A
I 1
i
I
i
FIRST
FILM EXPERENCE # I
HAILOREErv. 1988
KILLER PREVIEWS The final product does not nve up to the expectation in this humorous essay or one youngster's experience with the horror movie hype machine. Addltlonal material provided by R. Johnston.
CONFESSIONS OF A LOW-BUDGET FILM ADDICT Ajoumey down memory lane mled with movies and theaters from days gone by. The werewolf photo ls not the writer ln dire need or an Andy M1111gan film, but ls Michael Landon at his best ln I WAS A ThENAGE W.EREWOLF.
JUST ANOTRER HORROR MOVIE - OR IS IT? Want to know where Roger's head is al? Neither do I. Here ls how public splrlted Roger felt Just prior to starling his screenplay for BEYOND "E VALLEY OF` "E DOLI,S.
TArmE LEE cuRTls TODAy A quick look into life of one of the classiest ladles around.
PUNK ZOREIES oF MozAnmlguE Our reatured flctlon for this issue ls a horror/science flctlon entry. What better way to fill out this first issue than with a heart warming zombie story?
FILM NEWS WRAP-UP Some or the biggest names in low-budget rum producuon take the spotlight ln this look at what ls coming our way in the near future.
BACK COVER: BORIS KARLOFF {1887-1969) In his memory and for au the memories he gave to me. I dedicate this issue to him.
FnM EXPERENCE is published three to four times a year. in spring. summer, fall, and winter by Liberty Publishing Cooperative. 3115 N.W. 4lst, Oklahoma City, OK 73112. FILLER PREVIEWS © 1988 Mike Newland. PUNK ZOMBIES OF MOZAMBIguE © 1988 Chl Chi Frmon, JUST ANOTIIER HORROR MOVIE -OR IS IIt © 1969 Chicago Sun-Tines, JAMIE LEE CURTIS TODAY © 1988 IA Times Syndicate. FILM NEWS WRAP-UP © 1988 Premiere. Eiverything else © 1988 Randy
Johnston. Subscriptions are free but we ask that you send one donar per issue to help defray mailing and printing costs. The amount you send will dictate the length of your subscription. Any contributions will be gladly excepted and used entirely on the production of forthcoming issues. Neither the publisher. editor or any contributor are paid for their work or time spent. Submissions of any type, including stories, articles. art, etc., are encouraged. Please include postage if you want your material returried.
EDITOR'S DESK 10.8.88
It seemed to happen all at once. I was sitting around and generally wasting my time when the idea hit. Why not put out a fanzine? God knows there are plenty around, but mine would be different, mine would be fun, mine would be (dare
I say it) a hit. If all else failed, the experience would be fun and the feeling of accomplishment would last a lifetime. I have never put out a 'zine of any type before so this was a learn-as-you-go project. Several times I was forced to make decisions that, good or bad, would effect not only the final look of the €'zine, but also the amount of money to be spent. Unfortunately, money was a major factor in every decision made. I would love to do a professionally
printed issue complete with thick-stock covers, but for the foreseeable future I must live with a budget that offers endless challenges in hot.i- to provide an eye-pleasing package for a minimal amount of expenditure. You can help by sending
one dollar to us for the next issue. This will help to cover postag`e and publishing costs. As of this time, no contributors are paid a cent for their work. In keeping with low-budget f eel of this inaugural issue, I have decided to make low-budget horror films and the experience that goes with them my main theme. I am a big f an of the genre so this was a labor of love f ron the beginning. I hope you will have as much fun reading it as I had putting it all together. There are a few people I should thank f or their ef f orts above and beyond the call of duty . PAUL HAYNES provided complete desk-top publishing services. Anyone who is as ignorant around computers as I am can testify to what a knowledgeable computer person Can bring to the look of a 'zine. Paul spent many hours Showing me again and again what can and cannot be done.
It is his experience and skills that give this issue its Professional look. I thank you for your valuable time and
for your ability to stick with it until the end.
MIKE NEWLAND has been entertaining me with his writing
for years and I think it is time he entertained you. His ability to infuse the simplest situations with humor and humanity can bring me to tears of laughter or remind me of feelings long forgotten. Thanks for your article this issue and I hope we can continue onward and upward. CHI CHI RAMON offers up a slice of f iction that per-
fectly rounds out this issue. There is more waiting in the files, so look out world! And to all who read this issue, please write and tell us what you think. If you have an article or short f iction or artwork, please send it in --there is room in this 'zine for you!
fflwigT"T#FFffi ffiTENFffiRIffiTffiflffiffi By Mike Newland I got suckered into seeing The mller Shrews by AI nrst he stiffened like he'd been daggered in the the coming attracuons. It wasn`t the flash of lunging. back. his eyes shooting a frightened glance at the ravenous fangs, or the shots or the lady clutching her kitchen. .Where`d you learn that word?" he whispered. face screaming - those black and white images. Just I shrugged. "At the movie. It's coming nerct week. like pictures in the old Eng_uj±r, back before they gave The Kll]er Shrews. They're giant rats I think." a hoot about Joan Collins' love lire, when the sort of He relaxed with a chuckle. "Oh. I see. Yes, well. material they had to work with was BOY CIIAINED IN they are rats. or rodent.s - something like that." He ATrlc ESCAPES EATS MON`S FACE - lt wasn't the forked himself a porkchop and sliced lt with his knlre. lurid stuff suckering me in, no. . . It was the scientist who They eat a lot. huh?" came onscreen ln the middle or the traller. Yes. I believe so." "What would happen lf they grew thousands of He stood in a scientlst's laboratory at a sclenuric looking desk. He wore glasses. Everyone knows times their normal ske?scientists wear glasses. With a piece of meat halfway to his mouth, he He leveled with us, those of us who were there paused to consider. Then I guess they'd need to eat a wasung our lime on some hour-and-a-half of Elvis whole lot more.•Would they eat P_S=9_Pl_e?" I+esley or Jerry I.ewis foolishness. He pulled no -Oh, yes," he assured me. shoving the mouthful punches. He spilled the beans on shrews. They are the most fierce and voracious of all the home. He chewed the succulent morsel. licking his Devil's creatures. They must consume (-eat-. I'm sure chops and grinning like a wolrin Brothers Grimm. "Lets he said, the object being to keep it on the peanut gauery and lots of people." level)severaltimestheirwelghteachdayinordertostay Then it was true. alive. "Imagine... if you can ...- he said. his voice A horror movie started reeling inside my brain a gradually losing control. "SHREWS... transformed by thousand times more grisly than any mere celluloid science gone amok... into... MONSTERS... Thousands concoction. AIl week long I had nightmares, lapses in or times their normal size!!!" the middle of school. I bit at my nails. drifted, my Cut to lightning flashing - slavering. murder- appetite dwhdled. ousjaws. By the time I shelled out forty-five cents and took Whatever movie I was there to see that day went my ticket on Saturday afternoon, the worst possible right through me. It was wasted. AIL I could think of was consequences of giant killer shrews had already played ~. what he had said. themselves out with numbing repetition in my exI was nine then. We are supposed to be impres- hausted head. sionable at that age. I elbowed through the crush of schoolkids in the That night at the dinner table, while Mom was lobby. bought some Milk Duds and a Dr Pepper and still in the kitchen whipping a bowl of spuds. I asked found a seat up fronL Dad. "What.s a shrew?" He had a college degree and sold F`irst there were some previews - something storm windows; if anything. he ought to know. starring Doris Day. A chorus of catcalls and boos, a
blizz,ard orpopcom pelting the screen. A violent. blaring cartcon was rushed onscreen. containing enough excess mayhem to quell the riot ln th.e theater. Finally. the show started. The shrews. Once again. It was the black and white tabloid motlr. but instead or the flashing. insatiable incisors, what we got was a bunch of over-the-hill (or not-yet~on•the-hill) looking actors standing around in a house talking. They in.ay have been indirectly saying some-
they snarled and lunged so rarely, the shot or them doing so had to be re-used over and over again, like a shot of somebody applauding a Goldwater speech. "Rowfl Rowfl- barked a wise guy ln the back.
