A Few Words With Christopher Curry

There was a mini horror convention near where I live; held at a local library. It was free and pretty fun for me and my wife and kids. While I was there I met a guy named Chris Curry. Chris had written a book-length study of Herschell Gordon Lewis called A Taste of Blood and got it published by Creation Books. A little bit of time passed and I ended up visiting Chris at his home, and I marveled at his immense collection of DVDs, movie memorabilia, one sheets, props and other cool stuff.

Having published a work on one exploitation master, Chris is now striving to perfect a new book. This time his subject is Ted V. Mikels, director of such grindhouse classics as Astro-Zombies, The Corpse Grinders, The Doll Squad and 10 Violent Women.

I caught up with Chris on a chilly Sunday afternoon to ask him a few questions.

HD-I: Chris, how did you first become interested in vintage exploitation films such as those by Herschell Gordon Lewis and Ted V. Mikels?

CC: When I was five or six years old I saw a movie on late night television called "The Dead Don't Die." This thing was wretched, but it did have Reggie Nalder
in it and I've never shaken the image of his peculiar face from my mind. If you've seen Reggie then you'll know what I'm talking about.

Chris Outside the Suez Hotel (From Blood Feast)

Fast forward eight years and the video rental market is exploding. Coupled with that is USA Network, showing "The Incredibly Strange Film Show" and then of course "Drive-In Theater" with Joe Bob Briggs. From here my taste for these low-budget exploiters really started to get under way.

I'll never forget the episode of "Incredibly Strange Films" where Jonathan Ross interviews Herschell and then shows scenes from "Wizard of Gore" where Montag is fondling and caressing the viscera before him. It almost seemed sexual in nature. Big budget horror films just didn't do that.

The other thing that I loved about these films was that they were shot on location and not some sound stage. These apartments and houses and places of business were very real. To me the movies became time capsules of a sort.

So, it really started with Joe Bob Briggs and Jonathan Ross. Remember, this was before Something Weird Video existed so finding some of these obscure titles could be maddening. "The Astro Zombies" in particular nearly drove me batty. I couldn't find that sucker anywhere. Eventually my best friend, John, found it somewhere in Kentucky where he lives.

Incidentally, Western Kentucky seemed to be some kind of a wormhole for these old, out of print VHS tapes. John could find any damned thing there. Here I was living in more metropolitan areas and having to send my friend on hunts for these things, and he was somehow always turning them up. Of course nowadays it's easy to find most anything like that. DVD has afforded way more titles than VHS did, and then with the internet and Ebay and whatnot it's become very easy to locate oddball films.

HD-I: The Dead Don't Die! I remember that! It was directed by Curtis Harrington, from a Robert Bloch teleplay. It's a great little movie.

Man, I'm with you on Jonathan Ross and Joe Bob. I loved those shows and they had an immense influence upon me as a lover of bizarre cinema. I used to have them all taped. I sure miss them.

At what point did you decide to write a book about Herschell Gordon Lewis?

CC: Well, I'd spent a good amount of time trying to track his movies down on VHS, but still I'd not gotten them all. My friend, Mike, had RE/Search's "Incredibly Strange Films" book and I found out that Herschell had over three dozen movies. Of course, they weren't all gore films, but I was so taken by the raw intensity of his work that I didn't care what they were about. I just knew that they were going to be at least interesting to look at.

So, about the same time as I was reading "Incredibly Strange Films" where Boyd Rice asks Herschell about Dan Krogh's book "The Amazing Herschell Gordon Lewis & His World of Exploitation Films" I discovered an old copy of Fangoria. In this issue there was an ad for that very book. It was old, but I phoned them up just the same. The book was long out of print and they had no intention of ever reprinting it. I was told that they set out to create a collector's item and they did just that. So, after I hung up the phone I sat there a might irritated and finally came to the conclusion that I'd write my own damned book on Herschell and his films.

In all sincerity seeking a publisher was the furthest thing from my mind. I just wanted to compile all the information that I could about this strange filmmaker named Herschell Gordon Lewis. If I was the only person to have a copy of this thing then so be it.

So, at the time, it was pretty easy to get all the stuff together. Author Randy Palmer, who wrote a great book about Herschell called "Godfather of Gore," had conducted two lengthy interviews with Herschell in Fangoria. His book was far from finished at that point, but I did locate those two issues of Fango. By the way, Randy was killed in a car accident about 3 years ago while living in Ashland, Virginia. Anyhow, the only other extensive information out there about Herschell and his films resided within a handful of John McCarty's books and then, of course, Dan Krogh's book.

Chris Curry and Bill Rogers (From A Taste of Blood)

I had the John McCarty books with the applicable information, but I needed Dan's. I contacted Dan and he didn't have a copy that he could sell to me, but he told me who he sold his last one to, Bill Rogers from Herschell's "A Taste of Blood". I contacted Bill for an interview and he obliged, and from there I kept in touch with Bill and visited him on numerous occasions. Bill was a wonderful soul who unfortunately passed away two years ago.

