[Ed – We would like to apologise for the shocking, amateurish and totally unjustifiable lack of price/order info on some of the following reviews. Lino didn’t give me the damn ‘zines back!]

Jim sits waiting to unleash a new issue of Trash City; did he really give me a bag full of fanzines to review five months ago? Oh blimey, he did! And have I left it so long that I’ve only got three pages to review them in? Ok, let’s not waste any more time, on with the reviews.

Invasion of the Sad Man-Eating Mushrooms. Issue 5 contains a Lloyd Kaufman interview (this is just the beginning), an overview of Italian zombie movies and, quite surprisingly, an article about John Waters. Also, there’s a feature on anime (by Jim “Omnipresent” McLennan). “Mushrooms” is always entertaining (it can ramble, but then don’t we all!!) and is definitely worth shelling out your hard-earned money on. So there! PO Box 7, Upminster, Essex, RM14 2RH.

Nightfall. Not much to say, really: comic-strip based, issue 4 contains artwork that ranges from very good (‘Sirens’) to terrible – umm, actually none of the artwork was terrible, but some of the stories did leave something to be desired.

Ooh My Brain Hurts. Daniel Auty & Co return with issue 7 of their photocopied and stapled ‘zine. Struggling to escape from their 33-page paper prison are such delights as interviews with Alex Chandon and Jorg Buttgereit, a George Romero retrospective and reviews ranging from ‘Cape Fear’ to ‘El Topo’. All that and it only costs 100p. Blimey, what a bargain. Daniel Auty, 9 Andrew Close, Wokingham, Berks RG11 2HY.

Detroit Graves. Five issues old, but this is the first one I’ve had thrust at me (missus!). It’s the usual mish-mash of reviews, show reports (the tired old Black Sunday) and it’s only saving grace, an article on the superb “Married With Children” which my local TV region LWT has see fit to drop (even when it was on, it was very late and only occasionally). I have to get my fix by watching RTL TV to see Al, Peg, Kelly and Bud babble on in Das German [Ed – Here’s a good place to mention ‘Children of a Far Greater God‘ the MWC fanzine covering all things Bundyish. Two issues, er, about 1.50 each from Miles Wood, 2nd floor, 221 Ashmore Road, Queens Park, London, W9 3DB] Anyway, I digress. [Me, too!] Detroit Graves is nothing special, and very overpriced at £1.50, but who cares what I say!

Mentally Penetrated by an Acid Enema. Issue two, and PMBAAE is cheap in comparison (only £1!), it features an interview with Alex Chandon (hmmm…), comic reviews, a Kiss retro (ahh, those were the days) and a piece on serial killers. There is lots more inside, but I really can’t bring myself to write words like coprophilia! Leighton Phillips, 4 James St, Abertillery Gwent NP3 1AA.

Mkultra. Issue 8 is good, even better than the previous seven, if that’s possible. It contains article on William Burroughs and Cronenberg, intelligent reviews, but…no articles written by or about me. Apart from the last omission, I can’t recommend Mkultra highly enough (if Andrej Karczewski wants to give me any cash, he can reach me through Jim).

Dark Star. Issue 9 features a Lloyd Kaufman interview (gag!), an informative news page, a feature on the Twin Peaks of ’93 “Eerie, Indiana” (watch out for it on C4 in March). Nice movie/video review section and an article on anime NOT written by Jim “I’m the everywhere man” McLennan. Lots more besides but slightly overpriced at 1.75 Rob Dyer, 64 Arthur St, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 0PR.

Strange Adventures, Holy Moley, the big Four Oh for SA, this issue features (aargh!) a Lloyd Kaufman interview (I really do wish that fanzines sat on these things instead of printing them all at once thereby making you sick of both Lloyd Kaufman and the fanzine). At least SA tries to be different by including a Troma filmography. Also included are pictures of Kathleen Turner, bundles of reviews (including porn films!!) and a nice comic strip (Captain Cliche…this one will run and run…sic). One of the better ‘zines available, but it could benefit from a colour cover [Ed – ah, wouldn’t we all!] Tony Lee, 13 Hazely Combe, Arreton, Isle of Wight, PO30 3AJ.

Shock Cinema. From the land of the rising exchange rate, SC reaches issue 4. Includes reviews of fave films from various fanzine bods and…in fact, nothing else BUT reviews, which I must admit I think I liked. Well, who wants yet another feature on Dario Argento [Ed – or Lloyd Kaufman?]

Midnight in Hell. Not really my cup of old rosey lee, MiH is fiction based; now while I like reading the occasional short story in a fanzine, I couldn’t get to grips with an entire fanzine filled with fearful fiction (blimey, that’s good). Having said that, it all comes down to horses for courses, and MiH contains some cracking stories, my favourite being “Backseat Dreamer”. If you’re looking for a change from all the Lloyd Kaufman interviews, grab yourself a copy of MiH. George Houston, The Cottage, Smithy Brae, Kilmalcolm, Renfrewshire, PA13 4BN.