That set everybody off. so in no lime lt was FTdo Impression Night at the lmprov. There was more slow dialogue indoors. But where was the screaming lady? By now the audience was lost beyond hope or recall. Elvis or Jerry I,ewis thing about giant shrews -I.in not sure. Whatever they wouldlye been nice about then. I hunkered down to avoid getting whacked in the said. It wasn`l half as lnleresung as the scientlst's spiel had been the week before. Iiretty soon we were rioting head by debris. jts rorgettable a movie as ±i_Killer _ShIS±±£S again. turned out to be. I carry impressions of it to this day. Presently. the scene shlrted to a dark shot outdoors. And sure enough here came the shrews. We Laugh lryou must, but il's truly a brilliant idea: that of hushed up and stared. The lroub]e was, now that the monstrous, rampaging shrews goring themselves on camera dldn`t simply nash on them and Jump away to human flesh. cnd for that reason -for what the movie the screaming lady - as it had during the coming suggests, rather than for what it actually delivers ~ it attracuons ~ they dldn.t look nearly as frightening. plays well on the border of my nightmares sull. Someday I would like to nlm E}[ klllcr shrew Theylopedaroundlikedogsinnoparlicularhulrytoeat movie. 1'11 do lt ln color with Jamie I,ee Curtis as the aLPLV_t_h__ln£± They were such poor actors. they wouldn't have screaming lady. There will be buckets orblood. gratuitous sex. virtual s±±±amis or shrews and NO #&.@!! passed muster for a Gravy lhain ad. Once or twice the camera did catch a shot orone TALKING SCENES! ! George Romero will be my mentor. snarling and lunging. but it wasT=rear now that these Stephen ring will do the screenplay. thing weren't even close to giant-size rats. They were Jind instead ordogs.I.11 use the Muppels. . dogs with packing crate material glued on them. You
klnda wanted to reach out and pet them. F\irthermore.
ff RIEB mHH,ELBm sRImEBWS
1959 MCLendon Radio Pictures
screenwhter: Jay Sins producer: Ken Curtis (played F`estus on Gunsmoke) director: Ftry Kellogg (dir./THE GIANT GIIA MONsmR; THE GREEN BERpr w/John Wayne; assist. dir. for John Ford and Howard Hawks) exec. producer: Cordon MCLendon (Dallas media personality & promoter) starring: Ingrid Goude (Miss Universe 1957)
James Best Ken Curtis w/Baruch Lumet (Sidney Lumet.s father) w/Cordon MCLendon
Research scientists develop a breed of giant, carnivorous shrews that terrorize a group of people on a small island off the coast of Texas. FilmedinTexas.Partofadouble-billwithTHEGIANTGILAMONSTERwhich was produced & directed by the same people and made at about the same time. .
One Of the best promottous ever
done on a ultra tow-budget fum uJas the orre on THE FHILER SHREWS. The poster
and ad art fieatured a rat's tdi cnd. a woman:s ouerdimed highaheeled shoe. The tatyout u]as sparse and get shaxp and clean, with a ueng modem ljcok. Oof course, like most promottous Of tis time, it had nothing to do with what u]as in the Tnouie. The!theaterpromotratlertockaueng scieritiifie approach and cwoided shoLuing rTunh Of thefum The use Of "facts" and the serious. teacher-ttlce scientist, were eroughtocapturetheimaginattonofmany people, young and oLd. I have i:nctuded the script to the original promotional trailer betou,.
•doclor").
(Scene opens with a shot of a signj. INFORMATION SERVICE (I'an clown lo see the backs or two men studying somelhlng unseen. One has a lab coat on. the other a business suit.. The one in the suit turns to the camera and begins lo speak). -I.in Dr. Radford Balnes of the lnformauon
Service. Our thanke to this theater for making this time available lo us. "Perhaps some oryou have wondered. what ls
They look like mice. don'l they? But they aren'l. These little fiends must eat three times their own body weight every day or they starve to death. They attackevery llvlng creature. regardless ol`size, including
human beings. They consume everything - bones. flesh, marrow - everything. And the Blahreana. Shrew. deadly poisonous. Shrews like these have been known to attack a pack of wolves and devour them wlthoul a trace. You can understand out concern for public safety when I tell you that there have been recent
the world's most vlclous animal? Lion? Tiger? Rhino? No -the most vlclous animal ln the world ls a tiny one. No
sightlngs or Giant Killer Shrews ln Alaska. -We urge that you report to your local aulhori-
larger than that.
ties, al once. any sighting of a Glanl Killer Shrew. .
(Hand gesture illustrates small sir.e). " 'rHE KILLER SHREW! I.in going to show you
some or them. (Cut to a shot of mice in a cage, then back lo the
RE
a , _ ' ---. __ EVERY SAT. IOTH THEATRES WILL
,HE
Ro6ERS
And
MAY
T®d®y dr lI" i® c^nTooNS
2 .I. I.etur.a
COM. Early-Sl®y For I..Lilor Pr®®rrm All l®r 25c '+Ill:30
TheA 20c
GREAT
STARS MAKE
Tllls FINE
!TORY!
Gottifessfons off a
Low-Budget Film Addict by Randy Johnston •Do you actually like this movie?"
ln distress and undress. knowing lt win all end up ln This question has been asked or me so many com and/or cllche? There must be others out there with nowhere to umes over the years and, to this day, I still do not have a snappy reply. -No, this ls a fomi of punishment that turn except dusty vldeos and mostly empty movie I inflict upon myself because I thought unclean houses to nll their need to see something a little differthoughts," I could offer. -No way. I was thinking of ent. I,onely people who find themselves ln a conversasomething else and did not even realize what was on.- tion with others only to discover they have nothing to Or one excuse I actually used. -No, I watch movies nke say. Their lives mled with the garish images of the tit this so I can better appreciate the good ones." And an comedies, horror flicks. mindless blker marathons. excuse I never used but which is quite popular with any varlauon of crime /prostitution /drugs /life-on-themany so-called .fans- or low-budget mms, "No, but lr streets, and other sleaay genres. Eiventually their reality you get really loaded you can make fun of the movie. ls mked with the non-reality of mm and they catch Anyway, you probably won't remember lt the next day.. themselves using dialogue from some cheap flick ln a A truthful answer seems to confuse everyone I lame attempt at wit. And finally. as reality slips away have attempted to give to. Yes!" It seems like such a and they are left with nothing but an endless loop of their favorite scenes from all those low-budget classics, simple reply. Mostpeoplecannotfathomapersonwhowould their last clear thought comes to them and they realize wlhinglywatchamoviewithllttleactingabilityandeven that their lire has been the most meaningless lowless in production values. If they were to describe the budget movie of them all. destined to be forgotten along film at all lt would be with scorn and put-clowns. There with all of those movies they so much lived to see. Stop the film! This is too much for me to bear. -._ must be some sort or emotional retardation invoived with someone who actively seeks out entertainment as What kind of cliche crap is this? I know my life has been unpolished as the films I watch. Was it an accidental more than that of the lonely old weirdo who always blow to the head when I was a toddlerf Maybe those shows up at all the horror flicks in town. I lead a fairly awful cigarettes I smoked during my formative years? normal life. I have a good job and a handfiul of friends Orwaslttherejectionlgotfromthatwellbulltblondgirl and a dog who likes me and a - and a - and a . . . jinyway. this could go on and on, but the only in high school that makes me watch every buxom babe
STARTS
TODAY!
2 €red+ Hi+s!
I I :45 A'M.
way I can figure out how a normal kind of guy like me could harbor such an afrectlon for movies on the bottom end of the scale, I must go back to where it all began. The darkened theater ormy chndhood. Surely it is there that the seeds of my nxauon must have been born. I must steel myself for this journey into my film appreclauon soul. A big surf drink orBlack Velvet, a freshly lit Salem loo and a slacked blmbo would seem appropriate for this occasion.
