Killbaby was a really cool ‘zine that focused on horror/ gore/ exploitation flicks, but also had some music content (mostly old school (’70s) punk). The layout was very appealing- more interesting than most ‘zines done on a computer with a desktop publishing program (they usually tended to be kind of blah), and included a bit of art and humor thrown in randomly as well.
Issue #2 came out Sept of 1989, and featured an interview with Charles Pinion (who did a skate/ splatter movie back then called Twisted Issues), and Donald Farmer (who did several low budget movies including Cannibal Hookers), an Udo Kier biography/ filmography (including reviews of most of the films on the list), an article on Salo: The 120 Days of Sodom, as well as one on a couple of blaxploitation movies, letters, ‘zine and music reviews, and a bunch of long, informative movie reviews including a lot of obscure and hard to find movies. The writing is good and informative without being pretentious or too scholarly sounding, and this is a nice little ‘zine. A fun and informative read…
Uniforce was a fairly long running (for an underground ‘zine) hardcore and extreme metal ‘zine put out by Mark Sawickis, guitarist for cult horror obsessed grind/ death band IMPETIGO. It was an underground mainstay in a time when ‘zines were the veins that spread the blood of music information to the underground fans and people who were into it.
It always featured a lot of interviews (including some with bigger bands that often didn’t answer interviews with little ‘zines) and reviews; and included reviews of albums, demos, and even music that a lot of underground ‘zines ignored (more commercial metal and rock bands).
This issue was a return to a full-size ‘zine after trying out a digest sized one (that was incredibly thick), and featured a bunch of ads (mostly for other ‘zines), and some show reviews, but mostly it contained interviews and reviews (no frills no filler). The reviews were earnest and unpretentious and honest (but positive- I never saw him rip on something, even if he didn’t like it much). The layout was unspectacular, but like I said the music was the #1 focus, everything else was unimportant.
Gore Gazette was a very long running (made it to 110 issues) horror/ gore/ exploitation/ grindhouse ‘zine. Each issue was fairly short, but most o them were free. Editor Rick Sullivan went to all the grindhouse movies in New Jersey and New York throughout the ’80s and early ’90s, and wrote about the movies he saw there in this ‘zine. This was back before most every underground/ cult/ offbeat/ short run gore and exploitation film was easily available on dvd or written about online, and people would read through Gore Gazette then seek out the hard-to-find movies he wrote about. He also wrote about more mainstream movies (really most any movie he went and saw), and the writing style was very down-to-earth and sleazy (and VERY anti-P.C.. You didn’t read Gore Gazette if you were easily offended).
The 100th issue featured the usual assortment of news, reviews, commentary, and insults plus a list of every horror movie that had been released in New York City from 1980 to 1990. It was newspaper sized (4 pages) and printed on newsprint.
Poison Planet was put out by Ty Smith (who I recently found out passed away a couple of years ago- R.I.P.) of the old hardcore band RESIST (as well as the short-lived but awesome NAMLAND with members of IMPULSE MANSLAUGHTER), and featured a good mix of hardcore, punk, grindcore, straight edge, and death metal. Most every band he featured was pretty bad ass, and he also did show and ‘zine reviews, had some funny art and comics (mostly stolen from other sources), and did longer reviews (and even reviewed a few more mainstream things like RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and FAITH NO MORE- he has a very broad musical taste and his own unique opinions, even giving good reviews to things that a lot of underground ‘zines panned like VOIVOD’s Nothingface and later DIE KREUZEN (yuck!) ) that seemed pretty thought out. The interviews were fairly short (tho he did some with bands you didn’t see interviewed much, such as BROTHERHOOD, who featured a young Greg Anderson who went on to found Southern Lord records and play guitar in the bands GOATSNAKE, SUNN 0))), THORRS HAMMER, and a bunch more) and he also did a few articles on bands where he wrote a longer bio for them.
When people ask me what my favorite punk/ hardcore album of all time is, I can’t answer honestly- there are several that are tied. However when pressed, I usually say this album- CONFLICT’s masterpiece The Ungovernable Force.
