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■ POETRY PLUS
Discover local poetry and fiction at a free reading by the artists
themselves at Lyndon House (293 Hoyt St.) on Thursday, April
26 at 7:30 In the evening. The event Is sponsored by Lyndon
House and Athens Writers Project ■
The Red and Black • Tuesday, April 24, 1990 • 3
A&E
The gory classics
Bloody bodies: A vital ingredient in classic horror movies
By NOAH ARCENEAUX
Staff Writer
Some call them “schlock” films,
some call them “B-movies” and
others call them just plain bad.
Whatever term you choose to use,
these trashy films are a staple of
modem culture and this column is
an effort to present to you some of
the better of these “cheesy videos.”
Blood is an integral part of many
such films and many a bad film di
rector has used copious amounts of
the stuff to perk up viewer atten
tion.
Now I thought about opening up
this column with some quote like
“Blood — the fluid of life” but I’m
not nearly so poetic. Face it, blood
looks cool. Gallons and gallons of
bright orange gunk flowing over
the corpses of freshly killed coeds.
Ah, the beauty of it all. Many bad
films have used the term “blood” in
their titles and this week I exam
ined four:
“Blood Orgy of the She-Devils" is
the 1971 film by schlock-master
T.V. Mikel. Mikel also directed the
truly amazing "Astro-Zombies” but
this effort fails to live up to the
mark set by that classic film.
“Blood Orgy” is a dubbed film,
though I could not determine the
country of origin. Personally I can’t
blame the responsible country for
denying any claim to this film. The
minimal plot revolves around a
group of women who live in a se
cluded mansion under the control
of a Satanic high priestess. The
soundtrack is above average, but
otherwise this film offers nothing
except for a great title.
“Bloodthirsty Butchers” is an
other foreign film, this one British.
Directed by Andy Miller, this is an
other film about the wild escapades
of Sweeney Todd, the Demon
Barber of Fleet Street. Sweeney is
a barber who kills his unfortunate
customers and sells the bodies to a
butcher. The production values are
VIDEO REVIEW
truly awful, but this film has many
wonderful moments. You’ve heard
of four and twenty blackbirds
baked in a pie, but how about a dis
embodied breast? The violent
blood-frenzy at the end of the film,
in which a women vomits on a con
stable, is well worth the wait.
Perhaps the greatest film with
“blood” in the title is Hershell
Gordon Lewis’ “Bloodfeast.” Shot
in 1964 for a miniscule budget, this
movie inspired the entire genre of
gore. The plot involves an Egyptian
caterer who is preparing the fabled
“Feast of Ishtar.” To create this
feast, the caterer must kill various
voluptous females and remove one
organ from each one.
“Bloodfeast” contains some truly
memorable dialogue, such as this
line from the policeman/hero: “I
just can’t seem to relax since these
mutilations started.” This film is
worth seeing for the classic scene of
a tongue being ripped out of a
woman.
For those of you who are true
sadists, ‘'Bloodsucking Freaks” by
Joel M. Reed is a must see. Filmed
in 1978, the shocking scenes of bru
tality in this film almost caused me
to avert my eyes. The evil magi
cian, Sardu, is putting together a
performance art piece involving
sado-masochism and ballet. The
performers in this piece are poor
females who are kept locked up in
Sardu’s dungeon. Ralphus, the si
nister dwarf assistant, has my vote
for best henchman of all time. A
spanking episode between Ralphus
and a young girl is guaranteed to
inspire a groan of pain — or a
shriek of laughter — depending on
your taste.
“Bloodsucking Freaks” is avail
able at a number of places in town
Davit 0'Kt«ff*/The Red and Back
and the other films mentioned in Crossing shopping center. Stock up
this column are all available from on the beer, rent some gore and
the Video Library in the Clarke have a blast.
New: The ‘E’ magazine
By DAVID WILLIAMS
Contributing Writer
Now that Earth Day is over,
much of the interest in the environ
ment may wane, but “E, the Envi
ronmental Magazine” is trying to
provide year-round coverage of en
vironmental issues. The magazine
started in response to what its pub
lishers felt was an under reporting
of environmental issues by the es
tablished media.
“We saw the environment be
coming a concern, but we didn’t see
a lot of coverage,” said Elissa
Wolfman, managing editor of “E”.
“E” is trying to provide global
coverage of environmental issues
and be a forum for smaller organi
zations and publications to reach a
national audience. The magazine
subscribes to many environmental
newsletters and publications and
reprints articles from them to
supplement their own coverage.
“We would like to be a sort of
‘Reader’s Digest’ of environmental
issues,” Wolfman said.
The magazine is aesthetically
pleasing. The magazine is colorful
and contains many pictures and
graphics.
The magazine includes articles
by environmental activists, book
and album reviews, ns well as in
formation about recycling and
solar energy.
The articles in “E” are well
written, but they often lack objec
tivity. Wolfman stated that “E” is
an advocacy magazine and isn’t
trying to be anything else.
“We feel that the other side of
the issue gets enough coverage and
have millions for advertising and
public relations,” she said.
“E” is made of recycled non
glossy paper that is bleached in a
way that produces no harmful di
oxins. Surprisingly enough, a
number of the major environ
mental magazines do not use re
cycled paper.
The magazine is not affiliated
with any organization and they
hold their advertisers to the high
standards.
“We only accept advertisers who
produce environmentally sound
products so we can avoid conflicts
of interest,” Wolfman said.
Athens Earth Day coordinator
Anna Bass liked what she has seen
of the magazine.
“I was really impressed. It’s nice
to have a magazine totally devoted
to environmental issues.” she said.
“E, the Environmental Mag
azine” is not yet available in
Athens, but annual subscriptions
are $20 and can be ordered by
calling 1-800-825-0061.
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