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!

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.

VIDEODROME Part 4

"Nikki Brand".....after part three we know what her full name means. Again, does she serve to soften Max up a bit? A starter course for would-be sadists? Yin and yang, Nikki the masochist and the emergence of Max as sadist. What will her "trip" to Pittsburgh yield. Does Masha lead Max in the direction of answers to Videodrome? And I know you must be thinking, "Cathode Ray Mission..? WTF!?" Now Part 4...



Note: Due to complications I've had to procure parts 4-10 from other sources and unfortunately a key visual sequence has been truncated in these recordings. The scene involves Max and a TV screen.... These are still images captured of said sequence that I believe bridge the gap from the end of Part 4 to the next scene in Part 5.

VIDEODROME Part 3

In Part 2 we are introduced to Nikki Brand, a radio talk host who thinks society is over stimulated, via a TV monitor....Max O'Blivion also makes his debut on TV, within the TV yet! Prof. O'Blivion states that in the future we will all have "TV names". While the internet is not TV it is a media source, and today I noticed that everyone had a "TV name" on the forum I was on. ("RadioAlcolyte" was my favorite.) Purposeful or not, Cronenberg seems to have made a Warhol-like prediction.... Max has become completely fascinated by the signals Harlan has been able to intercept. More torture. This time a "black guy" gets his scrotum electrocuted.....Max keeps trying to figure out the "angle" when Harlan tells him, "That's it. They just keep doing that for over an hour.." Nikki finds her way to Max's apartment where she solicits the viewing of a tape Max made of the transmissions after finding no pornography. She seems to like it and even asks Max to cut her....Nikki=nick=to cut? So it goes, and Max is introduced to S&M by means of piercing. Early stages of "over stimulation"? They make love and Max "finds" himself inside the transmissions torture room. Hallucination or sexual fantasy? We begin down the rabbit hole.....Now Part 3.

VIDEODROME Part 2

Ahh, the life of a sleazy cable TV president. We saw in Part 1 the goings-on of Max Renn: secret product meetings in dirty hotel rooms and clandestine operations seeking out coded video signals harbouring brutal images of torture and, well, God knows what else. Did you notice the first image is of a TV? Telling, perhaps...
Also, one can't shake the feeling even though Max is seemingly in the power position as the "hunter" during these early scenes of Videodrome that he is actually being solicited. A puppet on a string who is not aware of the fact? More questions than answers after the first ten minutes.....now Part 2.

Review: VIDEODROME Part 1

Buy Videodrome - Criterion Collection
[Blu-ray] Videodrome (Criterion Collection)
Max Renn, essayed by James Woods, is the president of a cable TV station who is always on the hunt for the "next thing"; new, edgy, hardcore images to serve the public's taste. His rejection of a soft-core porn show titled "Samurai Dreams", complete with dildo masturbation scene, is testament to his programming philosophy. It is this determination to discover the "new" that catalyzes the action within David Cronenberg's Videodrome and sets in motion a chain of events that lead to Max's ultimate transformation into "the New Flesh".

Prophetic, bizarre, brilliant. These are just a few words chosen by cineastes to describe Videodrome's end product. Viewing Videodrome sparks questions many people are not prepared to answer. It is complex not so much in story structure as in it's intellectual proclivity to induce it's audience to philosophical self-pondering that produces many answers for a single question. Therefore, a simple synopsis is incapable of doing justice to the piece as a whole. Understand Videodrome is not "weird" just for the sake of being so. Videodrome is a wholly original nightmare of contemporary proportions and very deserving of its cult status.

Since the effect of analysis is useless without having seen the film, CINE AUTOPSIS here offers the first in a series of posts segmenting the entirety of Videodrome. Of course, all rights are reserved by the creators and CINE AUTOPSIS in no way, shape, or form claim authorship, ownership, or privilege. It is to be understood that CINE AUTOPSIS offers Videodrome in the spirit of arts education with the intent to expose the artist's work to an otherwise extant audience seeking to cultivate and nourish their appreciation of alternative cinema. It is my philosophy that exposure itself is education and this display is a simple case of public service.

Now, the first in ten segments of David Cronenberg's VIDEODROME.

Coming Soon: VIDEODROME Review

David Cronenberg's masterpiece VIDEODROME, a classic in "fantastic fiction", is next on the specimen slab. Pics and short video segments will be included in this multi-part review/analysis to enhance the piece as well as to better facilitate the readers material comprehension. Included here is the trailer.



Long live the New Flesh!

Review: Going To Pieces-The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, 1978-1986

At a price point of $40 McFarland is keeping up appearances as a publisher of fine quality hardbound books, but can you judge a book by its cover? Well, in this case, I say 'yes'.

Mcfarland has been releasing genre fare for a few years now to split reviews, mostly due to price versus content, or lack thereof. The quality of the tangible book is never in question when regarding McFarland, their books will last generations! Sturdy is the word. And in the case of "Going To Pieces", the content is as sturdy as the spine.

