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Thursday, December 27, 2007
There has been some recent controversy in the genre about lifetime subscriptions to various small press publishers. One impending new outlet, Full Moon, has announced an astounding 20 books to be published in one year. I would never consider taking on a subscription like that, because of the amount of money it would cost. But that number would not entice me to do so even if I could afford it. That sounds like suicide, no matter how much advice one might receive from the seasoned pros. It's like being a virgin and being told about sex. Till you've gotten down and done the nasty, you don't really know what it's all about. And it usually takes a while before you get it right.
I don't wish Full Moon to fail, but I am tired of so many damned limited editions coming out. It has become a rich man's game, no matter what anyone says. Yes, the big dogs like CD and Subterranean still price their regular limiteds at $40.00 and I'm grateful for that. And yes, they haven't really gone up in almost 15 years. That's certainly wonderful. But consider this...
Try to buy a computer back in 1995 and see what that would have cost you. Or a digital movie player. Or a new release movie. Sure, they're electronics and everybody knows that we reap our entertainment through near slave labor from other countries. But there has to be some reason why the prices of those have remained stable.
Good business is a big part of it, I think. Good business and dealing with a quality product. The big companies got that way by doing it right. Also, when they reach a point where they can produce large publishing runs and can make sales to libraries and discount sellers, that helps a lot.
Think this, too: Back when the small horror press was relatively new, in the mid-90's, deluxe books were not all that plentiful. It was feasible, for most individuals, to buy most of the books that they really wanted to own. Now it seems like there are dozens of new publications announced each month. It has reached epidemic proportions and all but the extremely well off must refrain from indulging in the majority of them.
Of course, we are told that we don't prioritize our spending. That we possibly shouldn't have had children if we could not properly afford them. Well, in my case, I knew damned well I couldn't afford kids. But I fell in love with a woman that happened to have two young daughters. Should I have said, "No, I'm not marrying a woman with baggage"? That wouldn't be too cool, would it? And I didn't know that one would end up being a child with very special needs. Very expensive special needs. Should I bail out on them?
Gas prices are astronomical, mortgage foreclosures are at a record high. Heath Care and insurance in America is a farce. Yeah, I prioritize my money all right.
And yes, there is a market for the expensive books. Sadly. I don't mind in the case of something like the recent 25th Anniversary of Dark Forces (which, by the way, is THE most beautiful book I've ever seen). Old copies of Dark Forces are plentiful and cheaply obtained.
One argument is that the nice books are permanent and have lavish illustrations in them. Now, I love books as much as the next fan. I have a house full of them. But for me, it's the words inside that count. If I could save five or ten bucks off the cover price, I'd take a book with no illustrations and a blank cover. Give me the story. That's what I'm in it for. The rest is window dressing.
And for all the books we read, how many will we reread in our lives? The answer for me is very few. I'll never catch up with all the books I currently wish to read. Will you?
I miss the days when five or six bucks allowed you to check out a new writer. Oh, you still can. I recently got the paperback of Alexandra Sokoloff's The Harrowing at WalMart for $4.84. You're damned right I shop at WalMart. I have to save money wherever I can, or there would really be no book purchases for me.
How many times have you been burned by a new writer that everyone raves about and paid forty or more dollars for a hardback you hated? Or twenty bucks for a trade paperback that you thought sucked? Oh boy, I have. Too many times.
Yes, again, there is a market for the high end books and who can blame the publishers for providing the product for that market? I can't, but that doesn't mean I have to like the situation. I've been a fan of this stuff for longer than many of the readers, writers and even publishers have been alive. It stings to have to miss out on a lot of exciting stuff.
You know what? I miss Shocklines. Yeah, I know they're still there, but it's not the same. The death knell has rung for Matt Schwartz's business. I can't express how unhappy that makes me. I bought many books from Matt. Very many and when Shocklines was booming in its first year or two, I considered it to be the high water mark of the small press revolution.