Still, I didn't have Dan's book. I had to pull a fast one. I inter-library loaned this thing and it came up from Texas. To my dismay all of the nude and even SEMI-nude photos had been excised with a razor blade. I wasn't so concerned with the graphics, but the back sides of the pages were missing vital information. I contacted Bill and told him of all the pages that had been butchered and he sent me photocopies of what I needed in order to repair this damaged copy of Dan's book.

So, here's where the "fast one" comes in that I mentioned earlier. I knew that I was going to need this book for some time so I contacted the Dallas, Texas, library and inquired about them selling the book to me. I explained to them that the book was sliced to shreds and that I had taken it upon myself to repair it. They were gracious as to my efforts, but would not budge as far as selling it goes. I assured them that once they were aware of the book's condition that they'd surely throw it in a box at a book sale and move it for 10 lousy cents. I offered the full face value of $14.95. I was told, rather curtly, "Sir, we are not in the business of selling books. We only loan them out."

Well, I figured I needed it more than they did and so I had it conveniently lifted from my car. I called the library stating the incident and they said, "Oh, it's okay. We have another one in our archives." I thought sheesh, you have two copies and I'm offering you cover price for a piece of shit and you won't go for it! So, the book magically reappeared and I carried on with my take on Herschell's films. Incidentally, I did thank the Dallas, Texas Public Library for their cooperation on page three of the book.

I should also mention that my father, John Curry, was an immense help with this book. He did all of the typing and helped me so very much when it came to timely commentary. My father grew up in the drive-in era and he was able to help me put things into their proper perspectives. The project would have never been completed without his help; in fact, on the title page he is credited as my co-author. He's also helping me in this regard with the Ted V. Mikels book. Dad's a history nut and he can recall things that would take me hours to dig up. He's really like a walking encyclopedia.

HD-I: So, you eventually contacted Herschell, right?

CC: Right, but I'll have to back track a bit on this one as it happened before the notion of writing a book had occurred to me. Here's what happened, one evening I was alone watching "The Gruesome Twosome" and I had a crazy thought. I wondered if Herschell was indeed still alive. I knew that he was last living in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and I'd lived there just a few years earlier. I called Information and asked for Herschell Gordon Lewis. The operator read me the number; I wrote it down and called. I got an answering machine and blindly left my name and number. I said in the message that I'd hoped that I'd gotten the correct Herschell Gordon Lewis, the one who directed "Blood Feast" and so on.

Chris Curry Meets Herschell

The very next day I was in the shower and my ex-wife came in and said it's him! It's Herschell Lewis and he's on the phone! I didn't believe her. I got out, dried off a bit and headed for the living room. I took the phone and sure enough it was him. I was floored. I told him of my adoration for his films and he was quite appreciative. Keep in mind this was before he became the Monster Festival favorite that he is these days and he seemed genuinely taken by my love of his films.

Again all of that happened before I decided to write the book. Later I would interview him on numerous occassions and he was always affable and very willing to answer my questions. There was only one time that he ever seemed to take offense to one of my questions. The set up was that it was the psychedelic 60's and that drugs were all about. I asked how it was that a man could make such insane movies without the aid of a drug or two. I was not implying that he DID use them, but rather the opposite. He got a little beside himself, a little flustered, and I had to try and reel him back in so that we could continue the session. I don't know, maybe it was an inappropriate question, but other than that instance he's always been the kindest of gentlemen.

Sometime after the book surfaced I was visiting my friend Kevin in Ft. Lauderdale. I still had Herschell's number, so I phoned him up. He was glad to hear from me and invited me to breakfast the next morning at the Ft. Lauderdale Country Club. Of course I accepted and had a little over an hour of one on one talk with the Wizard of Gore. Herschell had pecan pie and coffee and I, with my stomach in knots, could only get the coffee down. He autographed several of my books and treated me very warmly.

Then in 2001 my girlfriend Kim and I attended the Maryland Film Festival where they were screening two of Herschell's films, "The Gore Gore Girls" and "Two Thousand Maniacs". Herschell was introducing both movies and yet again I was in the presence of the Mad Hatter of Splatter. It was a thrill to say the least, though not as cool as the previous in person meeting that I'd had with him.

This part was really cool. They screened "Two Thousand Maniacs" at Benji's Drive-In. This was the drive-in featured at the end of John Waters' "Cecil B. Demented". Any how, Herschell is wheeled up to the concession area in a long black hearse. He got out and did an introduction to the movie and a bit of Q & A and then it was time to see "Two Thousand Maniacs" as it was meant to be seen...on the giant drive-in screen, with a six pack of beer, some greasy pizza and a hot date.

HD-I: Man, that sounds like the greatest time. I'm jealous!

CC: It was cool and I'm very fortunate that Herschell and now Ted are so receptive to what I'm doing. Ted is especially excited about this project and in turn it makes me strive even harder to make a chronicle of his film career that I feel befits him and shows him and his work in a proper light.

HD-I: Getting back to the book, was Creation the first publisher you talked to about it?