Mayflower Thcatcr The theater seemed enormous to me as my brother and sister led me ln. This would be my earliest memory or going to the movies and lt will always be one or the strongest ones. The Mayflower ls the oldest operating theater ln Oklahoma City. Opened prior to World War 11, lt had Its first-run glory days early on before settling down to a second-run neighborhood theater ln the nrues. When the X-rated boom of the late smles hit, the Mayflower was the first to dive ln. The blue-movie market ls all but dead so I would expect the Mayflower's days are numbered but I sul] get a charge at seeing that old free-standing theater posluoned in one or the busiest areas of town. I arm not sure I knew what a horror movie was prlortothatdaybut1wmneverforgetthefeellngsoffear I experienced ln that dark old theater. When we nrst sat down CURSE Or` F`RANKENSIEIN (1957) was in progTess. It left little lmpresslon as I was probably involved with popcorn or the general strangeness or the surroundings.ThenextmmwaslHEDEVILAT40'CLOCK (1961). Not a horror nlln but an escape-from-the-explodlng-volcano nlm with Spencer TTacy and Frank Slnatra.Thescenesorlavaspewlngallaroundwerevery excltlng for this five-year-old. The last movie was the one that did lt. INVASION OF"E SAUCER-MEN ( 1957) ls one of those awful AIP teenage films that moves like molasses when you view lt today. But my impressionable young mind was frozen ln horror by the sight of those ugly big-headed creatures who threatened those funlovingteens.Thatseveredallenhandwlththeeyeonthe back of lt and those needle tipped fingers that dripped poison were enough to provide me with nightmares for weeks. The darkness of the black and white lllm,
combined with the darkness of the theater and the lack of my parents for support, gave me an expcrlence that perhaps altered my tastes ln movies for life. If you. as a chnd went to a steady diet orDisney fiinsofthatperiod,youwouldprobablygrowtobeafine crmnpleofamain-streammoviefan.Mixlnsomecheap but effective black and white horror flicks and the seeds of confusion are sowed. No longer is life a comfortable dog story or a funny fling with flubber. Now we have .`. enteredthepossibllltyofsuddendeathbysomehorrible monster or a bad-man who particularly likes doing in llttleklds.Mostparentswlllnotallowtheirkldstowatch anything stronger than a Godzilla movie today, and rightly so with the extreme gore found in many of them. I do wonder lf any of these parents were terrorized by
some cheap horror mm as a child and wish to protect their kids from that experience . Certainly a ten -year-old is better equipped to. separate fact from fiction than a
a RENO ®
E3[TTH
nve-year-old.
-TODAY THRU TUE.2 S.ertlinq Hits!
Despite the shock of discovering monster nicks, I began to watch a steady stream of horror films on local lv. This brought about my nrst -favorite actor" award to Borls Karloff. What an actor. He seemed to be in all the good films they showed (and considering that th; Universal l'ackage was about all of the good horror nllns on TV) . When I would watch other types of movies, Borls would show up ln some orthe oddest roles; playing Indians. orientals. etc. . and always with all he could give
the part. Television would be my only source or horror
Th. Scr.en'l Molt Ddrmq
EThsrm T}fiMENSEN
Expole ----.- A ---- `
•`PREHISTORIC WOMEN"
-
Mara Lynn, Allen Nixon Plus -A --------- I .--. dr
Th. Unt4med South in S.arch
o{
Thr:,,I..
ca.._
"HOOKED" I I |BJLRTON H:Fr^E¥,E;:.BThnE:I
-NOTE-
[New Coremdo Ro.L IIt)dt®n-liziur.n B.rflll
•'WRIT":b.o``+"E5w,:€.',`i..":'£f,..6r2,"I and science nclion for the ne2ct few years. Every week I I J°,P%RB)rh°,E"i.i;d^-,i.':s'it]Lt}8F.I," I: would scan the lv News to see what few films were „.#`.a;i.`3.#±% I available for my ravenous hunger. An after school dash I s KYTRAI N home would provide me with two afternoon movies to I ...£]#¥¥bm¥t[¥.¥_l¥i:..n¥GO:i.En" I chose from. On weekends, Mystery Theater on channel 5 and The Firth Dimension on channel 9 would usually 822 frouthv..I 29 have something of interest. Around lhls time, because [EF.P!r¥!dp"Ein"]MDftT;hM,£Fi,ar.i,a of repeated showings. I gave my first -worst horror I rr'nk.i..RgEE.onRSg#.''k'oEclt.,P'..r# I
movie- award to "E MAN W.Iio TURNED TO SroNE (1957). This movie had nothing going for lt ln the eyes KN OB HILL ]4¥ £®qihFT8=Ag]i TilLL Rock Hqd.®n-Latlr€n B&czill ..:pR.,LT&N;g¥FHE[#{iFB..;£§`,a:,:a:I.,o5: ol` a monster loving kid. Ironically, I like the film more |nuvp J.ff Cb.bdl.r-lJorothv Meldm.
now than I ever did during my younger years.
Viua Theater
.
"REBEL GIRLS"
I DEL CITY
I
29¥pT£T.,rflE. P.rae I
EjT:eT.trife:E:E:fr'BA:`,¥E:r¥¥n¥i:?yb,a
I
Being the closest theater to my house. the Villa 1 D:i5.Ons|.tY'in29# was home of many of my best movie going experiences. |CHIEFTAIN Ro.k Hudson-I,Our.n B.call When lt was originally built lt stood on the northern I „R8[rheg rntt°E'.riv^E,FBbrfrs±,,Ti%kot:ri I edge or the nicer nelghborhoods suITounded by upper :5i?m§.. FEb2'-b2iEE I middle-class homes occupied by persons who were I CAPITOL beglnnlng to enjoy their leisure time. The Villa was a large theater with a balcony and a good-size concession stand. My clearest memory was the night I attended the showing or THUNDERBAIL (1965) there. It was a first-run exclusive and everyone was trying to get in. 2582pt.i##r.^#gi'6 II The line outside the box office wound to the back of the I A 6 NI NEWEW Z58ZpT.iThnr.A#8i'6 J®hn Warn.-blaur.en 0.Her. parking lot. along the outer edge and back up the side I ] ®h n'. #i]8°y nG.Etl¥EF` 'i4 "a I of the pharmaey next door. My dad and me stood by the I front door or the pharmaey with no hope of ever getting Fi.flg4| 5:30 I.in. I into this must-see film. Finally. the front doors opened I and the lucky front-of-the-liners made their way in. I Suddenly, the orderly line or a few hundred people collapsed in a mad dash for the theater doors. Not to be I AIRLINE W]]!:go°E;:L`.EfE out done, my dad grabbed my nine-year-old hand and I we made a desperate charge into the mob scene at the I door. The theater employees had abandoned any at- lc'RCLE 8111 tempt at controuing the chaos outside and were extending their efforts towards accomplishing an orderly entrance into the theater. Needless to say. my dad I ir'6 6t I.si:Hp5!¥3eo Bp?E:8&-A5;.T76¥ I got me into the theater, a feat that ranks up there with the raising of the flag at lwo Jima. The place was so |i5#E-`RBLE°h'=§HgoE.p5=t£:a:a.:#gt3§i packed that I ended up sitting on my dad`s lap throughI H ivjfrE£En.i {rT£L£@ SFP I. I out the film. Marl® Windsor-Richard R®bi. The Villa was for many years the flagship kE=o:b-iL-A-tw¥Ti=Ei¥{=:==;i--asl theater of the Spectro Theaters movie chain. After the lDELEadieFi8b.r_D5e:b33i:.a;r&.oTd:-]196| "BUREDLE 0F Jot" (Colon
I
J°h.PF.Ar§LanAdN-r',J°rfu°|tRh|'o¥t8±l?::.:__.__I
ADULT ENTERTAINMENT
Childreft will Not
„und®,I,and"
death or the owner. his son quickly fiddled away the fortune and sold. piece by piece. all or the empire to various interests. The Vnla became a second-run house and was closed after 11 was caught showing an unadverllsed special ~ DEEP "ROAT. A dennlte no-no in Oklahoma City. even to t.his day. The theater was sold. demolished, and ls now a parking lot.