The Horror Mall has risen to take the place of Shocklines. I'm sure that they will provide superlative service to their customers. But I haven't signed on as a customer yet. And I may never do so. It's foolish, but I almost feel like it would be a betrayal of Matt. Then again, I don't buy all that many small press books anymore and when I do it's either direct from the publisher, or through Amazon. In the former instances, I support the press at the source. In the latter, I save a substantial amount of money.
Can this continue? More and more and more expensive books coming out all the time. To be honest, the whole situation saddens me. The small press just doesn't seem fun any longer. And I miss Hellbound Books more than ever.
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Sunday, December 23, 2007
 Vincent Price. I don't know why, but I've been thinking about him today. I think he was, no is, our most beloved bogeyman.
Growing up, I relished watching Vincent in any film he was in. He made being scared so much fun. The Dr. Phibes movies were probably my youthful favorites, but I loved 'em all. The AIP Poe films, Theater of Blood, House on Haunted Hill and so many others.
Vincent Price was handsome, erudite, and was classically trained, but when Marlon Brando ushered in the era of 'the mumblers', high society movies fell out of fashion and Price found himself an unlikely horror star. It suited him well and he took to sinister roles like a duck to water.
He had a long and busy career, earning him generations of fans. Maintaining dignity, even while many of his roles were rather silly. But even the most insignificant films were vastly improved by his presence.
Edward Scissorhands wasn't Vincent Price's final role, but it serves as a warm and touching capstone to his life and profession. I never fail to get choked up by his performance in it.
So let's drink a toast to The Gentleman of Horror! How many of us would be the horror fans we are today without his influence?
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Wednesday, December 19, 2007
It was a time, it was a certain place in our hearts. The slasher craze really didn't last that long though. But for a few glorious years, everybody was trying to get on the lucrative bandwagon and follow the enormous success of films like Friday the 13th and Halloween. Everyone from big-name stars and filmmakers, as with Happy Birthday To Me, to crude backyard productions. Most, however, were done with a modest budget and their shortcomings were endearing to those of us that had a taste for it.
Like with other dead genres like Punk and Rock and Roll, we have hopefuls attempting to revive the slasher picture. It worked with Scream, because Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson took the trappings of the genre and added a modern twist. It worked with Behind the Mask, for the same reasons.
Don't get me wrong...I like ripoff movies. The exploitation genre is rife with them. But while it's fun to have watched and revisit vintage movies with poor acting and shoddy production values, it's not much fun to watch a new filmmaker attempt to recreate it. What was once endearing now is pathetic.
Case in point: Hatchet. Hatchet came with loads of hype. Even horror expert Harry Knowles* pronounced it a classic. People have been singing its praises as some sort of rebirth of the slasher subgenre. All I saw in it was a sad excuse for a film and a throwback to better days.
It can be done right. Grindhouse, while a box office disaster, was embraced by most true fans. But Adam Green is no Tarantino or Rodriguez. Not by a long shot.
He seems like a nice guy though and I think his heart was in the right place. But for me, his film falls short of its intended mark. And I didn't discover slasher movies on cable or VHS. I was there, Jack, in the trenches. I waited in long lines at indoor theaters and partied like a maniac at drive-ins. Watching the real deal. I'm not that easily fooled.
When it all boils down, most of them weren't even all that great. But what they are, they are. The classic slasher films represent that time and place that I mentioned above. Good, bad and ugly, we grew up with them and they are like our beloved, crazy family.
The plot of Hatchet is routine and the gore is pretty good at times. At others it falls flat. But it failed altogether in its attempt to recreate? Redefine? Resurrect? Reinvent? Even celebrate the slasher genre. Hatchet is washed out and lifeless.
The acting is pretty bad, with embarrassing standouts by Robert Englund (as an unconvincing redneck) and Tony Todd (as an unconvincing Cajun mojo man). I don't think anyone was particularly good in their roles, but I have to admit that the black dude did a pretty good Mantan Moreland impersonation a couple of times.
