* (restored)

 

Introduction
by John Waters

George and Mike Kuchar’s films were my first inspiration. George’s ”Hold Me While I’m Naked,” Mike’s ”Sins of the Fleshapoids” — these were the pivotal films of my youth, bigger influences than Warhol, Kenneth Anger, even ”The Wizard of Oz.” As a Baltimore teenager in the mid-60’s, I initially read about these filmmaking brothers from the Bronx in Jonas Mekas’s Village Voice column, Movie Journal. Here were directors I could idolize — complete crackpots without an ounce of pretension, outsiders to even ”underground” sensibilities who made exactly the films they wanted to make, without any money, starring their friends. Devouring my favorite magazine of the time, Film Culture, I learned more about their entirely original work, the lurid plot lines, their home-grown movie goddesses, the ludicrous thrift-store costuming — it was enough to make me run away to New York to actually see one of their opuses.

Boy, was I not disappointed. There it was on the silver screen — the Kuchars’ famous low-rent Douglas Sirk lighting, the melodramatic soundtracks stolen from bad Hollywood films, male and female nudity. A vision so peculiar, so hilarious, good-natured and proudly pitiful that I realized (with a little help from LSD) that I too could make the films of my dreams. The Kuchar brothers gave me the self-confidence to believe in my own tawdry vision. I went back to Baltimore, renamed a neighborhood friend Divine and made my first real trash epic, ”The Roman Candles.”

The real heyday of ”underground movies” didn’t last long in the 60’s, but the Kuchar brothers have managed to survive with their sense of humor and original style intact. They didn’t want to cross over. They still make funny, sexy, insanely optimistic films and videos every day of their lives, and nobody tells them what to do or how to make it more ”commercial.” The Kuchars may be the only real underground filmmakers left working in American today.

Come on, MacArthur grant committee. What are you waiting for? Every year I expect to see the Kuchars’ names on the list of your so-called genius awards, but so far no luck. If they don’t deserve it, who does?

— from ‘Reflections From a Cinematic Cesspool’

 

1.

Mike Kuchar ‘The Craven Sluck’ (1967)

‘The Craven Sluck seems like a practical primer for John Water’s mischievous Mondo Trasho as well as his far more accomplished Multiple Maniacs. Like Mondo, Sluck is shot in black and white, features a blousy blond out cruising for men, and deals with wholly desperate and debauched characters. Maniacs uses Kuchar’s unconventional narrative style, along with an equally surreal yet satisfying ending to create artistic anarchy. The best part about Sluck is its star. Forty-plus year old Floraine Connors (a Kuchar company member) does her best bombshell gone to seed shimmy as the sexually frustrated spouse of a bumbling bloated husband. Her silent scenes (dialogue was later dubbed in to give some semblance of a storyline), including a couple of inspired “glamour fits” are absolutely hilarious and she really wants to come across as the middle-aged answer to Marilyn Monroe. Unfortunately, she’s more like Mamie Van Doren circa an episode of Fantasy Island. Still, we want to follow this flubbery femme if only because her passions practically pulsate off the screen.’ — Bill Gibron, DVD Talk

 

2.

Watch George Kuchar’s ‘Corruption of the Damned’

Corruption of the Damned Without the corruption of the damned

‘Kuchar’s films are overtly insane. Anyone who lived in such a world would be mad inside an hour. Perhaps the Marx Brothers might survive, but I doubt it. Godzilla, King of the Monsters, might have a better chance. But the utter insanity, the insanity of perverted cliche, is the genuine unwholesome appeal of Kuchar’s outlook. CORRUPTION might seethe with violence and sex, the two most attractive things you can put on the screen, but beneath them a twisted outlook pervades. Something is very much wrong with the Kuchar world.’ — Leonard Lipton, Berkeley Barb 1965

 

3.

