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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  recommendations for good b-movie books? « previous next »
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Author Topic: recommendations for good b-movie books?  (Read 3886 times)
victor
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« on: November 03, 2001, 01:45:00 AM »

fellow fans:

what b/cult/horror-movie books do you recommend?  i'm looking for a book that gives gratuitous amounts of information on the genre itself (such as its history, its fans, etc.) and gives information on many different films (a collection of joe bob briggs'-type reviews perhaps)--an encyclopedia of sorts, i guess--something that's gonna take me a while to read.  thanks for your advice.

victor
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Will
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« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2001, 09:48:58 AM »

I recommend the following:

"The Sleaze Merchants: Adventures in Exploitation Filmmaking," by John McCarthy.  This guy also wrote "Splatter Movies: Breaking the Last Taboo of the Screen," but that's unfortunately out of print.  Sleaze Merchants explores the careers of directors like Al Adamson, Ed Wood, Jim Wynorski, Roger Corman, Fred Olen Ray, William Lustig, etc. and gives a lot of background on b-movie history.

I also recommend "The Official Splatter Movie Guide, Volumes 1 and 2" also by John McCarthy.  Listings and reviews of hundreds of great b-movies.

There's also "Schlock-O-Rama: The Films of Al Adamson" if you're interested in him; "The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh" which is on George Romero; and "The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror" by David Skal, which is a great socio-cultural reading of b-movies and American culture.
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Future Boy 3000
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« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2001, 12:47:28 PM »

"Creature Features" by John Stanley is a must for b-movie fans. I have no clue if it's still in print but it's worth a look.

Another good movie book, if you like that sort of thing, is "Mad About The Movie". It's got tons of movie parodies by Mad magazine.

What, me worry?
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Vermin Boy
Guest
« Reply #3 on: November 03, 2001, 12:48:39 PM »

Gotta go with the book that really got me into odd movies; "Videohound's Guide to Cult Flicks and Trash Pics." It's got slightly-longer-than-capsule reviews of over 1000 cult films (rated by entertainment value, not necessarily "goodness"), bios of various cult film personalities (Ed Wood, John Waters, Al Adamson, Mario Bava, etc.), histories of characters (Godzilla, Frankenstein), brief essays on b-movie-enhancing phenomena (local horror hosts, 60s campus theaters, the advent of home video, etc), quotes, and an index of actors and directors. Definitely worth a look.
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victor
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« Reply #4 on: November 03, 2001, 07:35:55 PM »

sweet info. thanks for the tips fellas.
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Abby
Guest
« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2001, 06:36:01 PM »

My most beat-up B-movie books (the ultimate sign of their usefulness) include:

* Re-Search: Incredibly Strange Films: My first b-movie book and still one of the best assembled. Features interviews with Russ Meyer, Ray Dennis Steckler, Larry Cohen,Ted Mikels, Doris Wishman, and many MANY more. Has lots of fantastic film-specific essays for Herschell Gordon Lewis/Ed Wood fare and full historical sections dedicated to sub genres like industrial films, mondo movies, sexploitation films, beach movies, biker movies et al. I bought this in the 80's while still in high school, and it became a checklist for things I needed to see. I constantly use it as a reference source. It's still available from the publisher.

* The Two Psychotronic Books:  I believe Andrew has one in his banner rotation. Both are indispensable.

* Mondo Macabro: My most recent "checklist" book for weird films I'd never heard of before, but now want to see.
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Ken Begg
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« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2001, 06:58:59 PM »

When are you going to put together a Girdler book?  I mean, it's nice that you provide all this stuff for free, but still.

Back to Victor:  For histories of individual random bad movies, check out the Medved brothers' books;  The 50 Worst Films of All Time, the Golden Turkey Awards, Son of the Golden Turkey Awards, and The Hollywood Hall of Shame.  The last book in particular is richly researched.  These books are all out of print, but can be picked up on Ebay.   Then there are the two Psychotronic books, as well as the two volumes put out by The Phantom of the Movies.  Also try The Worst Films of All Time by Michael Sauter.

