Forrest J. Ackerman- 1916-2008

I just read that Forrest J. Ackerman died last night. He was having heart problems, and word was that he wanted to stop treatment and go peacefully. All reports say that he did pass quickly and peacefully.

Forest (or "Unlce Forry") was a literary agent who helped get the careers of many science fiction (or "sci-fi", a term he coined) writers careers started, Ray Bradbury among them. Forry also had a very extensive collection of horror and sci-fi memorabilia in his home, which he opened to the public every chance he got, because he wanted to share it with others.But Forry's main accomplishment ( to me, anyway) was the prototype monster movie magazine, Famous Monsters Of Filmland. FM was the first regular magazine devoted to horror, fantsay, and sc-fi films. Even though the text and photo captions were littered with puns and jokes, FM took a serious approach to the genre, having articles on not only current films, but movies from the silent era and the Universal classics. FM covered art and exploitation alike, and ran from 1958 to 1983.

I remember the first time I saw an issue. It was issue #114, a special on Japanese monster movies. A friend at school had it, it must have been first or second grade, I guess(i.e., some point in the 70's). He wouldn't trade anything for it, either. I went to the grocery store with my Mom as soon as I could talk her into it, and looked for it. Issue #114 wasn't there, but there was another one there. I grabbed it up, and was thereby hooked. It was so cool to see a magazine devoted to the stuff I loved. Most adults weren't into those kinds of movies (none I knew, anyway), and only a few kids I knew liked them as much as I did. This is the kind of thing when you're a kid that, even though I never knew Forry or anyone else associated with the magazine, seeing this magazine validated my interests and made me feel like I wasn't alone in my obsession with monsters and horror. In addition, it was a great source of information and education on my favorite genre. It was FM that led me to watch silent films like The Phantom of the Opera(1925)and Nosferatu(1922), and other such B&W classics on my local PBS station.

I'm in the process of writing a book, and about a month or so ago I wrote about Forry and FM, and the influence it had on me. Writing that chapter really got me thinking about those times . Getting the newest issue of FM was my favorite part of the month. I always started reading it in the grocery store first, and read it thoroughly after getting home...and then I couldn't wait until next month for the next issue! Luckily, my Mom encouraged my reading habits, even if it was monster magazines and comic books ( "I was just glad you were reading something", she later told me). I still have all those old issues of FM , and yes, I did finally get a back issue of #114.

Uncle Forry, you will be missed.

The Beast's Movie Cave- Poultrygeist, Night of the Chicken Dead

I enjoyed posting about movies during Halloween so much, I thought I'd continue to do so. I won't limit the films to horror, but it turns out this first non-seasonal film is a horror/comedy/musical titled Poultrygeist, Night of the Chicken Dead. This movie is brought to us by the fine folks at Troma Films, who produced such films as The Toxic Avenger, Tromeo and Juliet, and Terror Firmer. If you've seen any of these films, then you pretty much know what to expect. Troma, headed by Lloyd Kaufman, specializes in horror/comedies that are overflowing with gore, gross-out effects, gratuitous female nudity, and a very non-PC sense of humor. If you are easily offended, stay the Hell away from any of Troma's films...and this one is no exception.

Arbie (Jason Yachanin) and Wendy (Kate Graham) are young lovers who get separated when Wendy goes to college. Wendy comes back to Tromaville to protest the opening of an American Chicken Bunker retaraunt that is built on the site of an ancient burial ground sacred to the Tromahwak Indians. Arbie is overjoyed to see Wendy at first, until he discovers she is with her new girlfriend. Arbie is enraged, and decides to work at the restaraunt to spite Wendy. The fast-food chain is soon invaded by the angry spirits of both the Tromahawk tribespeople and those of the chickens killed for the restaraunt. Will Arbie get Wendy back? Will they be able to escape the undead chicken zombies?

Poultrygeist is funny as Hell, and gross as Hell,too. The musical numbers are pretty funny, with songs like "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Fried" and "Slow Fast Food Love". As I stated earlier, the Troma brand of humor is very unpolitically correct. Just about every race, religion, and sexual orientation is made fun of, as well as the fast-food industry, big corporations, and trendy protesters. Also, veritable buckets of blood, vomit, shit, and slime are spilt, sprayed, hurled, and projectile-fired across the screen at any given time. Stand-out scenes include a hapless fast-food employee being pushed into a meat grinder by a possessed chicken body, "Jared "(Joe Fleishaker) having a disgusting trip to the restroom after eating spirit-tainted chicken, and the attack of the zombie chicken demons on the restaraunt, with heads being dipped into deep fryers and eyes plucked out by beaks to be put into egg cartons. The gore, while appropiriately gooey, is not overly realistic, and while definately gross, has a cartoony feel to it. Still, it may not be everyone's cup of tea( or bucket of chicken).

Poultrygeist is a fun, gross, messy, gloroiusly un-PC film that anyone with a sick sense of humor(and a strong stomach) should enjoy. I give it 4 out of 5 clawmarks. The Beast says see it soon!

Halloween Horrors-City of the Living Dead (aka The Gates of Hell)

I've been under the weather for a bit, but I'm back with another seasonal scare film. City of the Living Dead was released in 1980. It was directed by Lucio Fulci , who also directed Zombie and The Beyond. Yes, it's another Italian film...I seem to have an affinity for Italian horror. The Italian horror films from the late 70's and 80's had a different vibe to them than anything else back then...or since, for that matter.

