Schlock-U-Ments
TEENAGE WASTELAND: Every Slasher Has A Story To Tell
Jan 31st
If any subgenre of horror proves how the commercial always trumps the critical, it’s the slasher movie. They’ve been discriminated against by film critics from the very beginning — even Halloween got nasty reviews until a few savvy critics decided to champion it — but the audience was always there, in droves. Despite a glut More >
MINDWARP: Corman’s New World In A “Just The Facts” Style
Dec 8th
Roger Corman played a big role in the direction of popular cinema during the 1960’s and 1970’s. As a result, there a number of biographies available (including an autobiography from Corman himself). However, in-depth accounts of his time running New World Pictures — the bedrock of his reputation as a career-starting mogul — are surprisingly More >
SHOCK VALUE: A Different Passage Into The New Horror
Nov 14th
Four decades on, there doesn’t seem to be anything left to say about the wave of New Horror films ushered in by Night Of The Living Dead. The films of George Romero, Wes Craven, John Carpenter and any other genre auteur who came to prominence in the 1970’s have been covered in exhaustive detail several More >
NIGHTMARE MOVIES: Modern Horror From A Genealogical Viewpoint
Aug 30th
When Your Humble Reviewer was a teenage horror fan developing his take on the genre, the original edition of Kim Newman’s Nightmare Movies was one of the books he cut his critical teeth on. Its focus on modern horror (1968 to 1988) spoke to his youthful interests, exploring this topic with a playfulness that made More >
THE FANGO FILES: Issue #10 — Faeries And Robots Vs. Scanners And Frankenstein
Jul 29th
As readers of this post series know, Fangoria didn’t become the top horror movie mag overnight. It was born as a sort of all-things-to-all-fans compromise intended to cater to sci-fi and fantasy fans as well as the horror crowd — but no magazine can serve that many masters. Fangoria gradually developed into a horror-driven magazine More >
THEY CALL ME BABA BOOEY: An Underdog Story For The Schlock Generation
Apr 12th
If you’ve ever followed the Howard Stern Show, you know a big part of the appeal is the personal touch it applies to a format that usually has cut-and-dried rules. Stern did away with the illusion of the seamless radio show and its antiseptic personalities, pulling back the curtain to show his audience the inner More >
DARK STARS RISING: Transgressive Artists Are People, Too
Mar 18th
If you’re a cult movie fan, you probably have an eccentric definition of what makes a good celebrity interview subject — and you’d probably like to hear from similarly unusual people in other areas of the arts. Unfortunately, collections that cater to these sensibilities are few and far between. Thankfully, there are a handful of More >
NUEVO FANGO: Part 2 — Issue #295
Feb 25th
When it was announced that Fangoria was changing editors, part of the announcement involved the idea that the focus of the magazine would be broadened from just horror films to more of a horror “lifestyle” focus. This prompted a sense of dread in many horror fans, as they are a cultish lot and don’t like More >
THE FANGO FILES: Issue #9 — A Teenage Gorehound’s Dream Realized
Feb 4th
Now, this is what horror fans have on their minds when they daydream about the early days of Fangoria. The cover alone is a teenage gorehound’s dream come true, anchored by a striking image of pighead-masked Farmer Vincent from waving his chainsaw at us. Even better, that chainsaw appears to be breaking free of its More >
IMPOSSIBLY FUNKY!: Beyond The Valley Of The Film ‘Zines
Nov 9th
If you’re of a certain age and into following cult movies, chances are you’ve bought plenty of ‘zines. Before the internet changed communication within subcultures, these self-made publications were the way to get information on your underground hobby of choice without any of the filtering/softening-down that often comes with mainstream publications. In fairness to the More >
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