George Kuchar ‘The Mongreloid’ (1978)

‘This short film by George Kuchar may be the best thing I’ve seen by the master of madcapped melodrama. A man, his dog, and the regions they inhabited, each leaving his own distinctive mark on the landscape. Not even time can wash the residue of what they left behind. “The MONGRELOID documents my relationship with my dog and parts of it were shot by an ex-student of mine so I guess you can look at it as him getting his revenge since I was photographed in my own habitat which makes me automatically look like an idiot.” – George Kuchar’ — Made out of Mouth

 

4.

Mike Kuchar ‘Sins of the Fleshapoids’ (1965)

‘Along with Anger’s SCORPIO RISING and Warhol’s CHELSEA GIRLS, Mike Kuchar’s SINS OF THE FLESHAPOIDS remains one of the most influential films of the ’60s American Underground. Mike and his brother George (who co-wrote FLESHAPOIDS), were the godfathers of bargain basement cinema, pioneering a hilariously campy, lurid style between Ed Wood exploitation and Douglas Sirk melodrama. Set a million years in the future, after “The Great War” has scourged the planet, mankind has forsaken science for self-indulgence in all the carnal pleasures afforded by art, food, and lust. Work is left to a race of enslaved androids. One rebellious male robot (Bob Cowan) tires of pampering his lazy masters, and joins the humans in sin.’ — Other Cinema

 

5.

George Kuchar ‘Pagan Rhapsody’, Parts 2 & 3 (1970)

‘Since this was Jane Elford and Lloyd Williams’ first big acting roles, I made the music very loud so it would sweep them to stardom. She once hurt Bob Cowan’s back by sitting on it so this time I had her laying on his stomach. Donna Kerness was pregnant during her scenes but her stomach was kept pretty much in shadow and it’s not noticeable. My stomach was the same as always except it contained more mocha cake than usual since that type of cake was usually around when I filmed in Brooklyn Heights. Being that the picture was made in the winter, there are no outdoor scenes because it’s too cold and when the characters have to suddenly flee a tense situation, it’s too time consuming to have them put on a coat and gloves. Originally not scheduled as a tragedy, things swiftly changed as the months made me more and more sour as I plummet down that incinerator shaft I call my life.’ — George Kuchar

 

6.

George Kuchar’s ‘I, An Actress’ (1977)

‘I, an Actress features Kuchar as a teacher in San Francisco showing an acting student how things should be done. It’s hilarious and self-explanatory], so instead of saying more about it, and because it features Kuchar in his real-life role, I’ll quote a few lines from Kuchar’s essay “Teaching Film” about realism: ‘Realism only comes to the screen when the film jams in the projector and the image begins to bubble. An instinctual fear of the dark manifests when the projection light fails…heightened by the little furry things with long tails that scamper beneath the seats. The electrical nature of sex becomes apparent as the hair on your neck bristles when that pervert to your left makes knee contact. In these moments of truth, cinema reveals her face of realism’.’ — Douglas Crimp

 

7.

Mike Kuchar ‘Definitely No, Possibly Yes’ (1:45)

‘Mike Kuchar’s video of a downtown NY art gallery opening on Halloween’ — Artflux

 

8.

George Kuchar ‘Butter Balls’ (2003)

‘I made two films working with film and theater students as my collaborating cast and crew. To counteract the talkie I had done with graduate student the day before, this undergrad project has no dialogue but just a steady stream of images we dreamed up on the spot. A psychodrama that’s heavy on the beefcake, our picture deals with the sexual dementia of a sex addict undergoing hypnotherapy. It’s a mixture of fantasy and desire with some animals thrown in and lots of strange angles of the leading actor’s attributes.’ — George Kuchar

 

9.

This is George Kuchar: The Making of Queen Konga’ (2006)

Documentary short on the making of Queen Conga by Ronaldo Barbachano, 2006, 12 min., video. Featuring interviews/performances by, Linda Martinez, Bob Moricz, Evie Mpras, and others.

 

10.