Ccntcr Thc&tcr With every step. I moved closer to my destinatlon and the safety that seemed impossibly far away. Weird noises came from everywhere and nowhere. but I kept my eyes forward, Just ln case there might be something I did not really want to see. Ir only lt was not so dark. Ironly lt was not so far. Ifonly I was not all alone. Downtown Oklahoma City was a foreboding place in 1966. Inner-city decay had taken its toll very quickly on this young city and the thought of urban renewal wasjust that, only a thought. Once a person got away from the banking district, the rest or downtown was ill~lll and mostly un-patroled. Drunken bums slept lt ofron the well kept grass orthe Civic Center park. The notorious dives of Reno Street were but a couple or blocks away. Every sane person that worked in the downtown area during the daywas safe in their outlying homes by dusk. My dad had a F`riday night bowling league that traveled to dirrerent alleys each week. The oldest establlshment on the circuit was the Clvlc Center I.anes. On one occasion. I asked lf I could be dropped off at one or the downtown theaters to see a movie while he was bownng. I promised I would walk to the bowling alley as soon as the feature was over. Soon I was inside one of the largest theaters ln OKC. The Center theater ls three stories tall. has a
sEEffiEffiijfiE6j REEfiifeifiifeifi"
ATYOuR OWN FtlsK.„
To the pcttons ol thei MIDWEST THEATRE W.amen Bras. will not be liable tor NERVOUS BREAKDOWNS, HEART ATTAcks,
FAINTING SPELLS, LOSS OF VOICE or erry ffJ8
attribeitable to trieh± or hotto¢ ..... W. repeat: •ce.The Curse ot Ftankensteitr in W Lrmedolbt
ct qu crm risk! )TARTS TODAY-9 A.M. LINTIL MIDNl®HTl •THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN"
Plus "X..THE UNkNOWN"
-
HORROR-A-THON SCREAMIERE -MIBWEST
thrill '® th. ,l`ut
15 HOUR
iiAxt up A pAtTy .... OiN Tut ctowBs . . . et "RiLLle . .
double balcony. a downstairs and upstairs concession stand that were huge, a bathroom in the basement that was so big your voice would echo as you talk, and the theater could probably seat almost three thousand people on a push. As a nine-year-old. I felt very small in this cathedral-like environment. The movie I was watching was I]ARPER (1966). starring Paul Newman. It was Just so-so to me at the time and I hold an only slightly higher opinion of lt today. The film was too talky for a hid who was, by then, a secret agent fanatic and just could not get into those moody private detective stories. Ston after leaving the safety of the theater, I began to realize that a street-smaLrt private eye could come ln handy. Anyway. I made the ten block trek to the howling alley without lncldent. although lt took a few minutes for the hair on the back of my neck to lay down. I never went to another movie by myself ln that area for several years. Roughly six years later. the Center was on its last legs. It offered second-run double bills or black exploltalion features to dwindling crowds. The subur~ banltes had abandoned downtown to the inner~city dwellers who could not support such a huge structure. And then. from out of nowhere, came an enterprising young man who would give this dying dinosaur its last moments of glory. It was a simple proposiuon. He wanted to lease
the theater every Saturday night arler the regular features were finished. His idea was to show youthoriented movies and charge a buck to get in. The theater owners had nothing to lose and gave him the green light.
Almost immediately the clues' youth came flocking ln to theaters I would ever enter. After I pald my fifty-cents admission price (I was see movies nke EIASY RIDER, "E SIRAWBERRY sTAThMEr\rr, ."E MAGlc CIARDEN oF` sTANLFy twelve and this was an adult ucket). I quickly noticed I swEEIHEAFri`. IAST SUMMER, ZpG. UOE. FoUR was one or the oldest kids there. Upon entering the LANE BLACKTOp, BIG FAuss AND LITTLE auditorium. I knew I had entered a movie lovers' nightIIAljsEY.etc. . etc. Many of these mms had raned ln their mare. Hundreds of running and screaming kids unfetregular runs but they packed them in every Saturday at tered by any need to sit at one location for any length of midnight. The word was out. this was the place to be. time. I located a seat in an area that seemed to have the The times being what they were, lt was not long least amount of commouon and began watching RING before drugs took over the scene. AI first. It was clouds KONG ESCAPES. You know, the one with the giant ormarijuana smoke that mled the theater. This seemed robot Kong that was sent to destroy the by-then good to give the huge crowd a mellow sense of comradcshlp. Kong. The noise level orthe theater was so loud that the I mean, here was Woodstock Nation. the peaceful co- dialogue was lost. When the nghts between the Kong's exslstance of people in a crowded environment. Soon, in occur'red. giant cheers or boos went up for whoever was a scenario that was repeated ln every major city ln this getting the upper hand. Obviously. this was a real country, the harder drugs made their appearance. Ups, champlonshlp wrestling crowd. THE DEVIL.S BRIDE was lmmedlately more clowns and way too much acid could turn the thousands or kids into wierdsville and leave you smack dab ln the lnteresllng. It had another one of my favorites ln lt middle. Even thejunkies started showing up to look for Chrlstopher ljee. It was a Brltlsh film. which made lt their connections. Rumors or an impending bust were more mysterious. Everybody knew that England was the home or spooks, witches. demons. and all that constant and added to the lncreaslng paranoia. The theater had ceased all regular operations supernatural stuff. The lncredlble din ln the theater by this time and the young entrepreneur who started continued. except during the spooky scenes, which the midnight movie thing decided he would make an caused most kids to stop their mayhem and watch the attempt to clean up the scene. He began showing movies screen. This was definitely not a movie in which you every FTiday and Saturday al mldnlght and Sunday could root for your favorite monster. It took a herculean during the aftemcon. He went for more arty fare along effort on my part, but I managed to enjoy the mm. It ls with his youth films. He featured the OKC premiere of a line movie and it stands up weu upon viewing lt today. I emerged from The Wes-Ten with my sanity FELHNI.S ROMA. a Weedy Alen film festival, a Beatles mm festtwal. etc. He even made an attempt to keep the barely intact and was lmmedlately amazed at the quletreal down-and-outers out of the theater by lnstalllng ness of the bury Tenth Street tramc. Then and there, I some bouncers at the door. Unfortunately. It was too made a vow to never ever attend a movie in that hell~hole late to attract a better crowd to this old theater. and agaln. A couple of years later. the theater would close despltc his attempts to keep lt going, lt would soon close and be refurbished into an once building which lt remains to this day. for good.
The Center ls the only theater stu standing ln downtown OKC. The city had ownership of the property and has had several plans for refurbishing the place for various uses, but because of the downturn ln the local economy, the old building stands empty and continues to decay. If something is not done soon, this last remnant or the many beautiful downtown theaters will be nothing but a fading memory.
Yale Thcatcr
Oklahomacitywasfoundedbythebanksofthe North Canadian RIver. The downtown area sprang up on the north side and as industry came to town, a good portion of the blue couar workers made their homes south or the river. This created a need for a business areathatwasaccesslblebyfootforthehardworklngbut low paid workers and their families. Capitol Hm sprang WcB-Ten Theater up during the twenties and was booming by the forties and fifties. Most of the major downtown stores had Scanning the newspaper for any sign of some- locatlons there. Soon the need for movie theaters was thing interesting to go see on a Saturday afternoon, I obvious and at one time four theaters were operating in spotted a tiny nsting for the Wes-Ten Theater. The the area. The Yale was one of the first (if not ±bf first) to llstlngs for the Wes-Ten were always small. I had never open ln the heart of Capital Hlu. It may have been a been to the place before. but having seen the building during many drive-bys in my parents car. It looked no decent movie house once upon a time but you sure worse than most older theaters did during the later could not tell lt by the time I attended lt. The occasion sixties. And on this particular weekend they were was the AIP double-bill HELL"S BELLES (1969) and showing lTIE DEVIL.S BRIDE (1968) and RING KQNG FILLERS THREE (1968). Both of these movies were ~ rated -M" (suggested for mature audiences - a rating ESCAPES {1968). I proceeded to work on my dad to drop me off the MPAA would soon replace with the GP rating and there to see these possible classics. After all, wouldn.t eventually change to a PG rating to which they have I be out of the house for at least three-to-four hours? recentlyaddedthePG-13)so1hadtorunasnghtconon Having used pure logic to make my point, I soon found my parents to get them to drop me off there. As I recall. myself abandoned in front of one of the most run down I insisted that the -M. meant lt was a more inteuigent
movie that would not be enjoyed by little kids. HELLE'S BELLES intelligent? Anyway. It worked. and soon a school chum and I made the trip to the ot.her side of
tour. The Yale was a medium ~size theater set up wlui the box once ln the middle and glass doors on either side. The nrst thing I nollced upon entering was that there was no concession stand anywhere! Instead there stood four or flve vending machines that offered you cokes, candy, popcom. elc. To this day. I have never seen another theater. no matter how small, that lacked a concession stand. And remember, this was 1969! What can I say about the nlms? HELLE.S BELLES is a typical revenge motivated biker flick. and not one or the better ones, lr there is such a thing. FILLERS "REE was a Dick Clark production (he was verybusywlthAIPattheume,produclngschlockrorthe youth market) starting Robert Walker. Jr., Diane Varsi and Dick Clank as a whiz with dynamlle . It was a cheapie designed to cash in on the BONNIE AND CLYDE crowd. Roger Corman was notorious for n]shing out a nlm lo cash in on whatever was hot at the time but Clark.s KILLERSTHREEcarneouttwoyearsafterBONNIEAND CLYDE and quickly sank. Of course. being an inferior movie did not help matters. The Yale was a typical inn-down theater that catered to the kids and young teens of the area. It limped along through the middle sevenues. still showing up to three movies on its bill or fare. After lt closed, lt briefly reopened as a weekend-only Spanish movie theater. Toclay lt stands, disheveled and abandoned, with a scarred-up F`or Sale or Ilease sign on lt.s cracked box once window.
