Sorry, gang, but I have to update this very blog... our season premiere will NOT take place this weekend due to technical difficulties completely beyond my control. Instead, we'll be running the multi-host HHU special THE GIANT GILA MONSTER (yes, we're in this, too!). Just follow the same webcast instructions I'm always giving you below...
Happy New Year to all,
Remo
Dear friends--
I send you all my most sincere wishes for a happy and prosperous 2010!
I wish I could end this year on a happier note, but I received yet more devastating news today... sequestered below.
SPOILERS! (Click to view)
It would be tempting to blame it on the full moon. Almost exactly one month ago, I woke up to the sad news of the passing of my friend and inspiration Paul Naschyand I spent that evening pouring out my memories and my feelings on a personal blog. And now, here we are again. It wasnt the moons fault, thoughthis particular piece of news actually transpired on December 18th, though its only reached us now. I speak, of course, of the grievously untimely demise of Chas. Balunwriter, artist, collector, and founder of the late, great DEEP RED Magazine. If any one person could be considered a professional horror fan, that would be Chas.
I suppose I became aware of Baluns distinct and unforgettable approach to horror journalism around the same time most of us did. During the 1980s, I was on a research tear, sinking all of my scroungings on virtually every genre-specialty book and magazine I could get my hands on. FANGORIA was a given, of course, as were the works of John McCarty (SPLATTER MOVIES), Michael Weldon (THE PSYCHOTRONIC ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM) and Kim Newman (NIGHTMARE MOVIES), among others. But it should come as no surprise that I took a special delight in such small-press publications as THE CONNOISSEURS GUIDE TO THE CONTEMPORARY HORROR FILM and THE GORE SCORE irreverent, celebratory review compendiums by one Chas. Balun which seemingly took on anything and everything in the splatter arena with brash, outspoken humor and colorful language. If the writing was crude, it was deliberately so (and thus not to be confused with sloppy)and it proved to be perhaps the single most appropriate way in which to approach and deal with many of the films in question.
Even more importantly, the splatter boom of the decade was making itself known in American theatres from coast to coastback then, heavily cut major studio horror vied for theatre screens with defiant, uncut and unrated gorefests, with a special emphasis on Italian imports. And as nobody held the standards of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci higher than did Balun, the time was right for him to spin his energy into his own appropriately-named fanzine, DEEP RED.
DEEP RED went where other magazines didntit scoured the world for the most outrageous and extreme cinematic material it had to offer. FANGORIA did a fine job keeping us up to date on what Argento, Fulci, et al were up to, make no mistakebut it was DEEP RED that first clued me in to the existence of Ruggero Deodatos CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, for example. Only DEEP RED tipped us off to just what unstomachable horrors lurked in the bowels of Germany and Japan, waiting to shock those who thought theyd seen everything. Only DEEP RED went up close and personal to explore the intensity of no-budget, do-it-yourself American splatter. And while Baluns highly readable and dependable work could also be seen in FANGORIA and GOREZONE, only in DEEP RED would he call it as he saw it with such unfettered comments as FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD Blows Dead Ghoulies in Hell! It was also through DEEP RED that I became acquainted with such distinguished contributors as Steve Bissette and Greg Goodsell (another good friend I met through this circle).
Naturally, it was at a Fango convention that I met Chas. for the first time (mid-to-late 1980s). I was still some ways from becoming a published writeras I mentioned, I was still entrenched in obsessive research and collection. So it was the usual pleasure to meet you, please sign my copy of HORROR HOLOCAUST, the world needs more people like you greet and salute at the time. Ah, but I also picked up a copy of his video catalogue. Oh, boy. Remember, this was well before the DVD revolution, long before Anchor Bay existed, long before video companies went to town in order to provide us with virtually every mouth-watering missing scene, alternate version, directors cut, etc. wed only been able to read about up till then. No more 7 DOORS OF DEATHhere was the uncut version of THE BEYOND. Here was the uncensored I DRINK YOUR BLOOD. The infamous CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. Scott Spiegels INTRUDER in its decidedly non-Paramount version. Rafts of Italian and Japanese horror that had never seen the light of American day. Films youd never heard ofbut which sounded incredible. And always more, more, more. Sorry, but as I said, this was still the 1980s. Call it gray market, call it unethical (and make no mistake, some people did, indeed, raise hell), but the fact remained that these films were NOT available in American release, and at the time, this was the ONLY way to see them. I dare say I may have provided the entire budget for an entire DEEP RED issue run with the massive orders I madeeven Chas. himself was gobsmacked. By then, we had become regular correspondents by phone and by mailtrading tapes, sharing discoveries and just plain laughing it up (how I wish I could do the voice for you here Yeah, but you gotta check out the Venezuelan videocassetteits got three extra nanoseconds at the end of the second reel!). You guessed itthe coiner of chunk blower, the guru of gore, the go-to-guy for all the splatter that mattered was one hell of a nice guy. Loved animals, too. And he and his wife Pat were always a pleasure to meet just good folks.