It starts off with a crude noise collage called “You Cannot Win” that goes into the intro from their album Increase the Pressure (the whole album has nods to CONFLICT’s past, as well as a punk history lesson in the lyrics), then some piercing feedback. The next bunch of songs are all connected to each other, almost a punk and hardcore medley that starts off with two incredibly ripping tracks (with a savage bass line) that sound like one song, then a marching nod to C.R.A.S.S. (which a lot of the members of CONFLICT were also in).
“Custom Rock” comments on radio-friendly bands who join corporate labels to get famous, and the music kind of apes U2, but is 100% CONFLICT. Then they go into another march that brings us up to date on the state of things (at the time). All of these songs have their own feel and flavor but flow into each other seamlessly. Another savage commentary on popular music comes next- this one about bonehead metal bands and tough-guy hardcore bands (the music is suitably matallic as well). The last song on side A is a brutal and pissed diatribe about standing up for what’s right and fighting the powers that be when they are oppressive. Lyrics like “Riot- there ain’t been a riot but ones knocking at your door; you’ve seen nothing yet but household pets, you’ll feel the lion’s claws!” are pretty call-to-action provocative. This song is accompanied by samples from a big riot that happened in London.
Side B starts off with an older CONFLICT (from their first album It’s Time To See Who’s Who era) soundung track which quickly morphs into the catchy and humorous “Force Or Service?”. These tracks are more catchy and punky, but then comes “The Arrest”, which is back to a faster hardcore track that tells what you should do if you get arrested (“Whatever you go through in a police cell is nothing compared to the suffering inflicted by governments; the state destroys tortures and murders, we must stop them using force if necessary- remember that and good luck!”). This is followed by a mellower instrumental (that even sound a little Metallica-esque at tomes) then another savage and awesome song about a nuclear strike. This is the climax of the album.
The last 2 songs are “This Is the A.L.F.”- a very well put together song with a lot of interesting changes about animal liberation and the final song is a very quiet and poetic one with just a piano and a female singer.
This album is put together so well, the way all the songs flow into each other and build to a climax- the dynamics and riveting patterns of the songs, and the way they all have so much going on in them- the multi-instrumentation, the 3 vocalists, plus the samples and noises. The only complaint that I would have is that most of the songs don’t stand up as well on their own (tho some do), because they are fragments of an overall piece. But make no mistake- this is an excellent and ambitious album well put together by talented musicians with a lot of spirit, fire, conviction and personality. Find it…
The album sounds better if you lsiten to it as a whole, but this song stands well on it’s own and is a good example of the album’s excellence:
Screem is almost not a ‘zine- as a matter of fact, I think it later became glossy and was distributed through a real magazine distributor. But it always felt like it was assembled in someone’s bedroom with love, and photocopied at Kinko’s.
Tho primarily a film magazine, they also covered music and other mondo topics. Each issue was pretty fun to read and contained a lot of stuff packed in. This issue featured long articles on the Ed Gein movie Deranged, and Alejandro Jodorowsky; an interview with Danny Mills (who played the chicken raper in John Water’s Pink Flamingos); shorter articles on Coffin Joe, the return of Famous Monsters of Filmland, the Chiller Theatre convention, and the 1956 movie The Werewolf; a G.G. Allin obituary; news; book, movie, music, and collectable card reviews; letters, and more. If you ever see an issue of Screem at a comic shop or anywhere, it’s worth picking up.
You aren’t dreaming- Phantasm II is finally being released in a proper collector’s edition with all the trimmings. The gory, delicious trimmings.
This was always one of my fav horror movies- I liked it even better than the first one. The Phantasm movies were always small part art house mindfuckery and big part horror movie with extra creep factor thrown in, but this one went over the top with it’s awesome practical gore effects and insane atmosphere. As a matter of fact, the movie is mostly atmosphere- the acting is passable and the storyline is interesting but goofy and confusing in places, so you just have to kick back and let it happen; observe the insanity and the script will just keep throwing cool things into the mix. It’s like the movie Rob Zombie would make if he wasn’t so hung up on producing 2 hour rock videos with no soul.
The story is about the kid (Mike, now played by James LeGros (Drugstore Cowboy, BitterFeast)) from the first movie getting back together with his brother to follow the Tall Man’s (Angus Scrimm) calvacade of carnage through towns he’s destroyed and catch up with him, to hopefully stop him.