Can I just say at this point that I only took on the job of fanzine reviews so I could vent my anger and really slag off some dire pieces of toilet paper. But so far, it’s all been reasonably good. Oh, well, such is life.

The Wild Places. AWOOGA, AWOOGA, LOONEY ALERT!!! Well, that’s what I thought when I started reading TWP. Well, a fanzine dedicated to UFO’s, human possession and the occult, but much as I hate to admit it, the people behind the ‘zine take a rational look at the things from which the Sunday Sport has made it’s millions, Very intelligently written, but not aimed at your average gorehound [Ed – or even “so not aimed at your average gorehound…”] Kevin McClure, 2O Trembear Road, St Austell, Cornwall PL25 5NY.

Tales From the Cajun Sushi Bar. “Great, super, smashing”, to quote Gentleman Jim Bowen. CSB contains enough anime fiction to keep even Jim “I Wish I’d thought of that” McLennan happy for hours. Jim Swallow has taken his love for anime and produced a ‘zine even I would read from cover to cover (hang on, I did). Timed perfectly to (hopefully) cash in on the current anime explosion, I really hope that the ‘zine sells well and keeps on selling. Jim Swallow, 21 Wadham House, 12 College Close, Edmonton, London N18 2XT.

In the Flesh. Steve C is just like the Duracell Bunny (with less hair). I mean that he just keeps on going, and like a fine wine, gets better and better with each issue [Ed – eh?]. ITF 11 is no exception: apart from the fact that it has a great picture of me on page 2, Steve’s ‘zine now benefits from a colour cover and is a serious contender to the grand-daddy of all ‘zines, ‘Samhain’, which in my opinion is looking a bit tired (John, go into hiding, and come back with a new look). There’s a full colour “Beyond” poster in the middle of the mag (the poster has always been a bit of a lame idea, but who am I to say!). A Pete Jackson interview (one of the first) and the usual mix of reviews, news and comps. Sorry, but I can’t fault it!

Headcheese and Chainsaws/Sludgefeast. Two ‘zines for the price of one. Yes, why bother buying two average mags when you can buy this good one. Well, it does suffer slightly from trying to cram too much information into too little space. The issue I read had articles ranging from “Dodgy” dodgy video dealers to comic and book reviews. It’s chewy, but crunchy – sorry, that’s a Double Decker. I mean, it’s two mags, but it’s one, check it out, boys, girls and Mr.Uncut. Paul Mallinson, 63 Doncaster Lane, Woodlands, Doncaster, DN6 7QN.

Dementia 13. As with MiH, D13 is a fiction only ‘zine, and the stories are neither good nor bad. The only thing that did annoy me were the really awful illustrations that accompany some of the stories. Other than that, if you like MiH, you’ll enjoy this one [Ed – the new issue has gone mostly-fiction-with-other-bits, and I’d class it as a successful leap]. Pam Creais, 17 Pinewood Avenus, Sidcup, Kent, DA15 8BB.

Hullaballoo. I’m sorry, but any fanzine with a picture of Yoko Ono on the bloody cover isn’t worth the paper it’s bloody well photocopied onto. I’m not even going to lower myself by reviewing it. “A load of old toss”…’Lino’, 1993.

Film Extremes. Ken (Mr.Ken Pack) Miller and Rick (I’ve been to New Zealand) Baker team up to bring you the best of Hong Kong horror, action, romance and Western monster movies. FE 1 contains interviews with (my close personal friend) Jorg Buttgereit, reviews and a natty free flexidisc. Recommended. FE 2 contains more of the same with some great colour stills. My only gripe is that it’s slightly overpriced.

Right, that’s it. I’ll see you all at Film Extremes III, or in Psychotronik Video in Camden.

I LOVE YOU ALL! XXX

Thank you, Lino, Mr. Slightly Overpriced. I detected a certain mercenary feel to this issue’s column, maybe he’s spent all his money on other things. I mean, this is the guy who gets his smut personally delivered. Serious Plutonium Account holder!

Must mention the latest glossies from Tim Greaves, he follows his impressive Yutte ‘Lust for a Vampire’ Stensgaard mag with another on the same lady, and one on Madeline Smith. Both are full of great pictures and anecdotes. œ1.95 each from Tim, 118 High Street, Eastleigh, Hants, SO5 5LR. He’s now working on a ‘Vampyres’ issue, and is looking for any info or material. Finally, a plug for Anime Day 3, a weekend devoted to Japanese animation which is taking place at the Rutland Hotel in Sheffield over the 16th-18th April. £20 for a weekend ticker, £12/day, for the chance to immerse yourself in cuteness/violence/icky things, and spend a lot of money on Dirty Pair dolls. Send an SAE to Anime Day, 14 Cavendish Place, Maltby, Rotherham, S66 7DW.