Past that, is there any certain genre or era or person you're interested in?  For instance, McFarland Press puts out a number of essential tomes.  In particular look for Bill Warren's definative set on '50s sci-fi movies, Keep Watching the Skies.

If you're interested in cult movies generally, you could do worse than to pick up second hand copies of genre magazines like Cult Movies, Psychotronic and Scarlet Street.
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Abby
Guest
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2001, 08:11:50 PM »

It's 'a coming.  I'm holding out for something that'll put Gird on B. Dalton shelves -- someplace where casual b-movie fans can find it.  That, and I need more hands-on research if I'm going to do it right -- traveling money is what I need.

Believe it or not, someone is making a TV documentary on the website. But, um, I'm supposed to talk about it yet. So hopefully, the book will become part of a multimedia Girdler explosion. And I'll get a trip or two from the doc that will help on the research end.
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FishStik
Guest
« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2001, 09:25:33 PM »

The best  b-movie book out there is the HORROR MOVIE SURVIVAL GUIDE!!! THIS BOOK FRIGGIN'  ROCKS!!! BUY IT FRIGGIN' TODAY OR MY FRIGGIN' FLESH EATTIN' FRIGGIN' KILLER HAMPSTERS WILL FRIGGIN' KILL YOU. CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE ASAP OR MY HAMSTERS WILL FRIGGIN' KILL YA.
THE WEB SITE IS       www.horrormovieguide.com.   CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE THIS FRIGGI' MINUTE, OR THE FRIGGIN' HAMPSTERS WILL FRIGGIN' KILL YOU FRIGGIN' FOOL.  Other good books are the B-movie Survival Guide, The Golden Age Of B-Movies, All I Need To Know About Film Making I Learned From The Toxic Advenger, Creature Feature, Trash Flicks,  the Evil Dead Companion, Monsters Are Attacking Tokio, The Godzilla Companion, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, Terror On Tape, How Low was My Budget, Rebel Without A Crew(5 stars) , The Official Splatter Movie Guide(v1 and 2), and Psychotronic Movie Guide.
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Andrew
Guest
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2001, 09:46:54 PM »

I'll attack the classic genre:

"Keep Watching the Skies" is an amazing study of 1950's b-movies.  I dearly love this book.

"The Encyclopedia of Monsters" is a library of beasties from film and books.  For people who love monster movies this is a must have.  It misses some of the low budget drek, but still - a neat book.

Ken was kind enough to provide me with a copy of "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time" and that is a great read.  Nice and detailed articles of everything from "The Trial of Billy Jack" to "The Horror of Party Beach."

Andrew
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Ken Begg
Guest
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2001, 11:07:20 PM »

Well, I'm sure you can count on us, your Internet compatriots, to hawk your book.  Although I have a feeling Andrew might be a *little* more helpful in that department than my site.  (Still, another two sales is another two sales, am I right?)  

And a documentary!!  Good grief.  I might have to get cable after all.
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Abby
Guest
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2001, 11:30:15 PM »

> Good grief. I might have to get cable after all.

Yeah, me too! I haven't had cable for nearly a year now -- which means I have no TV because reception is bad out here.

My dream Girdler book would be similar (in form) to "Nightmare of Ecstasy," meaning that it would be mostly edited interview bytes with sparse comments from yours truly until the very end. That particular style demands, well, buttloads of interviews from which to draw bytes.
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victor
Guest
« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2001, 02:21:24 AM »

at this point, i'm not that interested in any particular genre or director.   i'm just trying to gain a well-rounded knowledge of b-movies, cult films, and horror movies.  i've been into b-movies pretty deep for only a year, so my knowledge is pretty limited.
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the gooch
Guest
« Reply #13 on: November 08, 2001, 01:56:53 AM »

...and for a little comic relief...i'd throw in Joe Bob (if i remember correctly
from a WHILE back...even Abby liked joe bob's video...ahem..a joe bob book...long live the drive in!!!
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