Monday, February 27, 2012

Zine Review: I Love Bad Movies 1 & 2




When I was a child I used to watch old movies on our black & white television with my father late at night: The Incredible Shrinking Man, Revenge of the Creature, Tarantula, This Island Earth and dozens more. Nothing was more exciting than a movies about aliens or giant spiders or old castles with secret passageways. In my adult life, I’ve realized (through spending way more time in front of a screen than is healthy for anyone) that probably 99% of all Hollywood films are wastes of time. How these scripts got written and films financed has always been a mystery to me. Yet they gross billions for an industry that thrives on recycling every cliché in the book.

Conversely (maybe perversely) I occasionally love to watch B Movies (or grade Z movies) to remind myself of the insanity of the culture we live in as reflected through the fantasy of filmmakers. Plus, it’s fun to make fun (what a negative pleasure). The zine I Love Bad Movies is co-edited with great skill by Matt Carman and Kseniya Yarosh. They’ve assembled a stellar crew of writers (and films) to explore, mostly centered on the 1980’s onwards. Most of these movies can still be found used on VHS (or DVD) in flea markets or stashed in the basement of the few remaining bricks & mortar DVD shops. Anja Verdugo illustrates the psychedelic splatter flick Shrooms with suck veracity I feel like I’ve seen the movie (and I probably have – in some parallel universe). The inner workings of  Sleepaway Camp, The Darwin Awards, The Stuff and many more create the crux of highly literate reviews. Written by fans for fans (or maybe just the curious) I Love Bad Movies is a joy to read cover to cover.

For more information see www.ilovebadmovies.com  

1 comment:

Matt Carman said...

Thanks DJ Frederick! We're glad to count you among the appreciators of great-bad movies.