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Saturday, October 14, 2006
Most people reading this are well aware of Shocklines, but a few may not be and I'm writing this for them. It's also a reminder for those that already shop there.
I've been a horror reader for a long time. I've always bought books by mail order and I remember well the bad old days before Shocklines. Dealing with dubious sellers and outright thieves like Sideshow. Paying in advance from publishers, only to wait months or even years for the book to see print. And sometimes the publisher would go belly-up and you never got your book or your money back.
Most know that Matt never expects payment up front. You pay when your item is in stock and ready to ship. Matt also offers many cool extras, such as signed and/or inscribed books at no extra cost. Matt Schwartz, with his bookstore and his message board, has done more to bridge the gap between reader and writer than anyone else ever has. Sometimes the Shocklines board is a train wreck and people get a bit out of hand. But Matt puts up with it all and on his dime too. And with the kind of activity that goes on there, trust me, it ain't cheap.
I gotta tell you, I'd be lost without Shocklines. Matt and his store and board are such a vital part of the horror fiction community...I don't think its influence can be measured. I was a co-founder of the message board and I've lost count of the people who have written to thank me for showing them all the horror small press has to offer. People that would otherwise still be just buying mass market books. People that have helped make the small press thrive.
Some of you want to support the presses at the source and I respect the hell out of that. No question, it's a noble thing to do. But indie booksellers are critical to the small press. So many new publishers are starting out and who can keep up with it all? I can. I watch the Advance Orders page at Shocklines religiously. Publishers lose a cut when readers buy from secondary markets, but on the other hand, they wouldn't sell as many books as they do without places like Shocklines.
Shocklines isn't the only independent bookseller the genre has. There's Clarksworld, Bad Moon Books, etc. I wish them all well. But I think Shocklines is unique. Matt is the field's best friend and he bends over backward for everyone, taking a lot of shit along the way. You can't please everyone at a busy forum such as Shocklines, but Matt does an admirable job.
Matt also stocks and sells small chapbooks and mass market publications where he only makes a dollar or so, and sometimes not even that. He does it to support the writers and readers and publishers.
There's more to this than Matt's second-to-none service and vital role in the horror community. Matt is not just a friend of mine, he's my brother. He's been there in times of personal crisis and I'll never forget all the things he's done for me.
But Matt is in a bad way. His personal health insurance has sky-rocketed and the future of the bookstore is uncertain. I can't express in words how horrible that is for me. We might take Shocklines for granted sometimes and think it'll always be there for us. In an all-too-imperfect world of despicable insurance greed, it could fall. I'm not asking for donations and Matt wouldn't accept them if I did. I am asking you to make Shocklines your primary source for horror books. And I'm asking you to help spread the word. Tell your reader friends. Pimp Shocklines on your My Space page or blogs. Buy a book or two and don't forget Shocklines gift certificates for the holidays.
In short, without Shocklines, we're fucked.
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Sunday, October 08, 2006
I remember back around 1990 there was a lot of hype from the horror magazines like Fangoria about a film called Hardware. Praise was heaped upon it and a lot of people were saying that the filmmaker, Richard Stanley, was one to watch. Closely. After a series of delays, Hardware was finally released on VHS and I rented it as soon as I was able to do so. I didn't think that it lived up to the hype surrounding it, but I thought it was one hell of a debut that had a whole lot going for it.
A lot of the excitement about Hardware was about Richard Stanley. He was heralded as a genius and a director with a vision far ahead of his time. Stanley came from South Africa and was like some sort of seer or possibly even a shaman of some sort. These were the kind of rumors that were being tossed about. He was compared to everyone from Lynch to Cronenberg to Argento, but I always thought that the filmmaker that he most reminded me of was Alejandro Jodorowski.
Then we heard about Stanley's upcoming movie: Dust Devil. The early word on Dust Devil led me to believe that the promise of the talent behind Hardware would be fulfilled with this one. Again, the production was plagued with problems and it was released in a badly cut form that was indecipherable to most viewers. What was there was not only good, it was brilliant. Yet were deprived of the full scope of Richard Stanley's cinematic vision.
Despite an unsatisfactory release for Dust Devil, Stanley was offered a very nice gig in a remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau. After only a brief time on board the production, creative differences abounded and Stanley was removed from the project and John Frankenheimer took over. Bad move on the studio's part. Not that Frankenheimer is a bad director. Far from it, but the film ended up being a disaster in every way imaginable.
Reportedly disgusted with trying to get a feature made and released his way, Richard Stanley abandoned his quest to get his own ideas made into films, he roamed the world making weird documentaries.
