Welcome to the Videodrome

Great mysteries of our time #739 : Where do misprints go between the final draft and the finished item? ‘Cos I’m damned if the final draft had ‘Heane 17’ for Heaven 17, or credited TIM Lehmann, instead of Michael, for directing ‘Heathers’. Still, at least the former can be put down to typing frenzy and the latter, well, I got it right in TC4, which proves I’m not completely ignorant. TC is not alone in mis-prints as I’ve recently seen two references to ‘Isla, She Wolf of the SS’ – I knew Miss St Clair was hard up but… Presumably a similar gremlin caused Warner Home Video to release ‘Zoltan, Hound of Dracula’, as part of their House of Hammer collection when the film was a cheap (tho’ endearing) American rip-off. And I’m now a little more cynical about the joys of DTP after the rumour that NK was due to appear in Peter Greenaway’s next film was discredited in exactly the same place it had first appeared, two weeks after I’d rewritten my editorial to accomodate it.

In fifty years time when my grandchildren ask me, “What did you do during the Great Poll Tax Riots of 1990?”, I’ll be able to look them straight in the eye and say, “I was sitting in the Scala cinema watching ‘Queen of Outer Space’ starring Zsa Zsa Gabor”. I have a theory that history is largely determined by people with nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon.

Distribution: TC5 was available in/from Forbidden Planet and Psychotronic Videos (both London), Artware of Germany and a couple of other places that might get mentioned when I get paid for the issues! More outlets should follow. Thanks to Andy Waller, Kevin McLure, John London, Pete “Eat Them Alive” Shepherd, Claire Blamey and the Men in Black, Malcolm Dalglish (who got out of the bath to answer my queries – sorry!) & Dave Bryan.

Hideous lack of space this issue – even this editorial is edited. Next issue will be out whenever it appears, which may not be long given the amount of unused stuff lying around. TC7 should include Rutger Hauer, John Waters, ‘Deathstalker II’, more conspiracies & Shock Around the Clock 4.

“The street will find it’s own use for technology”