Cover Reveal: DELIRIUM Magazine #23

DELIRIUM magazine returns with a tribute to the late, great Al Adamson!

DELIRIUM Magazine #23 is an affectionate salute to one of the most discussed exploitation movie architects of all time, the late, great Al Adamson!

To time with the release of Severin Films’ juggernaut Blu-ray box set featuring over 30 of Al’s bizarre works, this beautifully illustrated issue features exclusive interviews with Adamson’s producing partner Sam Sherman and director David Gregory, whose latest documentary BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE & GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON digs deep into Al’s oeuvre and examines the horrific, true crime tragedy of his senseless and gruesome murder. Further into our Adamson examination, we have film historian Howard S. Berger’s exhilarating analysis of Al and Sam’s signature opus: 1971’s berserk, stitched together monster mash DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN, a so-called “bad movie” that is really a kind of secret, subversive psychedelic masterpiece.

Bouncing off that gonzo Gothic picture’s legacy, we jump back into the world of Hammer Horror, with an appreciation of 1974’s Hong Kong co-production THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES and then sit down for an EXCLUSIVE new interview with British horror legend Judy Matheson, who co-starred in the double-shot “Karnstein” Hammer shockers LUST FOR A VAMPIRE and TWINS OF EVIL! Padding out this extraordinary issue is a unique interview with HELLO MARY LOU: PROM NIGHT II director Bruce Pittman where we discuss NOT his filmography but rather his sideline as a photographer, snapping shots of legends like Robert Mitchum and Ann-Margret. Buffalo-based horror hero Greg Lamberson dissects his new creeper WIDOW’S POINT, multi-hyphenate artist Dante Tomaselli riffs on his unique body of work and managing editor Michael Gingold traps actor William Sanderson for a flashback interview on the notorious revenge thriller FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE.

DELIRIUM #23 is a MUST for lovers of the bizarre, monstrous, bloody, beautiful and bizarre! ON SALE NEXT WEEK at www.FullMoonDirect.com!

Blu-ray Review: TOYS ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN

 

Exploitation drama favors character and theme over explicit shocks

It’s arguable that the greatest sorts of exploration films dial back their visually explicit shocks in favor of the power of suggestion. The most obvious example might be PSYCHO, with its skillfully edited shower scene making us think we see more than we do. But that’s not particularly fair, as PSYCHO was made by a major filmmaker and studio and released during a period where nudity, sex and extreme bloodshed were simply not on the mainstream menu. But later, the same Gein-centric source material was mined for THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, a 1973 release that was produced at a time when all manner of gushy thing was allowed and accepted on screen. And yet, CHAIN SAW, one of the most brutal and notorious pictures of its kind in the world, refused to show too much either, using sound and suggestion and style to to turn stomachs and smack its audience senseless. Other films, like 1971’s BLOOD AND LACE, 1973’s THE BABY et al also proved ample sleazy and upsetting while teetering between PG and R and using theme and tone to their advantage.

Which brings us to 1972’s harrowing and hideous and unforgettable trash sorta-classic TOYS ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN, now widely available via a splendid, feature-packed Blu-ray release from Arrow Video, a restored 2K visual upgrade from the long out-of-print Something Weird Video DVD release, where it was paired with the icky and awesome THE TOY BOX. The film is as perverse and seedy as they come, telling the tale of the emotionally disturbed young woman Jamie (a fascinating one-shot turn from Marcia Forbes), who we first meet masturbating in bed to one of her many stuffed animals as she breathlessly chants “daddy, daddy”, a sweaty session interrupted by her braying mother, who chastises her and accuses her of being “just like her father”. Seems Jamie’s dad was a cad who tom-catted around and eventually bailed on the family, leaving the vulgar mother to smother her only child. Though MIA, Jamie’s pop has continued to send her toys, which she keeps littered around her room and whose presence have contributed to her bizarre, sexually stunted, childlike state of mind, where she yearns for daddy’s love while yearning for other more carnal pleasures.

Continue reading “Blu-ray Review: TOYS ARE NOT FOR CHILDREN”

COVER PREVIEW: DELIRIUM #6 Goes Crazy for Kinski and Freaky for Franco!

DELIRIUM 6 Cover

Prolific Eurohorror auteur Jess Franco made over 200 films in his wildly erratic, fascinating career. Among them is the visually splendid, extremely violent and intense 1976  retelling of JACK THE RIPPER, starring the one and only madman of the arthouse Klaus Kinski as Dr. Orloff/The Ripper.

DELIRIUM has an exclusive new interview with legendary European exploitation http://premier-pharmacy.com/product-category/anti-fungal/ film producer Erwin C. Dietrich and Swiss actress Nikola Weisse on the making of this Franco classic and working with two of genre cinema’s most interesting artists.

Filled with amazing art and edifying words, this is our most outrageous issue yet!

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And look for a MAJOR Full Moon/Jess Franco announcement in the coming week!