A short interview with Mike Kuchar, 2007 (8:13)

 

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** Dominik, Hi, D!!!! So far so good: my back. I wondered if, due to your counselling work, you would pick the first option. Truth be told, I probably would too. But I’d charge them a lot. A lot. There must be people who’ve tried or even ‘succeeded’ in contacting Richey Edwards through a seance or that sort of thing, no? Love stuffing his bedroom inside a tumbler, G. ** cal Hi, cal. I just saw your email in my box and I’ll open it and get back to you. Thanks for the link/video. Yum. Have a super swell beginning to your weekend. ** _Black_Acrylic, Whew, good news about your dad. Continued psychic balm from my end. And good news galore in the form of the dawning of a new PT! Everyone, Have you hopped on _Black_Acrylic’s Play Therapy train yet? Yes, no? If no, whatever’s stopping you is a liar. Here’s your new chance, and, dudes, seriously, take it and shake it. _B_A: ‘The new episode of Play Therapy is online here via Mixcloud! Ben ‘Jack Your Body’ Robinson returns to bring you Algerian rhythms, Minimal Synth and some Italo curios too.’ ** David, Thanks, bud. RIP Meatloaf, yes, the prime interpreter/singer of the great songbook of the great auteur songwriter Jim Steinman for which Meatloaf will always be immortal. Enjoy whatever Eastbourne is. ** David Ehrenstein, Non-link. But I assume it was Meatloaf related. RIP ** Maria, Isabella, Camila, Malaria, Gabriela, Hi, lustrous crowd. Yes, Tears for the Loaf. As a nearly lifelong vegetarian/vegan I prefer my meatloaf with a human, singing face, but thank you for the thought. Have what I can only imagine will be an exciting weekend. ** Bill, That TM moment does stand out within the oeuvre of my otherwise drab and terrifying dream life. ‘History of the Occult’ sounds very intriguing indeed. I’ll check my sources. Thank you, sir. I hope SF coddles you through Monday morning at the very least. ** Steve Erickson, ‘I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ is such a great song. I should have included it in my faves the other day. Maybe not as great as ‘My Feet Keep Dancing’, but what could be? I will most certainly take a peek and listen re: Hainbach’s youtube channel. News to me. Thank you! ** Okay. Another restoration for your this weekend, this one celebrating the works by the unimpeachable avant-film creators the Kuchar Brothers. Plunk yourself down on one of the imaginary folding chairs and do yourselves a world of good maybe? See you on Monday one way or another.

* (restored)

 

‘Yes, I am Frank Sumption, and I made the original Frank’s Box, or the Ghost box. I am on Facebook, but even there, the interaction with the public is disappointing. Very few are interested, everyone knows better, no matter what these boxes say. I can not tell if I hear nothing and the “voices” are purely delusional, or what. Most seem interested only in ghost hunting and how to become rich and famous by doing nothing. No research, no study, no work of their own, seeking only their own reality TV show, or podcast.’ — Frank Sumption

Electronic voice phenomena, abbreviated as EVPs, are sections of noise on the radio or electronic recording that reveal sounds resembling voices speaking words. Paranormal investigators sometimes interpret these noises as the voices of ghosts or spirits. Recording EVP has become a technique of those who attempt to contact the souls of dead loved ones or during ghost hunting activities.

 

 

The Frank Sumption Website
American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena
EVP Zone
‘The most horrific EVP ever recorded’
EVP: The Skeptic’s Diary
Frank’s Box Discussion Forum
Lisa Lee Harp Waugh’s Ghost Hunters of America Website

 

Frank Sumption w Ghost Box at The Stanley Hotel

 

____________
The Dead Can Hear You! Can You Hear Them?

‘Frank Sumption says he received instructions for building the device that he calls Frank’s Box from disembodied entities. His first box was built in 2002, and he has made slightly more than three dozen. While anyone can build one from his schematics, there seems to be something especially effective about the boxes hand-made by Sumption himself.