“A person who supplies, or offers to supply, a video recording containing a video work in respect of which no certificate has been issued, is guilty of an offence unless
a) the supply is, or would if it took place be, an exempted supply, or
b) the video work is an exempted work”

It’s just over eight years since Graham Bright’s Private Members Bill was swept into law on a wave of tabloid hysteria and public ‘concern’. Video cassettes are now the most rigorously controlled medium in this country, with a legal requirement to be vetted and censored before being seen by the public, and the law which made it so is the subject of much wailing and gnashing of teeth by genre fans.

But how many people actually know what it says? Few have ever read it, despite it being quite easy to get hold of a copy. A polite letter to your local Trading Standards Office may well be enough, though fans may be a little worried about sending their name and address to the body responsible for enforcing the law!

When you have your copy, you then have to translate the Act into English. While the booklet Trading Standards sent had explanatory notes at the start, it’s still difficult, especially for a non-lawyer like me, to wade through sentences like:

“The supply of a video recording otherwise than for reward, being a supply made for the purpose only of supplying it to a person who previously made an exempted supply of the recording, is also an exempted supply”.

So let the reader beware and I accept no responsibility for anything!

Exemptions

As the quote at the head of this article hints, certain exceptions to the law are given in the Act. The legalspeak paragraph quoted above comes from Section 3, ‘Exempted Supply’, probably the most useful bit as it also lists a number of circumstances where “the supply of a video recording is an exempted supply for the purposes of this Act”. Or put another way, how you can circulate uncertificated videos and get away with it.

Briefly summarised, the important ones are as follows:

• i) Providing a record of an occasion to those who took part in it weddings, school concerts, etc).
• ii) Giving it to someone in the business (time-coded tapes, or for conversion/duplication purposes).
• iii) Supply for use by the BBC, IBA, a cable or satellite company.
• iv) Sending it off for classification.
• v) Training for, or carrying on, any medical or related profession.
• vi) Giving it back after any of the above (the legal speak paragraph!).
  and most importantly of all, worth quoting in full
• vii) “The supply of a video recording by any person is an exempted supply if it is neither
  (a) a supply for reward, nor
  (b) a supply in the course or furtherance of a business”.

As the accompanying notes say, “A gift of a cassette from one private individual to another is an exempt supply”. This would appear to mean that non-profit copying is not an offence, but be slightly wary – if you swap a copy of ‘The Exorcist’ for one of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, I suspect you’d still be breaking the law, as you’re getting a “reward”, albeit in the shape of a TCM tape. If the tape is blank, you’re probably ok.

I don’t think there’s a similar “not for reward” get-out in the Obscene Publications Act, so even non-profit copying of the 39 nasties that have been declared obscene will still be illegal.

Some videos are also exempt from certification. Those designed to “inform, educate or instuct”, video games, and tapes concerned with sport, religion or music, are all exempt. However, depicting sex, violence or nudity is still out – as the notes put it, in a droll way:

“The Act does not cover such videograms as those which deal innocuously with cookery, golf tuition, orchestral music and the like, but programmes…which might dwell upon the hunting and killing of animals before cookery, nudists playing golf, or an opera involving a prolonged scene of someone’s eyes being gouged out would probably not be exempt.”

I should mention that as the booklet was written in August 1985, the eye-gouging opera is unlikely to be a veiled reference to Dario Argento’s splat-art flick.

Another loophole struck me while playing ‘Turtles in Time’ on the Super NES, in which you get the nunchaku-wielding Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in all his un-BBFCed glory. This led me to wonder what the status of computer software is, as with the rapid advancement in storage, it will soon be possible to store an entire movie, sound and pictures, on a floppy disc. Checking in the Video Recordings Act, it defines “video work” as “any series of visual images (with or without sound) produced electronically by the use of information contained on any disc or magnetic tape and shown as a moving picture”. This would not appear to cover cartridges, such as are used by the consoles; maybe some enterprising company should bring out ‘The New York Ripper’ for the Game Boy.

Video games are generally exempted in the same way as sport, music, etc, but the same restrictions apply – they may not depict “acts of gross violence”. Now, your average computer game – or at least any decent one, I exclude those featuring a wimpoid midget mustachioed plumber – leaves more corpses littering the screen than a Schwarzenegger movie. Even in something like ‘Prince of Persia’, the hero can get sliced in two (with a beautifully sickening crunch) or impaled on spikes – so one wonders when the Trading Standards people are going to start raiding Woolworth’s and picking up those copies of ‘Tetris’. It might get them off horror fans’ backs for a while, but could you handle news reports with screen shots from ‘Lemmings’, accompanied by a solemn voiceover saying how these are real rodents plunging to their doom?

Offences

The most obvious offence under the Act is supplying uncertificated tapes. However, it is equally much an offence to offer to supply them, and even the possession of uncertificated tapes is an offence, if it’s with intent to supply them, both subject to the exemptions discussed above. Any of these offences are punishable by a fine, not greater than twenty thousand pounds – ouch – but, unlike the Obscene Publications Act, there is no provision for a jail sentence.

