SIMPLICITY IS THE CRUCIAL THING

There was still enough pop star in Brian Eno in 1974 to appear on Dutch TV dressed as Richard III to promote his latest single: a camp, slightly manic blend of doo wop, opaquely dirty lyrics and yodelling. This concoction / confection was Eno's only Top 40 hit.

VALIS PROFUNDIS

'Breathing heavily, Maurice began going through his appointment book. He hadn't iced Syrian assassins by regarding the cosmos as a sentient entelechy with psyche and soma, a macrocosmic mirror to man the microcosm'.

From Valis by Philip K. Dick (1981)

THE TRUTH

Reality bites in John Carpenter's crappy - but prescient - 'They Live' (1988).

ANGELS WITH DIRTY FEATURES

A 1979 Smash Hits clipping, mercilessly defaced in somewhat poor taste. It's his Gran, ffs.

SOUTH SEAS SCIENCE

Try working topless and wearing flip flops in a laboratory type environment now, health and safety will shut you down like that - it's political correctness gone mad!

PULSATING / WARBLING

Firestarter, d. Mark L. Lester (1984)

Inspired by the great Stranger Things, I’ve been delving into the world of the 80s, a period that I have previously had little affection for, despite spending my formative years there. Firestarter is a film that I have never seen before, and was amazed how good it was. Fast moving, well-acted, choc a bloc with psychokinesis and death, and a mad, eclectic cast (Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen, George C. Scott, Freddie Jones) it’s a film where literally hundreds of people are burned alive by a nine year old girl and, for the most part, they absolutely deserve it. 

Aside from the relentless, pitiless violence, two things stand out for me: the portrayal of ‘The Shop’, the harmless sounding government department that specialises in making monsters; and George C. Scott’s performance as John Rainbird, a Native American assassin who nurtures a relationship with the little girl hoping that, one day, she will kill him.

HYBRID ART

Felix Labisse (1905-1982)

Bridging the gap between first wave surrealism and the sort of pictures people used to buy from Woolworths and put on the walls of their maisonettes in the 1970s.  

TORRID TIMES

Some of the feverish Biblical interpretations of Jack T. Chick.

SEXY SUMMER

The unexpected pleasure of buying some old copies of Smash Hits and finding that the previous owner has drawn tits and fannies on everyone. 

2016 FILM DIARY, PART SEVEN

From The Satanic Rites of Dracula

01.07.2016 - 31.07.2016

Head, d. Bob Rafelson (1968)
The Cycle Savages, d. Bill Brame (1969)
The Peace Killers, d. Douglas Schwarz (1971)
Deathmaster, d. Ray Danton (1972)
Cape Fear, d. Martin Scorcese (1991)
Moby Dick, d. John Huston (1956)
Blind Date, d. Joseph Losey (1959)
The Party's Over, d. Guy Hamilton (1965)
Spliffs, Joints and Pot, d. Tony Moussoulides (1965)
Rolanda Polansky, Sculptor, d. Lionel Niskin (1971)
Secret Rites, d. Derek Ford (1971)
Skinflicker, d. Tony Bicah (1972)
Manhunt, d. Peter Robinson (1974)
Discomania, d. Oscar Riesel (1979)
Knights Electric, d. Barney Broom (1980)
Shaun of the Dead, d. Edgar Wright (2004)
Dredd, d. Pete Travis (2012)
Evolution, d. Lucile Hadzihalilovic (2015)
The Last Boy Scout, d. Tony Scott (1991)
The Nice Guys, d. Shane Black (2016)
O No Coronado! d. Craig Baldwin (1992)
Aguirre, Wrath of God, d. Werner Herzog (1972)
Tighten the Drums, d. Chris Owen (1983)
Tribe of the Sun, d. Alan Sidi (1972)
The Valley, d. Barbet Schroeder (1972)
Wax or Discovery of Television Among the Bees, d. David Blair (1991)
Dream City, d. Johannes Schaaf (1973)
Trans-Europ-Express, d. Alain Robbe-Grillet (1966)
The Man Who Lies, d. Alain Robbe-Grillet (1968)
Eden and After, d. Alain Robbe-Grillet (1969)
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, d. Adam McKay (2004)
Q: The Winged Serpent, d. Larry Cohen (1982)
Manhattan Baby, d. Lucio Fulci (1982)
Human Highway, d. Neil Young (1982)
The Decline of Western Civilization, d. Penelope Spheeris (1981)
Electronic Lover, d. Jesse Burger (1966)
Squatters, Cinema Action Production (1970)
Squatparty, d. Phil Munnoch (1981)
Another Bloody Sunday, d. Barry Cockcroft (1981)
End of the Pier, d. David Eadington (1983)
SOS: 20 Minutes To Go, d. Unknown (1990)
The Love Prophet and the Children of God, d. Abbey Nedick (1998)
The Light of the World, d. Jack Chick (2003)
Recorded Live, d. S.S Wilson (1975)
Hail, Caesar! d. Joel and Ethan Cohen (2016)
High Rise, d. Ben Wheatley (2016)
They Live, d. John Carpenter (1988)
Hell Comes To Frogtown, d. Donald G. Jackson and R.J Kizer (1988)
Star Trek: Into Darkness, d. J.J Abrams (2013)
The Blood Stained Butterfly, d. Duccio Tessari (1971)
The Designated Victim, d. Maurizio Lucidi (1971)
Eye in the Labyrinth, d. Mario Caiano (1972)
The Lorax, d. Hawley Pratt (1972)
Beauty to Last, d. David Bailey (1969)
Can I Have A Dragon, Please? d. Sue Lloyd (1983)
The Destructors, d. Charles Joy (1983)
The Satanic Rites of Dracula, d. Alan Gibson (1973)