REVIEW: Creepy Images

Creepy Images is an English language horror magazine produced in Germany. The content is light on text as this magazine focuses on presenting readers with reproductions of scarce lobby material from our favorite B-horror fare of the 1960's to the 1980's. Creepy Images is published in the A4 format, a European favorite, it seems. Honestly, I've never seen anything quite like it.  It's pages are lush with color and the paper is of high quality. The magazine is definitely a collectors dream. As of this date, Creepy Images has printed six issues on what seems to be a pretty honest schedule. Each issue spotlights about 5-6 films. Each film section is introduced with back-round on the production and a "check list" which consists of all the promotional material covered. However, the main purpose of the magazine is to show off the glorious imagery of a past cinema era. The text is wonderfully written but slight, which is good. The presentation is solely focused on bringing the reader high quality color reproductions of the hardest to find material from across the globe. Everything from Italian fotobusta's, Japanese pressbooks, and Australian daybills are represented. And the best part? The images are given plenty of real estate to show-off: no more than two images are ever shown on one page. Page count varies from 50-64 per issue, with the magazine stabilizing around the 64 page mark for later issues. I highly recommend Creepy Images to any collector, even at $10 per issue.  Creepy Images Site

Book Review: The Black Arts

Buy The Black Arts: A Concise History of Witchcraft, Demonology, Astrology, and Other Mystical Practices Throughout the Ages


Technically speaking, I'm breaking with the thesis of this blog by reviewing a book for which cinema has nothing to do. However, we all love films pertaining to witchcraft, don't we? Need I mention Rosemary's Baby? No, of course not. I procured this text as a means to further separate the facts from the fiction, hence, better appreciate the films of the occult. No, I don't believe in witchcraft, or any ritualized religion, but I find it irresistible the people who act on darker thoughts to produce a prescribed effect. And so it is with great necessity that I write this review.
Richard Cavendish has written the most unbiased account on the actual practice of witchcraft that I have ever read. The language avoids academic jargon yet maintains a professional and approachable tone. I often find this type of book to be either too academic or just plain sensational, but Cavendish has escaped both these pitfalls. The Black Arts isn't a history so much as it is an explanation of the differing philosophies and rituals of black magic. All bases are covered from Hebrew numerology to Satanism. Each chapter delves into a distinct understanding of the subject while providing a storied back round of the particular practice, illuminating the way rituals were performed and the whys of the witches themselves. Some rituals, such as mimicry (the act of replicating events for protection, etc.), are just downright absurd while others that aim to produce sickness, or worse, are consciously frightening. What you'll find in reading this great book is the sociological, psychological, and evolutionary reasons magic exists. I cannot recommend this book enough. If you are interested in the truth behind the creation and practice of black magic from early times to the present, do yourself a favor and click on the link above.

REVIEW: Eyeball Compendium

Eyeball: Compendium 1989-2003

Do you remember the underground fanzine "Eyeball" which was dedicated to reviewing the obscure and erotic in exploitation cinema? No? Don't worry about it, because now you can own the best articles, interviews, and film reviews the publication had to offer. Released in 2003 by FAB Press, creator Stephen Thrower divides the book into three sections: Interviews, Features, and Reviews. Each section relays it's content like a finely mastered mixtape dedicated to lovers of the subversive. None other than Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paul Morrissey, Andrzej Zulawski, and Ulli Lommel are interviewed. Gaspar Noe also takes on questions, even relaying his process for filming in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio with 16mm film equipment. As noted, film reviews abound, but the highlight of the compendium is a short essay by Ramsey Campbell, "La Notte Bava", where he rambles on the films of Bava, Argento, and Naschy. Contributors include: Kim Newman, Tim Lucas, Alan Jones, and others. Highly recommended!

Like an internet Dracula......CINE AUTOPSIS Rises From The Grave!

Well, I've completed my latest round of school. (GPA is 3.81, for those in the know!) However, my academic success has come at a hefty price: CINE AUTOPSIS has faltered and is now teetering on the brink of death. Actually this blog has been dead since August, the start of last semester. A new semester is on the horizon with the coming of 2009.