The other offences, each of which might land you with a fine of up to 2,000 pounds, are as follows:

• a) Supplying or offering to supply a certified video recording in breach of its classification (for example, renting an ’18’ video to someone younger). Again, the ‘not for reward’ exception applies, so you can lend that copy of ‘Bad Taste’ to your little nephew!
• b) Supplying or offering to supply restricted videos (cert. 18R) on premises either than a licenced sex-shop. I’d not expect many genre fans to fall foul of this one!
• c) Supplying or (altogether!) offering to supply (thank you!) a tape without the required labelling as to classification. This is detailed in the Video Recordings (Labelling) Regulations 1985 and is very dull, unless you’re keen to know things like the minimum height of the letters (5 mm!).
• d) Supplying or etc, etc, a tape which lies about its certificate, or claims to have one when it doesn’t.

It might seem appealing to stick ’18’ certificates on all your videos, so that you’ll be done for offence d) rather than a 20-grand one, but unless you can prove “reasonable grounds” for believing ‘The New York Ripper’ does have an ’18’ certificate, you’ll just get charged with both!

Overall, the Act seems to be fairer and better worded than I expected. It appears to be targeted, not at the average fan but at professional dealers, and given the number of rip-off merchants in that field, it may not be quite as appalling a piece of legislation as is usually thought…

Dominion, Acts 1-4 (Manga Video, two tapes, 12.99 each)

This Island World release continues certain themes seen in predecessors, ‘Akira’ and ‘Fist of the North Star’. All three are set in the future, following some sort of global catastrophe, and contain healthy helpings of mayhem in one for or another. ‘Dominion’ probably has more in common with ‘Akira’ than ‘Fist’, sharing it’s urban setting and dark-edge SF style.

Though despite taking place in a world where pollution is so bad that face-masks are vital, ‘Dominion’ is pure entertainment with few pretensions. Destruction of property, black humour and sex are key features, but it could hardly be played any other way when the police drive tanks, would like to get tactical nukes, and are chasing a trio of criminals consisting of a half-cyborg and a pair of bioengineered cat-bimbos known as the Puma Twins – who in turn are after a batch of urine samples from humans unaffected by the hyper-icky atmosphere.

The tapes are dubbed, rather than subtitled, but it’s very well done and 95% of the time you could hardly tell they weren’t made in English. However, Island World also replaced the music, and the new soundtrack isn’t really suitable, notably during the Puma Twins diversionary strip-show, and is wimpy to the point of being annoying. [This contrasts with their version of ‘Project A-ko’, where the music was untouched, but the dubbing left a lot to be desired, the three lead characters sounding almost the same. It gets a C, a serious markdown from the A- given to the subbed ‘A-ko’ in TC12. What a difference a dub makes…].

The second tape is overall slower in pace, albeit only compared to the frenetic pace of the first half, and mostly deals with how cyborg Buaku has to team up with police gal Leoni for their mutual survival. Naturally, there’s the obligatory grand finale, which does perhaps leave a few too many loose ends unexplained. However, in the final analysis, both tapes provided me with an entirely acceptable, thoroughly enjoyable, hour of entertainment and are probably the best anime release yet. B+

Odin (Manga Video, 12.99)

The anime fan network is pretty sharp at picking up on good films. Word of mouth ensures that any decent anime will usually rapidly appear in Britain – for example, copies of the ‘Silent Mobius’ movie appeared here about two weeks after it’s Japanese video release. Given this, it says a lot about ‘Odin’ that, despite it being seven years old, I could find no-one who’d ever seen it before Island World released it.

But maybe ‘Odin’ was an undiscovered classic, a gem that fandom had somehow missed. Well, to quote the great philosophers, Wayne and Garth, “NOT!”. ‘Odin’ gets my vote as the worst anime yet inflicted on us – even ‘Fist of the North Star’, while shoddily dubbed and poorly animated, at least had a gleefully enthusiastic eye for splatter. ‘Odin’ lacks even that, being a tired space opera which looks perhaps ten years older than it is, and it was past its sell-by date to start with.

It starts off on the wrong foot with some dodgy pseudo-scientific waffle about starships powered by light, and rapidly goes downhill when we meet the characters, who all possess Japanese names, but have strong American accents. The storyline singularly failed to capture my interest; the first attempt, I fell asleep after 19 minutes, and even after a rerun, I can’t remember much about it. Read the box, if you must – TC has better things to do with the column inches!

It’s nice to see Island World demonstrating the breadth of anime. Like films or television, it runs from the excellent to the very poor, and the only possible reason I can think of why they released ‘Odin’ was as an example of the latter. Avoid, most definitely. E-

Aileen Wuornos (Nick Broomfield) – This documentary, by the man who did ‘The Chicken Ranch’ and ‘Tattooed Tears’, is about the woman claimed by the media to be America’s first female serial killer, a hitch-hiking hooker who supposedly offed seven clients. Well, actually, it’s more to do with the really sick people who’re exploiting her and the situation, including her lawyer and foster mother. Movie deals, interview fees, the works, and the documentary slowly warps into something that could be very black satire. When Wuornos herself finally appears, she’s about the sanest person we’ve seen and her ‘self-defence’ pleas seem horribly plausible – in an estimated 8,000 clients, seven psychos isn’t impossible. The film is stomach-churning, hilarious and totally gripping. A perfect documentary, and a must-see when it appears on C4. A+.