A woman (Catriona MacColl) attends a seance. She sees a vision of a priest hanging himself in a cemetary. This act opens the Gate to Hell, and the woman freaks out and apparently dies.

A reporter(Christopher George), looking for a story, goes to the woman's funeral. He hears sounds coming from somewhere...turns out the gal isn't dead, and is screaming in her coffin. Our intrepid reporter uses a pick to get her out of the coffin( I guess they forgot to embalm her before her burial...or maybe there's some kind of magic at work, I don't know...but anyway...).

They proceed to the town of Dunwich, where the priest hung himself. Dunwich is covered in fog all day, and the dead are a bit restless, with zombies wandering around town, and the ghost of the suicidal priest causing all kinds of trouble. Will our pair of heroes find the answer to their supernatural problem, or will they fall victim to the Gates of Hell?

City of the Living Dead was released in the U.S. as The Gates of Hell in 1983, which is when I first saw it. This film was sort of a precursor to The Beyond, in tone and content. It has the typical elements of an 80's Italian horror movie(zombies, gore, etc.) but there was just a bit of strangeness at the end of the film...not as surreal as The Beyond, but a tad different than your average American scare flick. The theme of the existence of gateways to Hell in our world( as in The Beyond) is started in this movie, and there's plenty of nasty zombie action. There are a couple of standout scenes of violent horror, such as when one of the the townspeople, blaming a local weirdo for their problems, place said weirdo's head on a power drill and , well, drills through his head. Another memorable scene is where the ghost of the dead priest shows up and casts a spell on a woman in a car, making her cry tears of blood, and literally throw up her own guts. Again, not for weak stomachs, folks ( sorry, I don't watch too many Disney flicks). Literary horror fans can again take note, as the town's name of Dunwich is cribbed from H.P Lovecraft's story 'The Dunwich Horror".

City of the Living Dead is a good horror film. It's a bit more ambitious than Zombie, but not as much as The Beyond or Cemetary Man. If you're looking for a good, bloody, low-budget horror film, look no further than City of the Living Dead. The Gates of Hell await!

Halloween Horrors-Godzilla

All right, time now for something a little less scary, but still a favorite of mine...I'm talking about none other than the King of Monsters, Godzilla. It all started back in 1954, when Godzilla first came up from the depths to terrorize Japan. The first Godzilla film was the most serious, and it is pretty somber, especially the scenes of the aftermath of Godzilla's rampage-buildings reduced to smoking rubble, dead and injured laying on the floors of overflowing hospitals, etc. Remember, Japan is the only country to have gone through being hit with atomic weapons, and Godzilla was a walking metaphor for that, and the aforementioned scenes resemble nothing more than a nation at war.

Godzilla has changed over the years... he's gone from rampaging monster to protector of the Earth, and back to rampaging monster again. His physical appearance has changed as well, reflecting his staus with humanity. When he was a monster hero, his face got shorter and his eyes bigger, making him look almost cute. But no matter what his status is, Godzilla is always ready for a fight, be it with the military with their tanks and Masers and planes, or with other prehistoric throwbacks like Rodan and Anguirus, or with monsters from space, like King Ghidorah and Orga.

Why do I like Godzilla so much? Well, I admire the fact that he never gives up....he always keeps fighting, no matter how much the odds are stacked against him. I also just like the fact that he's a gigantic, radiation-mutated dinosaur that breathes atomic breath at his enemies...you really can't get much cooler than that. And, well, I guess I still like Godzilla because he reminds me of my childhood. I always loved watching Godzilla movies on Creature Feature or Son of Svengoolie's show, and it still, in some way, takes me back when I watch the King kick the crap out of Tokyo, the military, or whatever monster made the fatal mistake of crossing his path. I've outgrown a lot of things, and I've gotten jaded about lots of things, but I'm still enough of a kid inside to enjoy Godzilla's adventures.

There's so many of his films, it's hard to pick one favorite, but if you haven't seen any of his films, start with the first one, and get the original Japanese version if at all possible. It's far superior to the Americanized version with gratuitous Raymond Burr footage spliced in. From there, here's some of my faves: Destroy all Monsters, Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster, Terror of Mechagodzilla, Godzilla vs Mothra, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, Godzilla 2000, and Godzilla :Final Wars.

The thing to keep in mind when watching Godzilla movies is that it's supposed to be fun! Don't worry about the fact that a device that makes an artificial black hole isn't a great idea, or why don't aliens just make a bomb to drop on Godzilla instead of building a robot version of him...logic will get you nowhere on Monster Island. Just make some popcorn, have some beverages ready(soft drinks or not-so-soft drinks), and perpare to have a good time.

Oh, and don't even bring up that 1998 piece of shit made by the dorks that made Independence Day...that is NOT Godzilla. The King does not run from the Army, lay eggs, and eat tuna. There's a scene in Godzilla: Final Wars where the real Godzilla runs into this CGI-made pretender. It's the shortest monster battle in movie history...it's also on YouTube if you want to check it out.

So, grab some snacks, get some Godzilla movies, and prepare to smash some buildings, fight some monsters, and have a monster-sized good time. Hail to the King!