This brings me to my New Years Resolution. I will attempt to make at least one post per week in the year of the ox. My apologies to those who thought CINE AUTOPSIS would add to their daily or weekly internet routine. I want to assure you that my love of film in general has not waned or wavered, only tucked slightly under what has to be my number one priority: education.

So, here's to you, the new year, my education pathway, and glorious film! CINE AUTOPSIS LIVES!!!

Coming Soon: Roman Polanski Spotlight

He gave us some of the most horrific "non-horror" films of all time: Rosemary's Baby, The Tenant, and Repulsion all come to mind, but these treasures are neglected when in discussion over films that terrorize...and they do terrorize; shear terror. Cine Autopsis will take a gander at some of these gems in the coming days....stay tuned!

Announcement: School is cruel...

I renew my journey on the education pathway this month! Good news for the future of my pocket book, bad news for the post count on Cine Autopsis. Though I expect a lower post count I hope you will still drop by,...it's just that Cine Autopsis is struggling to split time between textbooks and horror films. But don't fret, the same "quality" will be maintained, only with a little less regularity! Remember the old saying, "It's not the quantity, it's the quality!" Thanks for your support.

Review: The Burning

Buy The Burning DVD
Finally, after years of crappy VHS "quality", The Burning made it's debut last year on DVD. A Slasher treasure to many, HorrorHound magazine named it "the third most underrated Slasher..." in their latest issue (Aug./Sept. '08) in the article, appropriately titled, "The 20 most underrated Slashers of the 1980's". Wow, it's hard for me to imagine this film being underrated within the Slasher canon,....under-watched, most probably. This film was a legend when I was a kid, equally due to word of mouth and the mad search for a video store that retained a copy.

For kids not in the know, The Burning is a basic revenge story: A prank goes horribly wrong leaving a vindictive, shear wielding, scab of a man to seek out one of the perpetrators years later at a summer camp for horny, peeping teens. The gang is all here! A comedian, a "weirdo", a bully, and, hey, even a pre-misogynist potential rapist has second billing! Typical females of the genre era fill out the cast...All perform exceedingly well. This film is partly famous due to it's cast of future Hollywood players; Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, Holly Hunter, Ned Eisenberg, and my personal favorite, Brain Backer of Fast Times at Ridgemont High fame. The other part it's famous for is the grisly special effects courtesy of maestro Tom Savini, whom turned down Friday the 13th Part 2 for this film.

Yes, the effects developed by Savini and shot by director Tony Maylam were so visceral, so shocking that England, among other countries, essentially banned the film. A "video nasty" the likes of which hadn't been censored since The Texas Chainsaw Massacre invaded the island! Really and truly some of the best stalk-and-kill bits in the genre. All one has to do is type "infamous raft scene" in the Google query to understand the depth of The Burning's "legend" status.

As for the DVD and it's content, I am pleased. The transfer is tidy and clean. Not HDTV quality but above adequate. Extras come in the form of an informative directors commentary moderated by critic/author Alan Jones, theatrical trailer, and a Tom Savini interview where he talks about the effects, his feelings on the how they hold up today, and a little bit of behind the scenes gossip. All in all, I would label this release a "You can't call yourself a 'Slasher' fan if The Burning isn't on your DVD shelf" must buy. In particular, the commentary is of worth. Alan Jones moderates like a fan with the gift of a historians probe. The discussion is focused yet fun, you can tell both participants enjoyed themselves. I must also mention that the commentary does not suffer from "dead space", lack of conversation for lengths at a time, that you find so common on these tracks, it seems.

Overall DVD grade is strong; good picture quality, decent extras, and nice package art. That last criteria has the tendency to be lacking when it comes to early eighties Slasher releases donning new, marketing-inspired packaging,...just look at Happy Birthday to Me! Here is a tip to all the studios: Leave the original art work alone!!!! Oh, and don't bet on slow horses....

THE BURNING: All any fan of the Slasher could ask for!