Bad Karma and Drill Bit (Alex Chandon) – Coming in on a wave of reviews are a pair of films from London-based Shapeshifter Productions. And hey, they’re actually pretty good. ‘Bad Karma’ scores with a gleefully energetic and imaginative approach cramming in warped idea after warped idea into an end product that’s part “Personal Services”, part “Evil Dead 2”, but is mostly unique (trans-dimensional creatures disguised as crazed Hare Krishnas?). While not all the ideas quite work, bonus points are due for having the gall to try, and the film is certainly miles away from the usual cliches. The story in ‘Drillbit’ starts off just as imaginatively – an AIDS cure turns people into zombies – but it peters out and becomes a show-case for violence and splatter (spot the TC contributor as a crazed killer!), though as it’s an extended show-reel rather than a finished movie, this is to be expected. Technically, both films are certainly as good as many pro-production I’ve seen, thanks in no small part to some impressive effects. Amateur psychologists may care to ponder the way that Alex’s mother ends up dying killed horribly in both films! B+ and C.

C’est Arrive Pres De Chez Vous a.k.a Man Bites Dog (Remy Belvaux/Andre Bonzel/Benoit Poelvoorde) – This ultra-cheap, b&w Belgian film is based around a serial killer (co-director Poelvoorde), followed by a camera team for a ’40 Minutes’ type documentary about his life and family (played by Poelvoorde’s real family, who didn’t know what the film was about!). At first, it’s a cheery exercise in black humour and sharp editing, with lots of shoulder-cam turning the murders into a psychopathic version of ‘Treasure Hunt’. But just as the killer is established as a near-likeable chap, the film crew gets drawn into complicity and the “hero” is gradually revealed as a real sicko, notably in one very nasty sequence that probably beats the “home video” scene in ‘Henry’, and is a near-cert for BBFC removal. The movie isn’t easy to watch, and it’s origins as a short film are occasionally far too clear, but it raises all sorts of questions about the nature of violence, and as debuts go, it’s uncomfortably impressive and intelligent. B

Hollywood Scream Queens Hot Tub Party (“Bill Carson”) – Michelle Bauer, Monique Gabrielle, Brinke Stevens, and a couple of lesser known names find a variety of reasons to take their clothes off in a near-plotless excuse for gratuitous nudity, mixing movie clips with special footage (see Michelle Bauer lick that chainsaw!). I detect Jim Wynorski and Fred Olen Ray at work, under pseudonyms (“Joseph D’Amato” as dialogue coach??) and it’s full of their usual trademarks – such as acting most politely described as ‘minimalist’. However, they know the target audience wants T&A and they deliver the pizza with never a dull moment from the time the scream queens put on their lingerie for a seance – as any cinephile knows, seances are always conducted so clad. Highly sexist and politically incorrect, so definitely recommended. B

Night on Earth (Jim Jarmusch) – For a film in which, basically, nothing happens, this is surprisingly good. It’s a collection of five stories, set in different cities at the same time, all concerning taxi drivers and their passengers. Few have much plot development, most just peter out with no real conclusion. But they are effectively directed, evoking the spirit of the cities effectively, and they’re also well acted all round, with nary a duff performance. Definite highlight has to be a manic Roberto Benigni confessing his sins to an unwilling passenger-priest, just ahead of a cutely smudged Winona Ryder as her tale is a little too schmaltzy. Only real complaint is the repetitive approach – it might have been better to have a different director doing each story, maybe Abel Ferrara for New York, or Dario Argento for Rome? B.

The Rapture (Michael Tolkin) – This is possibly the strangest film to come out of Hollywood in years and I’m not quite sure what to make of it. Telephone operator Mimi Rogers, disenchanted with a life of depravity, gets religion and heads off into the desert with her daughter, convinced the end of the world is near. I spent most of the film wondering when it was going to slip over into full-blown zealotry, as it’s pretty sympathetic to religion (even to Jehovah’s Witnesses!). But it stubbornly refused to go, and had my hair standing on end with some effective apocalyptic imagery and a last half-hour of general weirdness. Thought provoking stuff, albeit the thoughts were mostly “Eh?”. B-

Romper Stomper (Geoffrey Wright) – Anyone else think ‘Reservoir Dogs’ was nothing but a rip-off, right from the opening credits of men in suits and dark glasses walking in slo-mo, as seen in a million HK movies? Wish someone had told it’s director that “funny psychos” went out with ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 4’? Want ultraviolence? Try this Australian movie, an unmoralistic look at a gang of Melbourne skins and their ‘relationship’ with the local immigrants. Most memorable sequence is a fight/chase around the gang’s base, but most of the opening 45 minutes is chilling stuff. Then, as if to demonstrate skinheads are human too, the director throws in a lurve triangle. Big mistake – while perhaps realistic, it’s hard to accept and, hell, it was far more enjoyable to see them as monsters! So it finally ends up a maudlin love story/road movie, but (if you’ll pardon the pun) a nice stab, nonetheless. C.

