Page 6
Daily Nebraskan
Thursday, April 30, 1987
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TIMS
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Glassy
Eye
Because it is a relatively slow
week for watching weirdness on the
tube, I'm going to do something I've
been wanting to do for a long time:
hip readers to some good reading.
Several items I cover are just plain
practical for anyone who enjoys
movies. Others concentrate more on
my own personal tastes, which are
certainly not for everyone. You have
been warned.
"The Psychotronic Encyclo
pedia of Film," Michael Wel
don (Ballentine Books, 1984,
$16.95)
Sure, you're sick of seeing me
quote and refer to this book, but it's
the Holy Bible as far as I'm con
cerned. To the uninitiated, Weldon
describes "psychotronic" films as
ranging from "sincere social com
mentary to degrading trash. They
concern teen-agers, rock 'n' roll,
juvenile delinquents, monsters,
aliens, killers, spies, detectives,
bikers, communists, drugs, natural
disasters, atomic bombs, the pre
historic past and the projected
future." With 3,000 film descrip
tions emphasizing horror, rock and
science fiction, it is blissfully devoid
of snobbery and psuedo-intellectual
meanderings. It has more than 800
pages of film synopses (in alphabet
ical order), great photos, original
movie ads ("Two great blood horrors
to rip out your guts!") and Weldon's
own intelligence and wit.
Some entries are written by Bob
Martin, Qiarles Beesley and Akira
Fitton. Weldon is working on a
second book. He also writes a column
for "High Times" and reviews video
cassette releases for Video Review.
"TV Movies,' Leonard MsJ
tin (Signet Books, 4.95)
Written by that famous wimpy
looking guy from "Entertainment
Tonight," this work is for the lay
man, not the real couch potato.
Films are chronicled here with nag
gingly brief descriptions including
stars, running time, director, year,
synopses and video availability. Each
film is rated from the waste of cellu
loid getting a "bomb" to what Mar
tin (and his six researchers) con
sider classics, which are rated from
three to four stars. A convenient
coffee-table book that helps you
decide whether you might be wast
ing your time on certain flicks.
Drawbacks: the briefness and Mal
tin's consistent prejudice toward
most low-budget films (no matter
what the genre). Rarely do they rate
higher than two stars.
'-'Rock on Film," David
Ehrenstein and Bill Heed
(Delilah Books, 1032, 3.85)
No self-respecting rock Y roll
fan or movie buff should be without
this little 300-pager, which surpris
ingly is one of the first good books
that chronicle the history of rock
music in a concise, easy to read,
reference-book fashion. A lengthy
introductory chapter accurately
links "juvenile delinquency" films
like "The Blackboard Jungle" and
"The Wild One" to Elvis and the
emergence of the '50s rock 'n' roll
exploitation films. Then it zips
through the importance of the Bea
tles and "A Hard Day's Night" with
out being redundant. The chapter
finally moves onto every music sub
category your heart desires rock
abilly, R & B, reggaeska, new wave
punk and even some jazz. Synopses,
cast and credits, running times and
songs are cataloged for 483 films,
obscure and mainstream. One has
to wonder if the authors watched all
these films because there are fre
quent errors (Eddie Cochran does
not sing "Come on Everybody" in
"Go Johnny Go!" 1959). I wish he
did. But this is nitpicking about a
book that was long in coming and
well worth the wait.
"The Complete Directory
to Prime Time Network T.V.
Shows 1946-Present," Tim
Brooks and Earle Marsh (Bal
lentine Books, $14.95)
Someday when I'm rich, I'm going
to buy my own television station and
run nothing but old television shows
24 hours a day. Not junk like "Hog
an's Heroes" or those classic two
year old shows like "Different
Breaks" and "Gimme a Stroke," but
cool stuff like "Eatman," "Shindig,"
"Hullabaloo," "Outer Omits," "Thril
ler" and "The Green Hornet." At
least a hundred shows from the '50s
and '60s would be worth seeing
today, and all of them are listed
here. Each program is listed by net
work, first air date, last air date,
casts and significant highlights.
You'll delight in reading about shows
you didn't even know you remem
bered ("Captain Nice," "Mr. Ter
rific"), and trivia hounds will have
plenty to pour over. Did you recall
that Dave Letterman was a regular
on the puerile 1977 summer-replacement
show "The Starland Vocal
Band Hour?" Who can forget prime
time works of art like "The San
Pedro Beach Bums," "Pistols 'n'
Petticoats" or "My Mother the
Car"? A nostalgic experience that
will leave you somewhat bitter to
ward local TV stations. The many
interesting old programs just sit
around gathering dust.
Magazines, periodicals, fan
zines, etc,
"Fiksfscts; The LSszin
By
Dave
Meile
of Unusual Films & Televi
sion (bi-monthly, $2.95)
Fangoria, a rag devoted to head
chopping, gut-wrenching gore films
used to run occasional articles and
interviews detailing independent
'50s and '60s horror and sci-fi pro
ductions, but has now gone almost
exclusively for the 13-year-old "gore
hound" crowd. This leaves the door
wide open for this excellent maga
zine out of Illinois. The first six
issues of this young work reveal
book and video reviews, feature
articles on directors, make-up art
ists, films of crazes (like the "big
bug" sci-fi's of the '50s) and inter
views with underrated scream queens
like Yvette Vickers ("Attack of the
Giant Leeches") and Beverly Gar
land ("It Conquered the World").
Lots of great photos and original
movie poster reproductions. A great
magazine. Give it a try.
Films in Review (10 issues
a year, $2.50)
Film Comment (bi-monthly,
$2.95)
Film Comment, while focusing on
new, mainstream releases, is still a
good source for occasional articles
on new independent filmmakers
and cult films. The latest issue has
an article on Sir Alec Guinness, a
hilarious look at religious films by
drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs and a
look at recent offerings like "Rais
ing Arizona." Films in Review has
been around about 30 years, and
though it tends to ignore anything
really oSbeat, it's still a nifty, digest
size periodical with film reviews,
retrospectives on actors and actres-
ses, complete fiknegraphies and
seme excellent features.
The punk and independent music
"fanzines" cf the late '70s and today
are not really a new idea; Hundreds
of such "homemade" publications
has been devoted to horror and
science-fiction films since the mid
'60s. Some are sloppy, Xeroxed jobs,
while others are labors of love done
by unsung scholars. It is practically
unavoidable that there are too many
interesting ones to mention here,
but two that are definitely of inter
est to horror and science-fiction
fans are:
Midnight Marquee (pub
lished every October by Gary
Svehla, $3.50. Write Gary
Svehla, Back-issue office, 4000
Glehham Ave., Baltimore, MD
21206)
Masick Theatre (published
irregularly by Raymond Young,
$5.95. Write Raymond Young,
P.O. Box 446, Baldwin, N.Y.
11510-0123) .