needless to say, I had hoped you would be in town. It’s been a while since we were in your presence. But I’m sure that your screening will be a conduit for an enjoyable time.
As per usual not a lot has been happening. By that I mean “interesting” in a wider regard. The obvious stuff. Existential angst due the unfolding weirdness of these times. Semi-annual worries about whether the publishing arm of J’s work will “re-org” her position out of existence. Increasing awareness of my siblings aging and the attendant stuff that comes with that. Like I said, nothing interesting to others outside my bubble.
When we last saw each other I had been given news of an “artifact” discovered after an MRI for a wholly unrelated potential problem in my brain. Ha! Potential brain problems kinda sums up how I feel about humanity and myself sometimes. At any rate, the lesion that was previously found has resulted in biannual MRI’s to keep an eye on it. Try as I might, I wasn’t immune to periodic upticks in worries. I’m good. Now I don’t have to lay in that claustrophobic weird and rather musical machine until 2 years from now. I am relieved to find that the lesion is an underachiever much like myself.
I think of you more often than not. I miss you. On your Nico post recently you mentioned seeing her when she toured “The End”. That was at The Whisky? We went together wherever it was. My memory was that Chris Spedding was on guitar? Or was it Manzanera? Hmm.
Right, we send our love. Enjoy London.
Mark
All moved into the new pad & typing this from the couch. Now I can truly appreciate the relief because it’s real. Had to get a set of sheets though because that’s one thing that’s missing here, & the straight-from-the-store smell is hitting me pretty hard. But it’ll be OK for one night. Laundry first thing in the morning.
I had your approach to art in my teens & twenties to an extent: open to everything, endlessly curious & indiscriminate in my choices of what to read, watch, listen to… But to me that’s only right & healthy for a kid: absorb & gulp down everything. But then at least for me with age comes distillation, & with that things I have no patience for get pushed aside. My intolerance only extends to content though; formally or stylistically I’m open to anything (except AI). And even with content I would normally avoid I don’t shut myself off to pleasant surprises. Couple of examples: I hate the Bildungsroman, mostly because I find childhood boring, but Céline’s “Death on Credit” is a hell of an exception. Romantic comedies make my skin crawl, but I heard “Palm Springs” was different & quite enjoyed it (it’s really a morbid black comedy that ties in the romantic angle in a pretty natural way). I’m sure there are others. But I know of no musical I could take more than five minutes of. Or take “relationship drama”, there it’s a matter of temperament. This is how my blinders work: if it’s about a couple who’ve grown bored of each other I couldn’t care less; but if there’s break-up & make-up sex & death threats involved I’m in, haha.
I probably will go see “Digger”. There’s something alluring about how it’s pissing off the critics. One gets the sense that they’re outraged at being presented with something they did not see coming. Isn’t that the point?
happy halloween first (though of course here it’s halloween 4th). i actually just learned about herschell gordon lewis today because someone requested a book called “bleeding skull: a 1980s trash-horror odyssey” and i guess he was a big influence on that scene. well, obviously.
it’s all over the grab bag cover! “dennis cooper’s little house on the bowery” etc etc. i have already read dark rides so i got it for the other story in there, whose name is escaping me rn. i also have stainless by todd something, which is an la vampire novel that got refurbished by mcnally. i have a thing (or a fang) for vampires even if almost all vampire anything is trash. are the rt blurays up for preorder yet? i didn’t see anything but i also haven’t been checking instagram.
on bachmann: i think she just captures speechlessness and the things that cause it really well. i think my failure to get into that sort of writing headspace is kind of self imposed. It’s kind of ridiculous since i didn’t have that problem when i started like taking literature and writing two years ago, and well, i’ve gotten older since then, ha, ha, but the biggest thought that i have that i block myself with is that im too young to really waste my time writing anything longer than like a poem or a very short flash piece about anything. Sort of like a thing of i don’t know anything about life, really, so why should i act like i do? it’s kind of embarrassing to, imo. idk. Would like to hear your thoughts on this
Hey. Managed to snag a ticket! Gee, that really was quick. Proof that the aeons it took for London venues to show any interest was ridiculous.
Lewis is the producer of my favourite celluloid blood, and gore for that matter. ‘Blood Feast’ never gets old. Maybe my favourite murderer character and the fake eyebrows are so awful/great. I’ve been meaning to watch ‘The Wizard of Gore’, and I think I’ll be doing that very soon.
The Jack Smith doc is well worth seeing. It’s well edited and has a stacked cast of interviewees: Tony Conrad, Jonas Mekas, John Zorn, Ken Jacobs, Sylvere Lottringer, Gary Indiana, Nayland Blake, Mike Kelley, Mario Montez, Holly Woodlawn, and of course, it wouldn’t be a doc about countercultural matters without John Waters haha.
Oh gosh what a nice bloody and spooky post! Dont mind if I look at some of these to add to my own October post. I’ll have to look into Herschell G Lewis a bit, this was a great intrdouction. maybe I’ll see something of his work that intrigues me to add to my current post(one of the themes is blood). Thanks!
friend happy October 1st! I’m excited for all the spooky crafts I have planned and I will be patient and present and not overwhelm myself doing them. I will enjoy the autumn gift the earth blesses me with. Right now I’m waiting for the bus to go to my philosophy club at school and cash a pretty sweet Student check. 1,000$. gosh what a blessing, did they do that back in your day….or. I dunno if you wouldve known I think its like a lower class household thing so we dont turn to drugs or something, or actually come to think of it the money would draw people who are in desperate need of drug money
What the fuck am I saying? Anyways!
What spooky things are you planning this month?
Im finishing up my October themed web post soon and I’m excited for the end results. I put in alot of my favorite subjects related to the themes I choose. Wont spoil it too much, if you want to read it when I post it, but I added segments relating to Clive Barkers grotesque and mystic mutilation, video game creatures, sfx from movies l, and an array of art and movies relating to the human skin. (etc ETC) I was doing a lot of research on vampires and originally it was just going to be a vampire dedicated post but I decided that there is just others things i desire to cover pertaining to the other two themes that I will probably do other posts on my page later dedicated to them.
also trying to find less recognized/ lesser known media to introduce to the reader, , but I couldn’t help my fascination with Hellraiser, David Croneneberg, and Anne Rice coming through.
Will you play the Hellraiser game when it comes out this October 8th? Im so excited, but ive been needing to get my gaming laptop fixed.
It was kind of interesting doing my vampire research and looking at all these old still active websites dedicated to the covens.
Temple fo the vampire etc.
Father Sebastiann , some celebrity vampire who formed Strigoi Vii lives in Paris. You think youve run into him? haha im kidding.
So ive been discovering recently that my loosely connected words and maladjusted speech( I forgot where I was going with this)
Oh I know yo mentioned being open to also dedicating a day to the post, is that still l something you are ok with, and if so, when should I send it by?
I was planning to edit until October 9th, but can definitely Get it done sooner if your open to uploading it : D
I appreciate you my dear friend. The. real world feels hard and dealing with people, but its good to know I can always come back here to be my true self and to find some cool artsy distraction. Have you ever been to New Orleans? I plan to go there my next trip.
This October I see Smashing pumpkins in Charlotte and Boy Harsher in Asheville which will be gun. I’ve never been to Asheville but have always wanted to. Have u been to NC?