Single White Female (Barbet Schroeder) – The key question in this film is not “whodunnit?”, which is obvious from the start, nor is it “will she get away with it?”, this being mainstream Hollywood fodder. No, the most gripping thing about this film is trying to decide how many times Jennifer Jason Leigh is going to take her clothes off. I won’t spoil the movie by giving away the answer, but suffice to say, it’s non-zero. Oh yeah, the plot – psycho flatmate tries to duplicate identity of her co-habitee. Nice ‘n’ sleazy stuff, though why anyone would choose a computer consultant as a role model beats me… Bridget Fonda doesn’t need to act, so doesn’t bother, JJL turns in her usual effective psychonaut. File under “lingerie or less”. C.

Tale of a Vampire (Shimako Sato) – Financed in Japan, directed by a lady,inspired by an Edgar Allen Poe poem, and oozing Anne Rice-ness – strange in many ways! Julian Sands is the title character, pining for a love lost last century, who finds a replacement working in a dust-filled library, but he’s also pursued by a mysterious man with a grudge (Kenneth Cranham). Sands seems born to the role (‘Gothic’ was good experience, no doubt) and Cranham is a good foil: together, with help from excellent cinematography, they overcome a script with some glaring errors (I doubt many public libraries in London are open till closing time) and the result, on a budget of less than a million pounds, is striking. More ‘Daughters of Darkness’ than ‘The Lost Boys’, gore bores will hate it, but if your IQ is less lukewarm you could do a great deal worse. B-.

Tiny Toons: How I Spent My Vacation – Fifty years on, Bugs, Daffy, Porky, etc, have grown up, married, moved to the suburbs and had kids. The results are depicted in this weird, surreal and very funny cartoon, which borrows heavily from places most American animated films don’t go: ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘Deliverance’ are obvious steals. It’s style, a relentless barrage of visual gags, is a straight take from the 40’s Warner Brothers stuff, updated to include sharp digs at Disney (‘Happyworldland, the happiest place on Earth’) and other icons guaranteed to sail over the heads of most kids. Probably the best American cartoon in ages, despite it’s Spielbergian roots. Trivia note: co-writer and executive producer Sherri Stoner starred in ‘Reform School Girls’ as bunny-clutching Lisa (who leaps off a tower after getting her ass branded) and was also the live-action model for Disney’s Little Mermaid and Beauty. This may explain a lot… B

HORROR MOVIE TAKES NZ FILM DOWN NEW PATH

WELLINGTON, SEPT 15, REUTER – A NEW BLOOD-AND-GUTS HORROR MOVIE, “BRAINDEAD”, SCORNS NEW ZEALAND TRADITION OF ART FILMS BY MAKING EVEN THE “TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE” SEEM LIKE A FAIRYTALE.

“IF YOU THOUGHT THE ’50S WAS ALL BOBBY-SOX AND INNOCENCE YOU DIDN’T LIVE NEXT DOOR TO LIONEL,” THE FILM’S PUBLICITY MATERIAL PROCLAIMS. SET IN WELLINGTON, “BRAINDEAD” IS ABOUT 25-YEAR-OLD LIONEL COSGROVE, WHOSE LIFE GOES OFF THE RAILS AFTER HIS BOSSY MUM IS BITTEN BY A RARE CARNIVEROUS RAT MONKEY AT THE ZOO.

BUT FAR FROM CLUTCHING THE SIDES OF THEIR SEATS IN TERROR, THE AUDIENCE AT THE PREMIER WERE ROLLING IN THE AISLES WITH LAUGHTER. DIRECTOR PETER JACKSON INSISTS THE FILM IS A COMEDY.
15-SEP-0204. HHK262 HA84714 NEVL
ENDS

Very few low-budget film directors have ever make it to the rarefied atmosphere of a Reuters news bulletin, a medium more accustomed to reporting foreign exchange news and political comment. With the appearance of the above story, Peter Jackson can safely be said to have “made it”, beyond the world of fandom.

His debut, ‘Bad Taste’ was ensured of a place in the genre hall of fame as soon as it was seized by Customs immediately on its arrival in Britain, and his latest movie, ‘Brain Dead’, seems set to acquire even greater fame/notoriety. Yet Jackson’s eye for combining splatter with humour leaves the viewer helpless with laughter most of the time, rather than throwing up. TC had a chat with this unique film-maker in Nuremberg, at the public premiere of ‘Brain Dead’:

TC – The speed of the film was incredible…
PJ – Yeah, I don’t like boring movies! When I see ‘Bad Taste’ now, I don’t like all that stuff at the beginning when they’re talking and I think , “God, get on with it – why did I put all this stuff in, why don’t we get on with the action?”. On ‘Brain Dead’ I was determined not to have too much dialogue, just enough to set the stories and the characters, and then just let it rip.