CC: They were definitely one of the first. I had purchased their "Inside Teradome: The History of the Freak Film" book and I figured they might be up for job, but the project was actually picked up about a year earlier by Fantasma Books out of Key West, Florida.

So, here's what happened with that — they loved the work and they were even gonna use my original title, "Please Leave the Theater: The Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis", but they'd just published an unauthorized book on Godzilla, and Toho were not in the least happy about it. Toho sued Fantasma completely out of business and in this debacle lay all of my materials; pressbooks, one sheets, lobby cards, promo photos, everything. I was panicking. I knew that in the mess of it all that returning my quaint little project was probably not a top priority for them. It took several months, but I finally did receive every bit of it back with a recommendation letter that I could use for my subsequent queries. I was sweatin' bullets to say the least.

Chris and Dan Krogh (author of The Amazing Herschell Gordon Lewis)

Now, once all of that was over with, I had to start the query process all over again and Creation responded as well as another British publisher; Fab Press. Ultimately, Fab didn't dig the project as they felt that it was too light-hearted and not nearly as analytical as they prefer. Creation loved it and I really liked the idea of my book being part of a transgressive film encyclopedia set.

Here's another funny bit about all of that. While I was corresponding with the rep at Fab Press I asked about Creation Books. He (I can't remember his name) said that they were their biggest competitor and that they (Creation) never did color inserts. As it turned out "A Taste of Blood" was Creation's first book to include color pages. I'm very proud of that fact, but it also makes me snicker as well.

HD-I: What good would a book on Herschell be with black and white pictures, right?

CC: Well, I certainly felt that the book would be all the more impressive for it.

HD-I: Were you happy with your experience with Creation?

CC: Mostly, but they did omit a few things that I would've liked to have seen left in. For instance, I had an entire chapter devoted to H.G. Lewis memorabilia. Comics, records, pressbooks, one sheets, the novelizations of "Blood Feast", "Two Thousand Maniacs", "Color Me Blood Red" and "Moonshine Mountain" and on and on. I really wish they'd left that in there. In fact, one critic pointed out that I'd forgotten to mention those novelizations that Herschell had written as tie-ins for those movies. But of course I hadn't forgotten at all.

Now, here are a couple of pieces of the experience that I also wasn't so happy about. Number one, they never sent me any proofs to look over and I assumed that they would. I'll never assume anything like that ever again. The other part that I kinda screwed myself on was in the contract it stated that I would only receive royalties if the book was sold at its $22.95 cover price. What this translates into is that if they sold 4,000 copies of my book at $22.50 then I'd never receive one penny. It was a big mistake on my part, but I was just so anxious to see the damned thing in print that I just went along with it.

HD-I: What made you decide to go with Ted V. Mikels as your next book-length subject?

CC: I always knew that my second book would be on Ted as I love his films as much as I do Herschell's. I don't want to give too much about Ted away, it'll all be in the book, but he's just one fascinating man. Most everyone knows of his infamous castle and the castle ladies that he lived with, and that seems to supercede his film career, which is nothing to sneeze at either.

Another factor in deciding to do the H.G. Lewis book first was my rather limited writing skills at the time. I figured it might work in my favor if my written commentaries were to reflect the feel of a Lewis movie. So it was kind of contrived in a way and mostly I think it worked. Ted's movies are more technically adept than Herschell's so I knew that project would need a better handling of the written word, so I've been writing constantly since "A Taste of Blood" came out and I feel that I'm ready to finally tackle this book.

HD-I: How close are you to completing it?

CC: It's about one third or more finished, but I'm always finding out new information and going back and tweaking this and that. I interview Ted about once a week and a lot of times he'll remember something that he'd long since forgotten, and invariably it will always be about a film that I've already finished the chapter on. It's cool though. I want this book to be the best that it can be, so everything he recalls of interest is going in this sucker.

HD-I: Do you plan to submit this one to Creation, or are you seeking a new publisher?

CC: They're certainly on the list, but I'm not about to sign the same contract that I did last time.

HD-I: So, after the Mikels book is sold, what's next?"

CC: Well, I've been messing around with a piece of fiction called "Indiana." Filmmaker-wise we'll have to see. Hmmm, Ray Dennis Steckler might be in the running. Sybil Danning of all people asked Ted to ask me if I would be interested in writing her biography. So who knows?

HD-I: I'm a big Steckler fan! And writing a bio of Sybil Danning would be most revealing, I'm sure.

One last thing: You write for Film Threat. Does Chris Gore live up to his reputation of being notoriously cheap?

CC: I've never dealt directly with Chris Gore. My go- between is Eric Campos and I only get free screeners for my efforts. I really just do it to help me keep improving my writing. It's basically just more practice.

HD-I: Thanks for taking the time to answer all of these questions, Chris, and good luck with the books. Oh, one more thing…if any readers are interested in obtaining signed copies of A Taste of Blood, can we work something out?

CC: Sure!

Thanks once again to Chris for taking the time out of his hectic schedule to answer my questions. Look for his reviews at Film Threat and for those interested in obtaining a signed copy of A Taste of Blood, drop me a line and we'll iron out the details.

noclublonewolf@verizon.net