Thursday, November 13, 1986
D
iversions
ie iviiciiae
Weldon
Interview
By Dave
Meile
Christmas Eve 1983. A friend
gives me a copy of Michael
Weldon's "Psychotronic En
cyclopeida of Film," 800 pages of
film reviews, original posters and
movie ads. It casts a pall over the
holidays. Family relationships are
frosty. I scoff at eggnog. I eschew
Mom's succulent cream-cheese, date
and maraschino-cherry treats. I be
come withdrawn and downright
surly. Retiring to my room, I pore
over the book for two days, emerging
only for an occasional box of Scream
ing Yellow Zonkers.
Weldon's term "psychotronic"
applies to a wide range of films. He
is first and foremost a horrorsci-fi
movie fan. But the phrase is more:
low-budget exploitation, sexploita
tion, teen films, rock 'n' roll, big
budget flops, bikers, cavemen and,
thank God, "Zonter, Thing from
Venus." He started out with a Xerox
ed, handwritten guide to little-covered
films on local New York TV.
It's -1986. Weldon is a minor
celebrity. Newspapers and maga
zines like Films in Review, The
Washington Post, Chicago Tribune,
People, Rolling Stone and Heavy
Metal call the book "inventive,"
"informative" and "eccentric." The
book has such a powerful, mesmer
izing effect on me that I write Wel
don frequently. He is always gra
cious, answering questions and in
forming me of new literature on the
world of psychotronic films.
I decided to meet this fellow face
to face. I wheeze up 2,000 flights of
stairs to get to his apartment in New
York's Lower East Side. His pad is
adorned with original movie posters
and stills, among them a still from
the 1961 classic "The Killer Shrews."
I drool.
We discuss his concern about the
intentions of New Yotk planners to
bulldoze psychotronic-type theatres
on 42nd Street between Eighth
Avenue and Broadway. "It was sup
posed to have happened already,
but one of the main guys was
III
indicted for racketeering." The plan
is to put up office buildings, high
rises, hotels and mini-marts. But
Weldon senses some classism going
on. "These people get publicity not
by saying, 'We want to put up tall
buildings and make money.' They
take a moral stance . . . they say by
tearing down these theaters they'll
rid the area of drug trafficking and
prostitution in New York, which is
absurd. I'm not against trying to
improve conditions of neighbor
hoods, but this looked like a scam
from day one, and a lot of people
have been against it. AH the changes
in the city have to do with money.
And movie theaters, specifically the
ones on 42nd Street, are entertain
ment for poor people, and that kind
of entertainment is being wiped
out."
These 42nd Street theaters show
a variety of flicks, ranging from porn
and Kung-Fu shops to a staple of the
psychotronic diet: "gore" or "splat
ter" movies. My bleeding-heart lib
eral conscience tells me to be offend
ed by the violence.
Weldon makes few apologies: "I
think it's been really overdone, and
I think there are a lot of movies that
have no reason to exist except for
the gore and they're getting really
boring. I like gore movies if the gore
is so shocking that it shocks me
and I can't see how obviously the
special effects were done, then I'm
impressed, even if it's a dumb movie.
If it's a good movie and also has gore
in it, then that's great."
Being one of the country's lead
ing champions of offbeat, bizarre
cinema has its drawbacks. He runs
psychotronic film festivals in Chi
cago, Cleveland, Boston and, this
particular weekend, New York. He
has shown entertaining obsurities
like "Carnival of Souls," "Daughter
of Horror," "She Demons" and "Fas
ter Pussycat, Kill! Kill!". Not all of it
is dreck, despite the restrictive low
budgets these films were made on.
The writers and publicity folks
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call them bad film festivals. "It's a
media expression. Media simplifies
it. They use the term even when it
doesn't apply. Some of the films I
show are bad, but not all of them
are, and that's too much for people
to deal with. I'd get this kind of
publicity in Boston, mostly because
I showed some Ed Wood films ("Plan
Nine from Outer Space," "Night of
the Ghouls") along with the other
ones. It got labeled a 'bad film festi
val.' In a way, I can't complain. More
people will probably show up if they
think it's bad. But on the side I'm
saying, 'I think these movies are
really good, and I think you'll think
they're really good too.' "
Still, Weldon is genuinely flat
tered by the attention he has re-,
ceived; simplified or otherwise.