TC – What’s the aim behind the high level of comedy in your films?
PJ – I have a fairly large sense of humour, one of my idols is Buster Keaton, and you look at some stuff in ‘Brain Dead’, it’s Buster Keaton with blood. I don’t take stuff seriously – I saw ‘Hellraiser 3’ the other day at Cannes; it’s OK, it’s a good film, I didn’t hate it or anything – I thought it was quite good – but it was all just so serious. Some guy walking round with pins sticking out of his face, I just can’t sit there and think “This is really scary”. If I made a Hellraiser film, I’d like Pinhead to be whacked against a wall and have all the pins flattened into his face. I immediately start thinking of funny things and gags – that’s just the way I am, I doubt I could ever control myself sufficiently to make a serious horror film.

TC – How does it feel for a film fan who began as an amateur film-maker?
PJ – It’s good. I’m no different from any other fans. I like going to watch movies; I’m looking forward to ‘Evil Dead III’ as much as you guys. I’m just lucky I guess that I’ve had the opportunity to be able to make movies as well. I know that often fans make movies and some of them are very good, but I’ve managed to make them on 16mm and do it professionally. I guess I’m actually lucky to be living in New Zealand, because the New Zealand government are quite supportive of what I’m doing, and they’ve given me several million dollars to make these sorts of movies. Not many other fans around the world have got the chance to spend that sort of money!

TC – Is being a film director your dream career?
PJ – It’ll be my dream career when I’ve got total freedom to do what I want without having to worry about the budget. At the moment I’m always worried about what I’m going to do next, and whether I’m going to be able to get the money. ‘Brain Dead’ cost $3 million New Zealand dollars – that’s about the limit that I can make a film for as it’s almost impossible for me to get any more money there. And some of the ideas I’ve got are for bigger budget – I’ve got an idea for a $10 million movie, but at this stage I’ve no idea when or how I’m gonna make it. So it’s a dream come true but I still don’t feel as if I’ve got total freedom to do what I want. It’s always a struggle.

TC – What were the budgets for your three movies to date?
PJ – In US dollars, ‘Bad Taste’ was about 150,000, ‘Meet the Feebles’ was about 450,000 and ‘Brain Dead’ was 1.8 million so it’s quite a leap up from the other films, but we had to use actors which cost an enormous amount of money. Puppets were much cheaper!

TC – Have you ever consider moving to the US and filming in Hollywood, or would you prefer to stay in New Zealand?
PJ – I wouldn’t got to the United States unless I had a firm offer. I couldn’t just go over there and say “Hey guys, here I am in town, give me some work”. It would depend on what the script was – if it was one of my scripts, and I needed a lot more money to make, and the opportunity was there in Hollywood, or it was someone else’s script that I really liked. I’d like to do it one day just to get the experience. To have a broad experience of film-making you’ve got to make a film in America, just to find out what it’s all about.

What I have in New Zealand, and ‘Brain Dead’ is a direct result of this, is total freedom. The Film Commission never came up and told me what to do, they turned up about once just to have a look, they were there for about an hour looking around, then they went off again. They never came to the rushes, they basically give me the money, then six months later, I screen the movie for them and it’s finished. They can’t do anything about it and they don’t try to. It’s a great way to be – don’t care about censorship, don’t care what the investors think, don’t care about what anyone thinks, I just do my own stuff.

If I was in Los Angeles, as you will be fully aware, it would be a very different story. I’d be having to make a film for somebody else, I would be employed by someone to make their movie. They would have authority over what I was doing, and I wouldn’t like that situation, I’d find it very hard to deal with.

TC – Had you any problems convincing the Film Commission to give you money for your films?
PJ – The Film Commission didn’t give me money for 3 years for ‘Bad Taste’, they turned me down a lot. And we tried to make ‘Brain Dead’ in 1989, the Film Commission wouldn’t put all the money up then, though the amount of money we were asking for was the same, ultimately, as what they did put up in 1991. No, there’s no real problem, see I work on the scripts with other writers – Steven Sinclair and Fran Walsh wrote ‘Brain Dead’ with me – and we just work on the scripts and make sure that they are of a certain standard.

The Film Commission get given a lot of scripts to read, by filmmakers wanting money and they can only afford to finance 3 or 4 a year, so what you’ve got to do is make sure that your script is one of the three or four best scripts that they’re going to read. It really comes down to doing the work on the script and making sure that it’s good enough before you give it to them to read.