As the title suggests, GTP is a study of the "slasher" film from 1978-1986, which, if you ask most fans, comprises the first two cycles and is considered the genres golden age. At only 214 pages to cover eight years, that's about 26 pages per year, if you take into account the index and such. Plenty of room to roam! Smartly enough, Adam Rockoff begins his study with a thesis that poses a question: "What is a slasher film?". Ah,...now you know you are in for more than just reviews and simple synopsis. This is a scholarly work. And that is why GTP is a success. Rockoff approaches the genre in an honest light all the while maintaining what very few authors of books on this subject do; respect for the genre. Asking this question of himself not only prepares you the reader for an understanding of the text from the authors point of view but, more importantly, involves you in the intellectual process of appreciation without 'taking sides'. This was a brilliant bit by Rockoff because the reader is forced to reinvest into what they thought they already held, which is a personal understanding, a philosophy really, of the genre. To put it another way, we are forced to question ourselves along with Rockoff.

Having set the table with an outline and understanding of the conventions of the slasher, Rockoff begins to explore the shadowy recesses of the stalk-n-kill film, the ancestors of the genre. Grand Guignol of the Victorian age through to Psycho and Peeping Tom, on past The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Black Christmas, ending on a often overlooked contributor, the beloved and internationally influential Giallo! To people new to the slasher this foundation which Rockoff sets his work will prove not only exciting but invaluable for your own private viewing research.

The book really starts to spin its wheels in the third chapter: Halloween, The Night He Came Home. Halloween might not be the grandaddy of the slasher, that honor would go to Psycho, but it is probably more responsible for the birth of the slash-film into its own genre than any other film. The book continues on through the '80s spotlighting trends and phenomena of the genre such as the "last girl", special effects, the sequel as an institution, the subjective point of view, and the "holiday" platform.

GTP ends with a chapter on the resurgence of the slasher, notably the international box office juggernaut Scream, its sequels, and the hip-talking-teen slasher. This gives the reader pause. What I took away from GTP is that the slasher is a cyclical genre that most prominently appears in times of political strife. Just like Michael Myers it never dies, only suffers minor setbacks to which it hibernates, grows strong, and reappears with a vengeance.

This a must have book for any fan of "The Slasher". The price is worth the read (Amazon has it at $30) as I find myself going back every once and again for a little factual research. Here's hoping Adam Rockoff writes on the subject again.

*Of note is a documentary inspired by this book of the same name.
Buy Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film
Buy Going to Pieces DVD

Update: I'm back!

Okay. I've been very busy. School is in order and my life is making a bit more sense now that my compass is set in a permanent direction. I will be posting on a regular basis as of today, so keep me in your bookmarks and check back every once and again. Reviews of films and genre publications are on the way. Also, I'll be reviewing more DVDs....

All this brings me to an explanation of the "header sub-title" change. As I've been thinking about this blog for the past half-year, it's come to my attention that "Retracting the Dura Mater of the Terror Film" is a bit too finite for what will inevitably find its way on to these pages. So, I am widening the digital cervix a bit to allow a more broad approach, hence, "Retracting the Dura Mater of the Moving Image". Not a big deal, if a little pretentious, but, hey, it's my blog and I need to keep up the faux gravitas by name at the very least....!

Vidi well, oh, brothers! Cine Autopsis has such sites to show you....till then, good day.

Review: Midnight Media's SLASH HITS vol.1 , vol.2

Midnight Media is putting out some nice little "readers digest" size pamphlets based on various genres and themes. I say pamphlets because they're 44 pages long and bound in a semi-gloss paper.

Slash Hits, as you might've guessed, is their guide to North American slasher films. So far there are two volumes, vol. 1 beginning from the advent of the modern slashers (PEEPING TOM/PSYCHO) to 1979, and vol. 2 taking a look at the heyday of the slasher, 1980-1982.

The titles are grouped alphabetically within year of release. There is no synopsis to speak of, instead, in some cases, short reviews on the films. In other cases, Halloween for example, films are covered more in depth, demanding up to two pages of text. The reviews seem to be fair and concise, but the big surprise here is that the Slash Hits volumes "score" their content with "breasts & blood". Yes, you read correctly. The more boobs in the review, the more boobs are displayed in the film. And so it goes for the blood and gore....The writers make no qualms about it! No uptight, holier than thou attitude on parade here. They know what the core audience of such a genre wants and the reviews are based on this. I whole heartily applaud them in their honesty.

Organizing these volumes based on "era" is really a novel approach. The reader gets a "feel" for the generational context of the films this way. Screen shots, press ads, posters, and photos abound within. The paper is of good quality, too. Very important for the pics! All around the quality of the package is thumbs-up.

Really, there are only a few, minor nit-picks. Release edition information is absent. Some films state a running time while others do not. And my personal biggest nit to pick, no aspect ratio information.

While Slash Hits vol.1 & 2 may be a bit too concise for some, one must remember that this is also part of its attractiveness, allowing for more content to be covered. They are both available from FAB press at a price of $10 American. They are worth every penny.