All in all, I felt cheated and angry when Hatchet finally ended. I didn't like it and I am no longer buying DVDs blind. I'm sick of being burned. Fuck the hype. See The Girl Next Door instead, which I consider to be one of the best genre films of this decade.
As for all this retro crap, to me it's no better than remakes. If you're going to take the elements of successful past films and fuck it all up, it makes no difference if you call it Friday the 13th 2008 or Hatchet.
*Insert a generous amount of sarcasm here
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Sunday, December 02, 2007
In this age of ridiculous ticket prices, disruptive assholes in theaters, brain-numbing advertisements and despicably overpriced concessions, it's easy...all too easy...to wait for the DVD or to watch on Pay-Per-View and not to get out to the movies.
The saying goes, if you don't vote, then you have no right to bitch about the way politicians run things. The same holds true with movies. Weekend movie results have become like horse races and the money suits keep an eye on which movies come in first or second. This affects how future movies are approved or disapproved.
Many of the movies I liked the most in the past year have been box office disappointments. Grindhouse being the most notorious example. But Hostel 2 and P2 also fared poorly. This hurts us all.
If you are visiting a site called Horror Drive-In, I assume that you enjoy potent horror movies. Yeah, we like mindless violence. Does that make us cretins? Hey, some people crave chocolate and it's bad for you. Are we any worse? We get a kick out of seeing violence on the screen. Most of us developed an affinity for it at an early age and despite wishes from our loved ones and other concerned parties, we stubbornly have refused to grow out of it. And we wouldn't want it any other way.
With the exception of Rob Zombie's Halloween remake and the ever-lucrative Saw franchise, R-Rated horror has been doing poor business of late. And I don't even care for the Saw movies and while I passionately urged everyone to see Halloween, I ended up strongly disliking it. But I still stand by my position that we need to cast our dollars, our votes, for visceral horror.
Other films fared slightly better than Grindhouse. 30 Days of Night did reasonably well, if not in the blockbuster range. I really didn't care for that one either. I adored The Mist and while it hasn't been a box disaster, so far it hasn't exactly set the movie business on fire.
If you haven't done so, see The Mist. Some complain about the end and others hated the monster effects, but the human element in The Mist is beautifully done. As far as I'm concerned, Frank Darabont has done no wrong with his films. You want intelligent horror to be produced and distributed? Show 'em with your dollars.
P2 wasn't a genre classic or anything, but it was a serious attempt at horror and it was genuinely suspenseful. But it got overlooked, or more properly, ignored, not even bringing in 4 million dollars of revenue. And this was co-written and produced by Alexandre Aja. Where is the fans' loyalty?
I know; going to the movies can be frustrating. By far the worst pratfall is the loud and obnoxious people (mostly kids) in the theaters. I've found that seeing a film at the earliest show of the day is a good way to avoid that. Little slackers are hardly out of their beds by noon, after spending all night playing Halo 3 or World of Warcraft.
And I love going to the movies. With all my heart. Sure, everything is homogenized these days. Drive-ins are all but gone and so are the indie theaters. The multiplexes rule the cinematic world and we are slaves to them if we want to see a movie on the big screen. But if we love movies..love them passionately...then we must make ourselves heard. Spouting off at message boards and at IMDB might help a tiny bit, but nothing speaks louder than money. Ticket sales. Your one ticket isn't going to make or break a picture's success, but if a million fans get away from their computers long enough to actually go to a movie, it will help. Enormously.
Today we're going to see No Country For Old Men. It's not a horror movie, but The Coens make intelligent motion pictures and that's a rare thing in this day and age. Comedies featuring what appears to be retarded people, mass-produced computer animated pap, and brainless CGI-heavy action tend to do well. There just aren't a lot of smart movies coming out these days.
So please, go to the movies more. Don't let the loudmouth cretins win by staying away and don't let Hollywood continue to rehash old ideas and plots over and again. At least without a fight. Get out there and make a difference or sit down at home and admit defeat.
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