Oh yes, we did meet again. And at that time, I was carrying my portfolio, which was stuffed with notesand one completed article. This just happened to be the Paul Naschy article which I had just submitted to FANGORIAresponse yet unknown. Chas. asked me if it was something Id like to see published in DEEP RED. I said that I would be more than honored but common sense kept me from signing it over right then. That, of course, is another story, but I DID go on to contribute a Naschy 101 article as my first article for DEEP RED. But that wasnt my most memorable contribution
To Chas., I was always Remo D. I had created and lived with my hook-handed alter ego since 1986, and to my delight, it was a simple matter for me to adapt my writing style to that of DEEP RED and fully indulge my penchant for confrontational comedy with Hand it to Remo, my attempt to compile the ultimate list of cinematic hand removals (long before the MANOR was even a gleam in my eye)! Udo Kier himself even signed the hardbound edition (!) of the issue in which I extolled the virtues of FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN I went off on significantly adult material granted a G rating back in the day I answered the question What do you say to a One-Armed Executioner?... I received contributions from Jeffrey Combs, Monique Gabrielle, John Skipp and even Clive Barker but I digress. My point is simply that it was Chas. Balun who made it all possible. And make no mistakeit was HIS combination of humor and horror that inspired me to truly cut loose in character. He was also the one who supplied the fully uncut version of THE FLESH EATERS, and as he sat in (right behind the irreplaceable Uncle Forry) during the screening of our remake, he asked (in that unmistakable voice) Where are YOU in this? even as I appeared on screen under a gas mask
My final contribution to the legacy of Chas. Balun came in the form of a DEEP RED revival published just before HELLBOY came out. I was granted an interview with Guillermo del Toro, which I combined with a deadly serious article on the works of the man I considered the most important contemporary contributor to the genre we love. The compliments I received from Chas. will stay with me as long as I live.
But the man himself also contributed to MY legacyalbeit ironically. Would it surprise you to know that Chas. himself did not care for the films of Paul Naschy? Naturally, it was never a cause for argumentif we all agreed on everything, wed have nothing to talk about, right? But he was more than willing to accept my commission of a special paintinga rendition of The Many Faces of Paul Naschy. The painting was never completed to his complete and total satisfactionas such, he never signed his name to it. But take my word for itit was his work. And THAT is the painting that greets you during the opening of my every MANOR installment. He gave that to me along with a previous worka monster/horror compendium that encompassed everything from the Bride of Frankenstein to Godzilla to the American Werewolf to Argento and Fulci to the Re-Animator himself. He had that painting for sale at a previous convention, but sadly, there were no takers and it became a gift to Remo D. I had it framed.
I end this year by wishing a respectful Rest in Peace to yet another profoundly special friend. If you would like to send condolences to Pat or share any memories of your own, please drop me a line and Ill make sure it happens.
Shane Remo D. Dallmann
12/30/09
On to happier things... as promised, a THIRTEENTH season of REMO D.'S MANOR OF MAYHEM begins this Friday night--New Year's Day itself! We'll be running TEENAGE ZOMBIES, and we'll be introducing you to two new characters--LUKE and RAZZLEDAZZ... with more to come... stay tuned!
Friday 10PM Pacific
Saturday 5AM and 10PM Pacific
www.ampmedia.org
Choose "Programs" and then "Web Stream" for Channel 24!
And the friendly Hopeful sets continue to roll on in!
Anticipating a relaxing bath is marilynn in a delightful debut...
...NijiChan is back By the Window...
...Lilley won't let any old clouds stand in her way...
...and NekoKyo dazzles in her debut set, RetroNerf!
And in the land of the Pink, we have a scorching multi from Uvita and Ellys!
But to wrap it up? It's not an official MR "set," but I can think of no better way to ring in the New Year than with the lovely Lehigh and her Blue Light Special!
All my very best in 2010 and beyond,
Remo D.
and I hope you have a good one too.
xoxo