"These films are sort of forgotten
gems that were thrown in with the
bad ones, and threw them in with
the bad ones so I guess I'm to
blame, too. I'm just trying to get
these films exposed. I'm trying to
have some fun and hopefully make a
little money on the side."
We discuss Weldon's dismay over
the modern audience's trend to stay
home and watch films on video
rather than opting for the commu
nal experience of viewing in a
theater. The psychotronic exper
ience is best when indulged in by
hordes. Weldon wants lot s of patrons
for his psychotronic film festival
Saturday night at the Theater for ,
the Living Cinema, in fact, he de
fiantly tells a Jersey radio pro
grammer that "we expect to out
draw the World Series."
On the agenda are "Killers from
Space" (1954), wherein Peter Graves
is terrorized by aliens in hooded
sweatshirts with ping pong eyes,
and one of my favorite, "The Hide
ous Sun Demon" (1959), starring
Robert Clarke as a scientist who
mixes whiskey and science instead
of whiskey and soda and becomes a
radiation-poisoned creature who
Weldon
turns "scaly and lizardlike" when
ever the sun comes out. Also nota
ble is fourth-rate Peggy Lee lip
synching a clinker called "Strange
Pursuit" while the scientist sali
vates. "I've shown 'Killers from Space'
before and people really get into the
humor of it and pretty much laugh
all the way through. 'Hideous Sun
Demon' has some laughs, but it's a
lot more serious and better done.
Hopefully the audience will be more
quiet during that one." "Hideous
Sun Demon" was made by director-producer-star
Clarke for $60,000 or
$70,000 and lost a bundle.
Any advice for low-budget film
makers today, be they hacks or
geniuses? Weldon pauses and grins.
"I think they should be encouraged.
Sure, some are hacks. I'm glad
they're still around because it's get
ting harder for them, too. Keep that
hackwork coming it entertains
us."
I inquire about good new psycho
tronic and low-budget horror.
"When I go to a movie theater to
see a movie that I don't know much
about, which is the best way to see a
movie, and it turns out to be a little-
known, low-budget movie by un
known people and it's good, I'm
thrilled. 'Evil Dead' was a real low
budget project that came out great.
Even 'reAnimator' was a relatively
low-budget movie that was great
and really caught on with the audi
ence. One that didn't catch on that I
really liked was 'Eyes of Fire,' which
was made in Missouri. All these
films were made by first-time, young
directors. That's real encouraging."
Although Weldon lives quite
modestly, his "Psychotronic Encyc
lopedia of Film" has sold almost
30,000 copies, and his, second book,
tentatively titled "The Psychotronic
Star Atlas," is due out next summer.
"It's going to be a guide to actors,
actresses and some directors, with
filmographies, brief biographies, and
Page 5
Dave MeileDtversions
dealing with work these people did
only after 1950. I'm not gonna deal
with the "Golden Age of Hollywood"
which many of the other books deal
with."
Will he include Les Tremayne
("Creature of Destruction", "War of
the Worlds," "Monolith Monsters")?
"Sure, 1 have him written up."
Whit Bissell ("I was a Teenage
Werewolf," "Monster on the Cam
pus")? "Whit Bissell definitely. He's a
good actor who's in all kinds of
movies and worked constantly. A lot
of TV. People remember him for his
science-fiction and horror roles, but
he did a lot of other films. It'll be a
book about actors and actresses
who don't normally get written about
much. Somebody like John Hoyt,
who occasionally got starring roles.
He was in 'Attack of the Puppet
People' and still does TV. There's
some people who worked so much I
wonder if I'll have room to run all
their work. People like Klaus Kinski
or John Carradine. It's ridiculous."
The next evening I begin the long
walk to the Theater for the Living
Cinema on White Street. Right by
-the Baby Doll Lounge . Topless
Go-Go Nightly. The Cinema is" a
struggling little joint sandwiched
between old textile warehouses.
Weldon arrives and is greeted by
enthusiastic applause. He gives some
interesting background information
on the films and positions himself
near the projection room to make
sure every thing goes OK.' I glance
around the room at the patrons; Of
the millions of potential psycho
tronic film fans in New York, only
about a hundred are there. Con
quering the world can be a slow
process. .......
Michael Weldon's second book,
"The Psychotronic Star Atlas," will
be published by Ballentine Books
this summer. He will have articles
published in High Times and a
monthly feature in Video Review.