TC – Had they any problems with the gore?
PJ – They never had much experience of these films before ‘Bad Taste’. In New Zealand, over the last 10 or 12 years, there’s been fifty or sixty movies made and only about three or four of them have made a profit. ‘Bad Taste’ was one of them, so they thought “Hey, you put blood and gore in a movie and it can make money for us”. And they get money back so they can invest it in someone else’s film the next year. so it’s a good thing to do. Plus they know the fan reactions round the world, I sometimes give them copies of odd magazines and articles that have been written about the film so they realise that a lot of people round the world like that type of movie.

I don’t think they’d be quite so keen if they were serious horror movies, like ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ or something, but my movies are basically comedies, they’ve a lot of humour in them. The two top people at the Film Commission were in Cannes and they came along to ‘Brain Dead’, and it was a really good screening, there was a lot of laughing and clapping. They’re not going to see any other New Zealand movie which has that sort of reaction at all, so I think they realise that these films aren’t so bad.

TC – What have been the things that turned out much more difficult, and what was easier?
PJ – I was a bit worried about working with actors in ‘Brain Dead’ for the first time, because I’d never worked with professional actors, but that was easier than I thought. You’ve just got to basically explain to them what you want to do. ‘Brain Dead’ was a much easier movie to make from my point than ‘Meet The Feebles’, which was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. That was a real nightmare, from beginning to end – it was a very, very difficult film to make in all sorts of ways. We managed to finish it and get it out and I was exhausted by the end of that.

I thought “God, that was like going through hell” so I had a bit of trepidation with ‘Brain Dead’ because it’s a much bigger film in many respects, with more complications. But ‘Brain Dead’ was very simple, actually, in the end I found it a very easy film to make. It looks very complicated when you see it, but we planned all the effects, it was very thoroughly story-boarded, we had 12 weeks to shoot it and we basically went through on a fairly good schedule. We weren’t too rushed most of the time, and it was very straightforward in terms of production. Working with puppets was a nightmare, it was really horrible, very, very difficult, working with actors is much easier.

TC – Have you had any reaction from the Hensons to ‘Meet The Feebles’?
PJ – The only thing I heard is that there was a screening in Los Angeles of ‘Meet The Feebles’, for Universal. I wasn’t there, I wasn’t even in the country, but Universal wanted to have a look at the film and Lisa Henson – Jim Henson’s daughter, she’s an executive at Universal – saw it and apparently enjoyed it. She was quite shocked when she saw Kermit nailed on a cross!

TC – ‘Brain Dead’ is, I think, the goriest movie I’ve ever seen. Is this the direction you’re going to keep going in?
PJ – I’m not going to continue making films like ‘Brain Dead’ all my life, but on the other hand I don’t want to have a career where I leave that kind of film behind and never go back to doing a splatter film. The next film I make will probably be one called ‘Heavenly Creatures’ it’s a true story about a New Zealand murder case that happened in 1954. That’s something different as well, it’s a psychological drama with a bit of comedy. Then after that, I don’t know; one day we might do a ‘Bad Taste 2’ which I guess would have to be more gory than ‘Brain Dead’.

You get into a situation where you have to top yourself every time, do better than the film before, and I don’t want to spend my life making films that have more gore than the last one, there’d be no end to it. I don’t know – maybe I’ll never make another film as gory as BD. I don’t have a plan. Who knows what’s going to happen – you might get married or divorced or go to another country, you just don’t know. All I know is that I’m like you guys, I’m a fan of these sorts of movies and I’ll probably keep on making them in one form or another.

TC – Do you have any advice for film-makers wanting to follow in your footsteps?
PJ – I just think you should go ahead and do it. If anyone wants to make movies badly enough, and are prepared to sacrifice a lot, then they’ll make it. Ultimately, if you want to make movies, a lot of it depends on how much of yourself – or how much money – you’re prepared to sacrifice. I did ‘Bad Taste’ over four years, that took an enormous amount of effort to keep going, and I spent $17,000 of my own money. I was working at a job I hated doing, in a newspaper, but I did it because it was paying for my film stock, and paying for my processing, and I spent 17 grand over three years. And anybody can do that.

Anybody can keep on going, keep spending their own money, and make a really good movie. If you believe in yourself, you will ultimately make a good film and that will impress people. People are always looking out for new talent, for new young filmmakers. It’s not impossible to start making movies if you’ve never had the experience, everyone’s got to make their first movie sometime. So if you have something you made that is of a good enough standard, someone in Los Angeles – John Landis or Joe Dante or Sam Raimi – might look at one of your films and say, “Hey, this guy’s great” and give you a call. You just never know what’s going to happen so go for it and don’t give up, one day it’ll pay off.

TC – Any final message?
PJ – I’m very happy that anyone likes the films that I’m making. As I said, I’m just a fan myself, I’m no-one more special, I’ve just been lucky to be able to make the films. The films that I’m making are very reflective of my sense of humour, and the types of movies that I like watching, and in a sense if I know that there are a lot of other people out there that basically share the same sort of tastes as i do, I’m really pleased. Then I feel I’m not alone in liking these films.