Now, at last, Dust Devil is available to us in the form that Richard Stanley wanted it to be. Subversive Cinema pulled out all the stops with this release. It's a five disc set, with the director's cut on one DVD, a longer workprint on another, the documentaries on two more and an audio CD with Simon Boswell's evocative score as well.
For those that are weary of retreaded horror movies, misconceived retro 70's misfires, remakes and sequels and prequels, Dust Devil is the film for you. You come to this site (hopefully) because you love horror. Dust Devil is the kind of movie any lover of the genre should embrace. The titular dust devil is a roaming ageless spirit, played by the underrated actor, Robert John Burke. He charms unsuspecting women, seduces them and then slaughters them. Dust Devil is brutal enough to satisfy hardcore horror fans, yet it is also intelligent enough to please more discriminating viewers. Made in Stanley's native South Africa, Dust Devil is beautifully shot and Subversive's DVD looks incredible. The entire movie is a wonder to behold, even when terrible things are happening.
I don't think it's any exaggeration to call Dust Devil: The Final Cut the horror DVD event of 2006. It's a limited edition and if there's any justice in the world, it will sell out quickly and hopefully rekindle Richard Stanley's career in feature films. Talent like his comes around all too rarely and it's a shame to see it compromised or ignored.
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Sunday, October 01, 2006
I've heard a few small DVD companies referred to as the "Low Budget Criterion". Tempe, among others. That's nice, but to me there's only one small company doing horror/exploitation DVDs that truly deserves that kind of comparison. I'm talking about Synapse Films.
The people at Synapse take some of the best and most worthy films and painstakingly restore them to their proper states. It's an incredibly time-consuming and costly process, and only individuals with a real passion for preserving film will do it. The list of acquisitions that Synapse has released has been impressive. Recently they've given us Street Trash, the truly perverse Singapore Sling, Thriller: A Cruel Picture and 42nd Street Forever. The latter is a compilation of classic exploitation trailers. These guys even restore coming attraction ads and I don't that that ANYONE else does that.
Last Night I watched a Synapse title: Long Weekend. It's a brilliant Australian movie about a couple with severe marital problems. A vacation seems like a good idea to relax and rebuild their relationship. As expected with a release of this kind, their trip turns into a nightmare. Long Weekend is billed as a nature runs amok story, like The Birds or Frogs, but it's really much more of a psychological suspense movie. The movie itself is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Synapse did a magnificent job in bringing out the gorgeous Australian scenery. The only film I've seen that looks better is the Criterion edition of Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout, and that is only due to the brilliant cinematography by Roeg himself. Synapse's restoration work rivals anything that Criterion puts out. The main difference is the price tag on the package. Synapse movies are substantially cheaper than Criterion's.
Recently, a new edition of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released. Dark Sky Films put it out, but the stunning restoration job was supervised by Synapse's Don May, Jr. The improvement over any other edition of TCM is immeasurable.
While I was attending The Horrorfind Convention '06, I hung out with the Synapse guys for quite some time. These two partners, Don May, Jr. and Jerry Chandler, are certified fanatics in their love of movies. And not only that, they are serious horror fiction readers...my kind of people, in other words. They told me that Best Buy was going to discontinue stocking their DVDs, because there wasn't a big enough demand for them.
I gotta tell you, that pisses me off. I used to be one of Best Buy's biggest advocates, but I've gradually lost respect for them as the years have gone by. The music that they carry, the films they keep on the shelves are becoming more and more mainstream. Like so many bigger companies, The Bottom Line is all that appears to matter to them. I've been going to Best Buy with less frequency and I am getting damned close to stopping altogether. I like their Rewards program, and their prices are damned competitive. But some of their policies don't sit well with me.
Yesterday I went looking for a DVD and I chose Borders instead. Yes, Borders prices are higher, but they have their own rewards deal going and you can get some pretty sweet coupons on a regular basis. That's where I got Long Weekend and I had a 25% off coupon.
Then there are the online shops. Amazon carries everything and it's hard to avoid them altogether. I've been doing business with Deep Discount a lot more and their prices are simply unbeatable. Orders take a while to get processed and their products are often on backorder, but if you're looking to save a buck, go with Deep Discount DVD. And when I'm in the mood to browse in a store to make an impulse purchase, I'm sticking with Borders from now on.
Again, I want to emphasize that Synapse brings the best quality DVD to the horror/exploitation/sleaze lover. If you care about movies, and that they get the proper treatment that they...and we...deserve, please consider buying something from Synapse when you're choosing what movies to purchase. You can't buy everything from them, because so many distributors have great films out there for sale. But try to keep in mind the commitment to quality and the care that goes into Synapse releases. They really deserve all of the support that we can give them.
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