Alrline Drive-In Oklahoma City was a good city for drive-ins. Not only would the carloads of teens make their FHday nlghtappearances.butmanyyoungcoupleswithyoung children made lt their theater of choice. Most drive-ins had playgrounds in front of their enormous screens so the little kids could burn ofrsome of that excess energy. It was a casual. come-as-you-are affair that fit right into the lifestyle of the low-income or Just-geung-started families of the time. The popularity of the drive-in caused a few to be bunt ln the strangest or locauons. hake Overholser was the first resevior built to catlsfy the water needs or OKC. It was created by damming the N. Canadian RIver and flooding the low~ lands or the area. The lake is very shallow all the way across and few boat.s ever grace its surface. During the fifties, empty land was plentiful around the lake and soon two drive-ins opened. The I.ake-Air Drive-In opened at the north end and the Circle Drive-In opened at the south end. The Lake-Alr was nerct to a major
highway, and would stay open until the early sixties. _ The circle was carved out of river bottom farmland, j ust off a two lane road that led to nowhere, and would only last a few years. What made both drive-ins infamous were the waves of insects that would attack at dusk. No matter how bad the movies were, nothing could match the
misery brought on by the mosquitoes. The sounds of hands slapping arms and races would ring out every night during .the drive-in season. Many young kids, after playing on the swings and slides, would discover wlthln a few hours what true holTor is all about. Having your whole body. including your privates covered with chigger bites. would bring days of discomfort and sometimes palm. Now ±±£[g is an experience you probably wish you could forget. The Alrline Drive-In opened during the boom of the early nfties and closed for good in the middle sevenues. It survived longer than many of the nicer drive-lns did and against all the odds at that. As the name implies. the Alrline was close to OKC's main alrporl. the Will Rogers Alrport. At first. this was not a problem, but during the sixties the airport expanded to allow the blgjets to land and new runways were added. Unfortunately. one of those new runways put the Alrline right in the landing and take-off flight paths or those noisynewjets.Every5~lominutesaroarwouldsteadily grow until it was all you could hear. This was my nrst experience with Sensurround. Alas, any dialogue from the movie would be lost for several seconds. To combat this hopeless slluatlon. the Alrllne was the nrst ln the area to adopt the by-the-carload ucket plan. It started at $2 a carload during the late skties and it seemed to do well for quite a whne. Because or the cheap admission price, only the cheapest movies would be rented. And those were usually horror movies. Of course the only way I could attend these -classics" was by getting a parent approved ride. Luck-
lly. my sister and her date (and present husband) would allow me to go along with them even though my sister hated those types or movies. Several movie memories spring to mind. like the double-bill NIGHT OF` BLOODY HORROR (1969)
and NIGrIT OF "E LIVING DEAD (1968), which had
my sister's head tuned away from the screen most or the night. Another unforgettable night orentertainment washeadlinedbyVeronlcahake'sFLESHFEAST(1970) in a triple-bin with H. a. Lewis's BLOOD F`EAST (1963) and 2000 MANIACS (1964). The movies Just could not
get any better than this. Iwouldseemanymorefilmsatotherareadrive~ ins but nothing would match the discovery orgore films at the Airline Drive-In.
So what does all this add up to? I was traumatlzed at five and addicted to movies on lv shortly thereafter. I survived a mob scene to become enthralled by James Bond. I was one with the universe as I gared through a smoky hare and smiled my knowing little smile. And I discovered how much fun you could have at a drive-in and watch an odd-ball line-up of films to boot. ]t all sounds like a perfectly normal lire tb me. I am a fimi believer in film as an experience. Several times in my movie-going life, I have had my values shaken by images and ideas that forced me to see things in a different way. I believe that this type of
OPEN 7:45-STARTS DUSK
AinA.de
.qs,.,3
$2.00 P.I Cerlcod I ` "IIELL ON WHEELS"
"T[[WAG[ Wlo"[k" "eoBN LOsERS"
{R)
AIgivpunTin,!`ri:':, NO*TH flllflL""T"+.
"SOMETHl« T0 REMEMBER"E "THE DETECTIVE" I
SOUTH
„IA|, SITTI|„ "`suDD"lT A wo"Ar' H "FouRTAm oF LovE"
IN..uJ. H.urn ''::.'t.::` FULFILLNE
L#*
`SOME"lN€ TO tENENBE["(X "S[CR[T LIFE 0f AN AH[RIC^N
experience is an universal one. shared by nearly every the fact that this -oater" was nlmed on a budget that was person who has grown up sceLng a variety of nlms. not much better than GUNSMOIE. Nowadays. with the prollferatlon or the crackAlmost anybody, when pressed, can recall an unsettling reeling they had upon leaving the theater after viewing erbox palaces. new gimmicks are being used to compete some movie which forced them to question their values with the ever improving home entertainment center. or concepts. Maybe lt was something rnlnor. like the Surround sound. improved projection equipment and -parade-or-lire" style or F`ederlco Felllnl. leaving the cleaner environment are common and. hopefully. will viewer with the feeling that life ls nothing but a great big add to the experiences of present and future generaclrous. No matter how much wierdness or how many tions. With many soothsayers predicting the death of bizane people he throws at you. you begin to realize lt the movie theaters ln the near future. we must stay in lsalljustafuntimeandyouaresmackdablnthemlddle touch wlth the reasons we enjoy seeing a movie on the big screen. Above all. support your theaters (especially of lt as ringleader. performer. clown, and voyeur. Many tines the surroundings where you see a the bargaln maunees) and treasure those rare moments movie can lnnuence the experience. The large theaters when a film reaches out to you and makes you sad, of years ago could make the simplest western grow to happy, angry. or trembling in fear. That's what its all immense proporuons. Huge panoramic shots and the about, you know. . thundering of hooves across the screen seemed to hide
OHahoma City Theaters Many theaters operated on the mull.i-feature rare well into the slxlles and a few into the early seventies. There was little emphasis placed on an "A" or "8" feature as most rllms shown were or equal value. If a first-inn fflm lopped the bfll, you could be sure lt was no better than the second or third feature belrig offered. Many times these films were the same ones playing at the out-lying drive-ins. These theaters survived on the business the local neighborhood provided. As the rids grew up and moved on, the theaters (and most of the retail business in the area) slowly went under. Some would see life brleny continue as an adult, ethrnc or mldulght movie specialty house. With one excepuon. every theater and drive-ln that operated in 1956 is closed today.
Movie Theaters ln Okla. City Metro area Year
# of Theaters
# of Drive-In8
1945
24
0
1966
28
11
1963
25
8 (11)
1969
23 (25)
10 (12)
1975
23 (38)
8(9)
1988
25 (112)
3
{ ) = # of screens
I-
This information has been taken from old local newspapers. Not every theater would see fit to advertise unless lt felt it had a feature that would attract patrons from outside their neighborhood. Many of these minor theaters would open and close several times in their brief lfespans.Ihavedonemybesttoascertainhowmanytheaterswereopenintheyears1havelisted.
As you inn:g or rna:u not lmow. Roger Ebert ujas one Of the loudest i>otoes in protest Of the stark hoITor offered in THE NIGITT OFTHE IIVING DEAD. Who:n his arttole was reprinted in Reader's Digest, mHhone Of sane people read tt and wanted to see this minor film. Thanks to uou. RngeT. and. di the other wtsTty-wacky fum cTtttos in this countng. the film went on to gTecLteT heights, hoTTor .films turned an
important comer. cnd zombtes are here to stag. For gour fiun and, cLmusement, I have included the Recrder's Digest clfttele below. This ts a condensed uerston Of the aTttole from the Clitago Sun-"mes, 1 / 5 / 69.