‘Frank’s Box allows for two-way communication with the other side, in a way that is more interactive than typical EVPs. Frank’s Box or the Ghost Box as it has come to be known is an electronic system, or method of spirit communication, also known as instrumental trans-communication, or ITC. Simply put Frank’s Box scans AM/FM and low band frequencies to create a noise matrix from which the dead — as well as other entities — can use to modulate for messages.

‘Frank’s spirit receiver starts off with a standard white noise generator which is fed through a random voltage circuit of Frank’s own design. The random voltage is linked to an AM radio receiver which reacts to the voltage by tuning to a specific spot on the radio dial. This is known as voltage tuning and is a common function of late 80s and early 90s radio receivers. Though various radio stations are turned in for a split second every so often along with regular static, the devices also allows the spirits to interact with the device and create their own vocals through the receiver and for lack of a better term, talk through the device.

‘A newer version of the box simply tunes back and fourth through the AM band which Frank is calling the “Sweep”method. At first, he believed that the random voltage design is what allowed it to work but after using the sweep method, he has since changed his mind as it seems to do a better job. Frank has made his plans available on the Internet for anyone who is interested in experimenting with his device. He also makes available his own receiver plans for those who want to take it a step further and create the entire box from start to finish.’  — Ghost Hunters of America

 

 

________________

Frank’s Box: the practicalities #1

 

____________

Frank’s Box Predictions from the Spirit World 2009
as told to Lisa Lee Harp Waugh, world renowned Necromancer

Lisa Lee Harp Waugh

Earth Quakes rattle the world from January to December. China’s Earth Quake will kill many thousands, The number will grow into the thousands each day. And then all goes quiet until late July early August when the cycle it begins again. But this is a precursor to more to come. It may take two to three weeks or more before aftershocks stop. Then another quake hits to the west of Reno. I also have heard from them that many people won’t be able to buy earthquake insurance.

A 70-year-old woman scares would-be teen thieves from her house by hitting one with her favorite saucepan, made by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.

CBS will be streaming free TV programming to iPhone users.

>Obamas Choose Portuguese Water Dog as First Pet.

Spring will arrive early, with generally warm temperatures in March. Poor rains, soaring global food prices will make children mute, skeletal in several countries.

A global coastal event of catastrophic proportions is likely in early to mid 2009. There will be a permanent loss of low-lying territory globally and the spirits foresee that one continent in particular will get hit badly, but they do not say which one.

______________
Frank’s Box: the practicalities #2

_____________
How to build the box “schematics” for Frank’s Box

Click on one of the Link Below to Download Original Schematics to the “Ghost Box”
* Frank Sumption Original Ghost Box Schematics PDF File
* Newer “Frank’s Box” Schematics PDF File
* Frank has made the plans for his device available on the web in the EVP_ITC Yahoo group which is moderated by Frank.
* Yes, You Can Make Your Own Ghost Box!

 

 

____________
A Few Words from Frank Sumpton

I make the boxes, still can’t mass produce the stuff, and rarely take requests, nor do interviews. It has to do with time, nothing else. As far as not producing the boxes, all attempts at mass production have been blocked so far.

I’m #39 so far, and the box continues to evolve, now using a linear scan system that results in more consistent messages. 36, 37, 38, and 39 are AM and FM linear scan boxes. 36, 37 and 38 are based on the Radio Shack 12-469, but instead of doing the hack in it, I use it as a tuner module. 39 uses an AM/FM car tuner module as the radio. 35 is a home made AM radio tuner. I started using home made tuners in #24, but still use pre-manufactured tuners when I can get them, as they eat up less board real estate.

Here’s a cell phone video of #39 done on Monday, you’ll need quicktime to view it. At about 2 seconds in ” Oh God- Please help me”, then at 11 seconds “Earthquake—China”. I don’t run these as others do, I don’t ask questions, I announce I’m doing an EVP recording, and let it run. I don’t do “investigations” either, I use this stuff at home, “they” come to me. Not only does it get spirit, but other entities as well, like Ets and etherics, but they rarely announce who they are, except for the human spirits.