It features a Audio Commentary with director/writer Don Coscarelli and actors Angus Scrimm and Reggie Banister; “The Ball is Back!” Documentary (which has new interviews with director and primary cast members; several behind the scenes footage featurettes; trailers; still gallerys; alternate takes and deleted scenes; a 4 barrel shotgun, acid embalming, head drilling, a chainsaw that would make Leatherface blush, and of course the famous flying silver spheres with drills and blades and other tools of carnage popping out of them.
And, just to sweeten the deal even more, a rare short film starring Rory Guy (aka Angus Scrimm) as Abraham Lincoln.
It comes out 3/26/13 on dvd and Blu Ray from the awesome Scream Factory.
I haven’t seen Don Coscarelli’s new movie Jon Dies At the End yet, but I hear it’s killer. Looking forward to it as well…
Here is another ‘zine that was absolutely packed to the gills with content. It focused on grindcore and black and death metal, and featured interviews with bigger bands (MORBID ANGEL, DEATH) as well as smaller ones (PAINEATER, MILK AND COOKIES), but editor Bryan Daniel had a knack for getting awesome bands to do interviews. The type was tiny, so even more was crammed in. A lot of the interviews were short, but that made room for more. It also had an extensive reviews section with (mostly) longer reviews (not just short blurbs like most ‘zines).
I know a lot of people who were very influenced by this ‘zine. I’m not sure when this issue came out (’89 to ’91 I’d think), but it was good stuff.
Chas Balun passed away in December of 2009 at the age of 61, but in the 25 years or so that preceded he wrote and wrote for quite a few horror and gore books and magazines including Fangoria, Gore Zone, and his baby (and I think his first) Deep Red. It only made it to 5 or 6 issues, but they were all great, packed full of well written commentary, exposes, criticism, and in depth analysis of some of the best horror movies that were coming out at the time.
The writing is professional but not dry or pretentious or snobbish- you can tell he just loves horror and particularly gore movies, and his enthusiasm is contagious.
This issue came out in March 1988, and features a very good article on zombie movies; long discussions of the movies Redneck Zombies, Return of the Living Dead (two of my favs), Hellraiser, and Dr. Butcher M.D.; a Sybil Danning biography, an interview with horror make-up artist Mark Shostrom, an article written by Gunner Hansen about being Gunner Hansen; letters; news; movie and ‘zine reviews; and lots of cool pictures. It was only the second issue and it came out firing on all cylinders. It’s really too bad it didn’t last longer, it was a great ‘zine and highly recommended. Try to find some and buy them if you love horror and gore movies.
Stink was a sick fixture in the sleaze/ gore/ exploitation flick ‘zine culture, and was produced quite regularly by it’s creator/ editor Nick the Yak. The issues weren’t very big, but were packed full of tons of reviews and other content lovingly dedicated to all things violent and sleazy.
Nick’s reviews were unpretentious and to the point and written from the point of view of a regular slob who just wants to see entertaining movies with lots of violence and nudity (basically, most of us). He later became a born again Christian and quit doing Stink, but I believe that didn’t last too long (the Christian thing- I don’t think he ever started Stink back up after that).
This was the ‘biggest issue ever’, and at 34 pages, possibly the biggest one they ever did. It features several pages of movie reviews, plus some music and ‘zine reviews; a report on their collection of sick shorts they were shooting/ compiling (I wonder if they ever got finished?); full page articles/ reviews of the movies Basket Case 2, Beverly Hills Girls, and Violent Shit; a report from that year’s ‘Fangoria Weekend of Horrors’ convention, a piece on that issue’s ‘Hellhoney’ Brinke Stevens (who I recently saw in a terrible newer straight-to-dvd quickie called Dead Clowns– don’t get it. Boooooriiinnng!) and former Hellhoney Michelle Bauer (back by popular demand); part 2 of a sicko fictional tale; a comparison of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Nekromantik, and Violent Shit (“which is sicker?”); and a couple of pages of old school grindhouse ads.
I miss old ‘zines like Stink– we could use their candor and non-snobbish approach to reviewing movies and non-apologetic cinematic bottom feeding. It’s fun and entertaining. Now go watch something sleazy and so-bad-it’s-good entertaining for ole Nick the Yak.