Just Another Horror Movie Or ls lt? Kp_qvy what your child is going to see at
your friendly neighborhood theater. By Roger Ebert ltwasasaturdaymatlneelnatypicalnelghbor~ hood theater. There were a few parents. but most]yjust the kids - dumped ln front of the theater for a movie
eat flesh. The farmhouse people plan their escape. The
young Negro and. later. they discover another teem-age couple. and a husband, wife and very young daughter. The daughter has been bitten by a ghoul and is unconscious. The ghouls attack; the Negro sets a chair on fhe and pushes it off the porch, and the ghouls fall back moaning. After some pretty dun argument among the trapped people {popcom time for a lot of kids), things
ghouls rip apart the bodies. One eats with relish a nice mess of intestines; others devour flesh, dripping blood,
teen-age boy will drive a truck to the farm.s gas pump titled TTIE NIGHT OF` "E LrvING DEAD. (his girl insists on coming along) . and the Negro wlu hold There was a cheer when the lights went down. off the ghouls with a blazing torch while the tmck.s tank The opening scene was set ln a cemetery (lots of de- ls nlled. When the ghouls start advancing. however. the lighted shrieks from the kids), where a teenage couple torch sets the truck on fire. The Negro escapes, but the are placing a wreath on a grave. Suddenly a ghoul - tuck blows up and incinerates the young couple. looking suitably decayed and walking in the omcial Now the mood orthe audience changed. Horror movies were fun, sure. but this was pretty strong stuff. ghoul shuffle -attacks. The boy is kiued. and the girl nees to a nearby famhouse. (More screams from the There wasn't a lot or screaming anymore; the place was kids. Screaming is part of the fun, you.u remember.) pretty quiet. On the screen, the flue dies down and the Inside the farmhouse, the girl is Joined by a
off bones.
Back at the famhouse. the little girl dies and turns into a ghoul. She kills her father. The mother tries to talk to her, but the girl takes a trowel and stabs her in the chest a couple of dozen times. On lv. the sheriff advisescltizenstosettheghoulsonfire:They'llgoright_ pickup. A television set is discovered, and a Lews up." Meanwhile, the little girl's parents come back to lire commentator reports an epidemic of mass murders. as ghouls, and the Negro has to kill them all. Move The recently dead, he says, are coming back to Ire ghouls break into the house and kill the flrst teem-age everywhere. Apparently some sort of unearthly radia- girl. and the Negro barricades himself in the basement. The next moming, sheriff s deputies are contion is involved (it nearly always is); the ghouls need to
ducting a mopping-up operation. burning fhouls. They approach the farmhouse. The Negro hears help coming and looks out the window. He is shot through the forehead by the deputies. 1`hat's one more for the bonnre," the sheriff says. End or movie. The kids ln the audience were stunned. There was almost complete silence. The movie had long ago stopped being dellghlfully scary. and had become unexpectedly teITlfying. A lltue girl across the aisle from me. maybe nine years old, was sitting very sull ln her seat and crying. I don.t think the younger kids really knew what really hit them. They.d seen horror movies before. but this was something else. This was ghouls eaung people ~ you could actually see what they were eating. This
on fire. Worst orall. nobody got out_ alive ~ even the hero
was little girls killing their mothers. This was being set
"E LIVING DEAD? .
111111111
*
+3 +
EXCLUSIVE
±Rle, ll"Iethrlll,r THRILL N®. I sHOws
i "]st Spac. Ship On Mqrs'. +
ThrllnMr Ne. I
± "7 FACES OF Dr. Leo" +
Thrlller Ne. 3
± .`D06 0F FLANDERS"
I +
GREATEST ADVENTUREI
E
3-PNI:oltl!IS
i
1,** |,T|,-|,\\-\\ .'633 SQUADRON"
±
CII« Rob.rfro a ¢e®ree Ch.kirl.
*
±
±..THE BRA|rindMACH|NEii plus ln c®Ier +
± "6iantof Mare+lion" ± ±
_AT pWJFuS#:.ARD"MV|?sioN_
=
E*ri-fliL'*-*-*;-*'i'i-ivL-**±
got killed.
I felt real terror in that neighborhood theater. I saw kids who had no sources they could draw upon to
protect themselves from the dread and fear they felt. Censorship isn't the answer to something like this -lt never ls. But I would be ashamed to argue for the -right-of those litue girls and boys to see that film. The new self-regulatory Motion I'lcture Code and RAting I+ogram would presumably classify a fllm like this as for mature audlences only. However, the distributor or this mm. the Walter Reade Organizration, refuses to subscribe to the code. But what are parents thlnklng of when they dump their kids off to see a film tiued "E NIGITr OF`
comedian/director husband. Chrlstopher Guest. and Annie. their l8-month old adopted daughter. She the five major roles written each year, and after landing has to show you all the ramlly photos. from the mischie- one of those choice roles - in PERFECT - only to see vous new baby to her mom and dad. Janet Ilelgh and the overhyped movie reveal its major box-office flaws. She did a small turn as the angry wire or a philandering Tony Gurus. This remarkable combination of thoughtrul~ actor ln F`rench director Diane Kury's A MAN IN I,OVE, ness. competent energy and subue wackiness is took a role in the lltue~seen antl-war parable AMAZING irreslstlbly charming, the type of character you wish GRACE AND CHUCK. and played the outside female you could find in the movies. but after a dozen relauvely threat to a close. brotherly relationship in the wellsuccessful years at acting. the real Jamie Ilee has yet to regarded drama DOMINICK AND EUGENE. -I was proud of my work, what the movies said. shine through on the screen. Il's something that obviously bugs her. yet she feels that, inch by inch, her the directors." she said. Whether or not she'll ever get the chance to personality is gradually showing more in her work. "I'm real happy," Curt.is says. "I amjust trying burst across the screen in the perfect Jamie Lee Curlis to find roles that are a little more curved, not such part, the actress can`t imagine a betterjob than making straight lines. There`s this perception going around movies. Her true goal in life. she says, is to shatter thatI'manlronI.ady:verytough,veryintense.sexygirl. myths -and maybe thatjob`s better suited to a slightly weird girl with talent and enthusiasm than it is to a Il's just not true. 1`hat's the image that male screenwrilers have major movie star. "Itve always fought for normalcy," she says. "It's orme. I am focused, and I do force you to pay attenuon to me, but I am not an "exec-u-tron.. You will never see a desire tojust be part or the group. When you've been me in pantyhose and high heels or tight clothes," she given the access or kings all your life -an access to the world that most people don't have -you start wondersays. That's just not who I am. There is a light comedy side to me, though. I'm ing why. When that hits you in your teens, you realize a slightly weird girl, and my quirky weirdness - which that there's nothing that separates you from anybody else in the world. Nothing! If l'm smart. it's because I _ worked hard to learn. Your physical personage? I was never the pretty girl in school. I was always slightly myself with people I tmst." She`s making progress on doing just that. crooked. When I look a knockout, it's a lot of light ancl Curtis decided to actively search out people she could attitude and clothing. I have a nice figure, but it's not trust after her type casting in the horror films, after me. It's really something else that's separate." competing with 45 other top Hollywood actresses for
is a strong personality trait - has never been able to come across. The only way to do that is to surround
RElrdNIfT7@LMIEes
of ft#fl\ifgr"rmHflhiffi bu [hi [hi REmDn Sam was scanning a row of monitors at the main console when she crept up on him with her sllcer. He heard a rustle and turned. Standing not twenty feet away, she had lt dead alined at his chest. -What's that for?" he demanded in that deep voice of his. Welye a problem on board,- she whispered. Something in her tone sent a shiver up his spine. "Give me your USLS ID number." she sald.
straight shoulders. .I'd feel safer lf you'd draw your
"We.re the only two people on board, Cass."
believe me ...-
slicer. too.-
Sam was growing short on patience. His rank, that or Operations Spcciallst. made him Cassandra Denlsotrvlch's superior. She was the Scientific Engineer. In their three years together malntalnlng unmanned space stations for United Solar I;aboratory ftystems, he'd never once had to pull rank. Not onlywas she a brilliant omcer by anyone's standards, she was His frown tightened. He was a tall, well- the most attractive woman he had ever worked with. proportioned black man. His features were so intense Part of his reticence on the issue of rank had to do with at times - such as now - so sprlnglngly alrfuhe could the gender intimidation: most of lt. however, had to do with the lack of any real need. be intimidating Just to look at. -I mean lt." she insisted. But now the need began to dawn on him. As a •LS7-Zero-Nine-Eight," he rattled off. battle-proven veteran of the Astroidian War. he didn.t "LS7-Zero-One-One-Five," she replied; lt was relish anyone pointing a sllcer at him. "We.re not alone." she told him, brov\m eyes hers. huge in the dull illumination. He was not impressed. "So?"Cass." there was exasperation in his voice, He watched as she lowered the gun. She did not "this ship ls completely robotic. It'sjustyou and me here re-holster it. She said. -I had to make sure it was really to make some minor adjustments and move on-you. and"Who convince I'm reallySam me-" "Go down in the lab on Level 4 if you don.t else you could I be?" wanted to know. ___
___ _
_
She shook her head, dark hair spilling over her
"What's down there?"