The box is only one method of supplying the raw audio sprits/entites use to form voices, there are a number of other ways to accomplish the same thing, the box only automates the process.

BTW, you might want to be careful with the dark stuff, very tricky it can be, and I know no one wise enough to out smart something that already knows your deepest thoughts.

_____________
Frank’s Box in action

_______
RIP Frank Sumption (2014)

‘Approximately 5 days before Frank crossed the veil to the other side, he received this message… It says, “In fact, you must leave this month”. .. ponder that one. Lots of people thought that Frank was crazy for believing in the messages he was getting. I’m speaking of the nay sayers anyway. Looks like he was right, and the doubters were in fact, WRONG! In this message, his own passing was predicted, & just a few short days before receiving this transmission.’ — Wes King, Ghosts Inc.

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, I agree. ** _Black_Acrylic, Oh, man. Okay, all my best wishes to your dad and to you. Love, me. ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. That does sound kind of ideal, collaboration-wise. Any idea when you guys will be finished? Yeah, amorality, nihilism, etc. are utterly uninteresting to me. To me that outlook is a matter of ‘too little’ rather than ‘too much.’ It sounds ‘wild’, but it actually requires lack of thought. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Oh, cool, thank you about the post. My lower back has been strangely chill for a strangely long time, actually, knock on wood and all of that. Love always gets a second chance if not a million of them. Wow, quite a dream you had there based on that curious sentence. As I’m sure I’ve said, my dreams, on the rare occasions that I remember them, always involve me trying to escape from someone who’s trying to kill me, but I had one the other night where, in the middle of my terror and running away, Tobey McGuire suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and I asked him, ‘How come you’re never in movies anymore’, and he said, ‘It’s all Leo’s fault’, and I knew he meant DiCaprio since I knew they had been friends at some point, but before I could ask him to explain, the person trying to kill me appeared again, and I had to run off. So multiple choice love: (1) Love sitting Leo and Tobey down somewhere and helping them work out their issues, or (2) Love chasing Leo and trying to kill him, or (3) Love shrugging and not giving a shit, G. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh. I so agree. I hope you’re doing as well as you can be, my friend. Lots of love, me. ** David, Hi. Thanks. I think that kind of show would need corporate sponsor. There must be one corporation with a DC fan as its CEO out there somewhere. No, I never met Lionel Dahmer. I don’t think he and I moved in the same circles. Maybe someone should have organised a reading with him and me on a double bill. He would have headlined, of course. I’ll invade my ears with ‘Hi Red’ as soon as I get out of here, thanks! ** Jeff J, Hi, Jeff. It and ‘What’s For Dinner’ are both lovely ways to spend your time. No, I haven’t read ‘Book of Franza’, and, like you, I’m very curious to. Obviously, I’m happy about you getting back to fiction. Covid is nuts here, and yet the government announced last night that it’s lifting most restrictions. I’m not sure what the logic is there other than Macron hoping it’ll help get him reelected. On the film, there’s one possible big donation that, if it comes through, will put us close to being able to start working on the film. So we’re waiting to see if that happens and trying to round up some small donations. So, we’re a bit on pins and needles and hopeful but trying not to get too hopeful. On the novella, I’m still waiting for Zac’s final round of edits. I told him if he doesn’t do that soon, I’m going to just do a last polish myself and think about what presses to submit it to, which may be what happens. Thank you for asking, bud! ** Steve Erickson, I don’t know if it would be huge but it would be very welcome and prescient and probably successful enough to cover the the base costs, at least if it included an emo brothel or two. Great about the podcast. I look forward to the pleasure! ** Right. I’m supposing that I don’t really need to explain why I chose to restore today’s post, do I? See you tomorrow.