•Near as I can figure. there was a degree or
W.hen she told him. he drew his sneer.
seepage ln the asslmllator molds. Active DNA escaped,
They retreated, weapons ready, past the sofuy somegotontheactualvideocellsofthezomblemovie..." -Jind replicated ...humming rows or computer banks, to their service -In essence. cloned video leather zombles. yes. shuttle. parked ln the docking bay. Once back on •But that.s - that's crazy!. board, Sam watched as Cassandra flipped switches and -Like something out of a hack Scl-n story?" brought up the visuals on lievel 4. A mumed scraping on the hun internipted Half a dozen stlmy shumlng figures loomed onscreen: men and women. hair done up ln lavender them. Saln activated a life-form lndlcator probe. It's dreadlocks when not in spikes or shorn entirely. faces alarm kicked off instantly. They're directly outside out shutue.. he sald. "I slashed ln savage colors. They wore chains and black leather Jackets, earlobes and nostrils pierced and thought you sald they were on level 4.Cassandra shrugged. The smell of our blood adorned with rings. rusty malls, prlmluve trinkets. Blood had dried on their lips. while the light ln their eyes lured them up here.She and Sam had virtually become the proverwas extlngulshed. cold. They're deader.n Ncptune's moons,- Sam blal Span-in-a-can. and the zombles wanted dinner. Sam dove into action, seating himself at the breathed. -Zbmbies..."
sweeping control panel. -Strap ln.- he commanded. We're leaving.Wriggling into her restraining harness, she She slipped a video card from her breast pocket asked. "What about the ship?and handed lt to him. `We'll nuke her once we get a safe distance off." •PUNK ZOMBIES OF MOZAMBI©UE," he read -And contaminate this whole region of the the title. Il was a Third World Picture -exploitative asteroid belt? That`s a clear cut violation or USLS
-How do you knowh.
Crap.
•1 leant lt to Bunker Lloyd last month." Cass
peney.*
He was busy hlttlng switches. -No klddin. told him. -He and Hera Ashton sneaked on board this wellsowasthatdumbstuntLloydandwhats-her~name ship-.. pulled.,-Hera. But at least they had fun.. `What ln hell were they doing here? It.s way out That drew a grudging smne from him. or their territory." •Ready to roll?- he asked her. Cass focused the visual on another area of the "Ready. major." lab. It was a wreck. cylinders shattered, bubbling He hit the remote bay opener, but there was no bactcrlal substances slopped on the noors and walls. Thlsparticularvesselwasusedformanufacturingantl- response. "Jammed. damnlt!' hc swore. vial strains under condltlons of controlled weightlessThey're screwing with the controls.- Cass ness - entitles that would eradicate cancer and the deadlyAIDsplaguethathadwlpedoutEarthlnthe2lst gestured at a visual. She'd directed lt on the space stauon's main control room. from which the vessel's Century. -Ashton and uoyd were engaged ln some kind functions emanated. Sam rose. furious, brandlshlng his sllcer. He of romantic rendezvous." she speculated. They hid their shuttle in one of the under bays and slipped on threw open the hatches and a zomble head appeared board ty tcmporarlly deactlvatlng the security system. over the rim. Almlng. he squeezed the thgger. The gun FTom the looks of things. they ran my movie and had cmltted a soft zz±L The head completely atomized ln a themseives some Z-grav hanky-panky - something puff of drifting blood dust. yet the body kept coming. A sllcer gun employs laser-focused nuclear you can.t get on a shuttle, Sam.Her mlschlevous glance momentarily threw nsslon, either with the preclslon of a scalpel or the brutalltyofarlpsaw,dependingontheinclinatlonand/ him. That's a prosecutable violation, " is all he could or expertise of its user. Cassandra, a big fan of the zomble genre. had foreseen that a headshot wouldn't Say. Cassandra rolled her eyes. Sam Sanderson work. She used her slicer as a surgical tool to cleanly was so excruciatingly straight. In all the tie she'd been dice the monster's torso into pulps of goryjlgsaw. Thanks," grunted Sam. clambering over the with him he hadn't made a single pass. She was as feminist as the next gal. but damned lf she wouldn't nke mess. She started to follow him. -Stay put!" he shouted. him to at least ±E[. He was cute, he had an adorable ass. "I`m gonna fight my way to the control room and try to she fantasized about him all the time. get that bay door open so we can blast outta here. You Theytve already been punished." she informed kill anything that tries getting in." -RIght,- she called back to him. him, irony edging her voice. They.re stu down in the Using the visual. she followed his battle up the console room on Level 4 -what.s left of them. I ID'd `em stairs to the control room above. He shot two zombies by their uniforms. The zombies ate the rest.Sam gave the slack-faced monsters on the to ribbons and kung-fu kicked a third, sending its body screen a long, hard stare. You're the sclentlst... Where reenng over the edge. Another zomble tried to get at her. She sliced it ln two at the waist. The acidic stench of did these things come from?"
radlatlon and fried innards was slckenlng ln the claustrophoblc space. -It's no use.-Sam called to her over the control
-Ooo ...- Cassandra murmured. "lsn't that pretty...-
thing. Nothlng'n open that bay door now." -We can try slicing through," she suggested.
She freed herself then. and staggered to the rerngerator. nnding an apple that dldn`t lcok too mealy. Blung into lt, she began unzlpplng her suit and peenng lt off as Sam -sull wearing the helmet. his back to her
She watched the visual as he shook his head.
whne he watched the monitors -was programmlng the
room transmitter. The bastards have sabotaged every-
-No way. Cass. That.s nve feet or reinforced steel."
As he spoke, a zomble lurched into the picture. Cassandra cried out., whne miraculously. he pivoted and sliced lt apart Just ln time. Fumbnng with switches. she brought up the vlsuals ln the gloomy under bays. She scanned till she located the one belonging to Ashton and Lloyd. 1ty the bay door on UB 12," she told Sam. She watched for a tense. breathless moment as he worked at the controls. Then. as she was gazing at thesecondvisual.shesiwthedoororuB12glldeopen. revealing the icy gray gulf of space. |rou did lt!" she exclalmed. When she glanced back at the nrst visual, Sam wasn`t ln the picture. It was mled with zombles. Only his voice. his desperate, commanding words came at her. -Hurry!- he yened. -Get down there and take
ship through Compu-Nav. •I'm taking a bath.- she mumbled.
She stepped into the stall or the flashbath. comlngoutorherdisposablepantles.Herneckandhair was matted with blood. Strapping the sleek black goggles over her eyes, she relaxed as the radiant shower engulfed her. She felt a cool draft from outside. The stall door was opening. Sam.s huge gloved hands were suddenly clutching her breasts. She almost screamed, but then lt hit her how in the pggd she was. Black goggles masklng her eyes, her sort lips curved into a naughty smtle. She took him by the shoulders. He was sul] wearing his suit. -Bashful baby." she cooed. -So |h|s ls what you like after a good hard flghL ...Her flngcrs were drawing his zipper down. •Weu... you certainly have earned lt..."
She felt blood clotted ln the thick hair of his chest. but the flashbath vaporized it under her touch. She led him by the hand. backing naked from the stall, feeling his suit silp off him. Cassandra lifted the goggles from her eyes and blinked several umes ull the pale yeuow bubbles dissipated. He Just stood before her naked except for the By the time she reached the under bays. Cassandra's pale blue Usljs unlfomi was smirched helmet and the heap or his uulfolm at his ankles. She got on her knees and lifted his muscular with strands of gore. She'd had to cut her way through brown legs. pulling the suit off and slinging lt. |hfe won't a passle of zombies getting here. Because the bay was open, the area was ln a get the Z-grav effects old Bunky and Hera enjoyed. but vacuum. She had to don a helmet. Her gasping breath this ls stnl gonna be real nice.- she sald. rising, kissing him occasionally on the way up. -I had my G-spot togged the faceplate. She used her USIJS master key to access the sensltlzed on Venus..." She gripped the helmet. smlllng up at him, shuttle. The air lnslde was stale. She started up the systems. relieved that each one hummed in on cue. lovely ln her fresh, smooth nakedness. His body was Brlnglngupavisualonthecontrolroomandanotheron solid and dark. The helmet nfted off much tco eaey, the passageways between. she saw no sign or Sam. revealing a stump of oozing raw neck. She dropped lt with a noisy clatter. but she had Eiverywhere she looked. the space station was littered no voice to scream. All she did was stare in horrmed with vivisected zombles. She wrenched off the cumbersome helmet and stupefaction. It was Sam. He'd fought so hard they'd been shook down her sweat-dampened hair. FYve minutes passed like an hour, then she unable to eat him. so they'd replicated him - tuned harnessed and prepared for take off. They must have him into one of them. Yet held hung on to enough of his old self to try ending lt by sllclng off his own head. gotten per Sam. He Just dldn't appreciate how tough a zombie Her hand was lowering itself to the warp drive throttle when she heard the hissing sigh of the hatch can be. Shewentforherslicer.buthecaughtherhand. release. "stlng awkwardly in her seat. she watched as Sam climbed down the stairs into the ship. He, too, was As he crushed her to him, she felt how excited he.d become. wearing a helmet. He meant to carry lt through. Cass flashed him a fist-up sigh as he tightened Oh well. ._._ She hadn't wanted him for his brains the hatch and strapped himself in. Blasting clear, they ran the shuttle a swift anyhow. .
om l'm coming right behind your She struggled up through the hatch. leaping from the shuttle wing to the dock. Her path was blocked by a squat, gnomelike zombie mama with bared fangs and electrlfled gorgon's hair. Rather than fire. Cassandra dodged and dashed on by.
quarter parsec then brought the infested station under their hairline coordinates, sat still and fired. It nuked uke the F`ourth of July. The nght show was spectacular.
FILM NEWS WRAP-UP But one or the company.s most recent
EnnlRE PICTURES
movies - about a sorority that holds its lnltlatlon
The dlscemlng cmtsers out shopplr}g for ceremony in a bowling alley owned by a lecherous value can always count on Empire Pictures. It leprechaun - had a wormng title that somehow remains a® good busmess practice to deal with an justdldn'tsay"Urbanclasslcs.-Itwascalled"E established firm, and studio head Charne Brand, IMP. So the company's executive, public relawhile not quite so unfalllrigly renable a private tlons. and marketlrig staffs got together to rename vlslonary as, for example, RKO's Val I+ewton, the movie, pushing one another to new heights generally demonstrates that he has some idea what he.s up to: once again Band has been bur- (depths?)."Itwasarealteameffort."saysWeinryt. rowl]ngthroughhlsmountalnsofcomlcbooksand They stared at the poster of a seductively clad and her rrlends. They'd done a lot with brainstorming up dozens of concepts at a time. He dormatnx •bmbos," so why not call these girls "babes"? The has hands-on directed all three segments or Empire.s forlhcomlng PULSE FOUNDERS. a col- mpbecameaslimeball,"andhlsaueywasdubbed lectlon in the manner of DEAD OF "E NIGITr or, a "bowl-o-rama." The fllral title: SORORrlY urn. the TWIIJIGHT ZONE movie. The first seg- BABES IN "E SLIMEBAIL BOWL-O-RAMA Now let's see anyone top ±haL ment ls yet another H. P. Ilovecrart exercise and the second ls a sequel to lRANCERS and the third ooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooo 00 000 ls the sequel to DUNGEONMASTIER which does make for one aces comic book. Whne lt ls possible i.i:-.....E to lose track of Empire products in the blink of an 00 00 oooooooooooooooooooooooooo a 0 a a eye. a second noteworthy release from the House of Ideas would appear to be the long-awaited ROBQJOX. Stuart Gordon's robot-gladiator epic TRom TErm set, needless to say. in the Far Post-Holocaust
°#'fflLffl±fflH#
F`uture. oooooooooooooooooooooooooo 0
oooooo-o
\,,,00
E';.fflELREE#i''-oooooooooooooooooooo
J-,00 ffio000 00
0000 000
URBAN CIASSICS Okay.yougotyourglrlsinleatherlingerle. You got your horrific special effects. your creatures from the beyond. your sex, your violence. But you don.t have any money to promote this movie. What do you do? This ls the dnemma faced by Urban Classics Video. and this ls its solution: titles. By the end of 1988. Urban Classics wfll have released SIAv.EGIRIS F`ROM BEvoND INF`INrly. SpACE SLUI`S IN "E SIAMMER. I WAS A TEENAGE SEX MUTANT, GAIAcuc GIGOLO. and ASSAUIJT OF` "E FILLER BIMBOS. It also had a fiin called ThENAGE SIASHER SLUTS , but lt was renamed and now goes by the working title
There are theories. but lt's still a mystery how Indiana Jones and Mlchael Douglas and the rest of the modem A-movie industry managed to co-opt the kind of dumb summertime Jungle thriller-diner that used to star guys like Rod Cameron. and one is obliged to prize the genuine low-rent throwback whenever lt turns up. Which pretty much explains the likes of Ascot Entertalnment's TREASURE OF` "E MOON GODDESS, though the case of WIIITE ELEPI+ANT: "E BATILE OF "B AFRICAN GHOSTS warrants study. Wemer Grusch's WHrm ELEPIIAI\rr began as a documentary inqutry into Afncan tribal totems. later acquired a flctlonal overlay. transmogrified itself into a real old Hm F`ena FTom Bng Silver Bird That F`all FTom
Sky riff. and eventuauy emerged as a favorite at several of your highbrow festivals. That lt ls now in repachaged release through. of all outfits. Thoma. Inc.. Is one of those msemtable Thoma triumphs you Just don.t want to think about a hen _ of a lot. The posters are drawling with your witch
doctors! and your flames!! and your giant bugs!!! and stuff. but what you've still got is a F`estival vice president of urban Classics, says, " `Slut' is F`avorite F`rom Some European Guy. IIACREM HIGH. Charles M. Weinryt. executive
Actually, notwithstanding the occasional a word we don't like to use. With SPACE SLurs, suspicious signals that Thoma has begun to take viewers know we're not serious."
Tt¢ Oap^ caL ape # ` ng"`grT=ng=ng`xpmsgrgF-art
*-¢prap-<a> giv¥}*+ A
itself a little seriously of late. the Messrs. Kaufman and Herz continue to dump true cheese spread into the marketplace, reassuring lt that they are a couple of yahoos after all. In the wake of SURF` NAZIS MUST DIE there arrive REDNECK ZOM-
BIES. subtltled Tobacco Chewln., Gut Chompin., Cannibal Klnfou[ from Hell" and rllmed in glorious Entrlal-Vlslon, and CLUB WAR which ls presumably the fnm previously ]mows as WAR and which would stfll be TToma's remake of INVASION U.S.A , given the liberty that the terrorist invaders are Siamese twins. The TToma schedule also
-----±-----Ei____± ` ,. ,`
guENTun LEAI
There are going to be more movies with teenagers ln them. OUT 2 LUNCH has arrived PLEASURE PODS (They're Back! Battling, Bltmg, from guantum I.Cap. chackfull of the Hopes & Bunowlng Into Your Braln!"), which would con- Fears & Dreams & Blossoming Sexual Awareness tinued the tlngnng science-fiction action of STAR of the Typical Southern Callfomla Jurnor High WORMS I. except that SIAR WORMS I does not School Student. Worse yet. this one thinks lt's a exist. social study -a real-life classroom mm. includes SIAR WORMS 11: ATIACK OF` THE
.i`,\ tT`
-