Do you guys have books about b-movies (or any movies, for that matter?)
Back in the days before broadband internet, I acquired a nice little collection. I haven't bought a book about movies in a long time.
I used to love looking through guidebooks, reading and dreaming *about lots of movies I'd never seen or heard of before. Nowadays, I'd just surf the IMDB--but something's missing.
Here's what I still have on my bookshelf:
JOE BOB GOES TO THE DRIVE-IN (long out of print, glad I got a copy when I did!)
JOE BOB GOES BACK TO THE DRIVE-IN
PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING: SHOCKING MOVIES THAT CHANGED HISTORY
PROFOUNDLY EROTIC: SEXY MOVIES THAT CHANGED HISTORY (these two are listed as Joe Bob titles, but they're not written "in character")
PSYCHOTRONIC ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM
PSYCHOTRONIC VIDEO GUIDE (lots of us have these two)
VARIETY MOVIE GUIDE (very useful before they put all their reviews on-line)
HALLIWELL'S FILM GUIDE (this is what you turn to if you want to know what the stereotypical stuffy intellectual thinks about a movie. The only person in the world who believes PLAN 9 is "boring")
SEX & ZEN & A BULLET IN THE HEAD (Hong Kong cinema)
PHANTOM OF THE MOVIES' VIDEOSCOPE
VIDEOHOUND'S CULT FLVIKS AND TRASH PICS
CULT MOVIES (By Danny Peary)
IMMORAL TALES (Eurosleaze)
MONDO MACABRO (3rd world exploitation cinema)
INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMS (by ReSearch)
Wow, that's a lot... but I'd still like some more, if possible. What about you?
Wow...this may take a while...
.Denis Gifford's PICTORIAL HISTORY of HORROR MOVIES-Indespensible-and TONS of cool pics!
.HEROS of the HORRORS by Calvin T. Beck-Beck was the editor of Castle of Frankenstein magazine during the 60's and 70's. This book is a bio and filmagraphy of Chaney sr.,Lugosi,Karloff,Lorre,Chaney jr. and Price.
.SHLOCK-O-RAMA:theFilms of Al Adamson by David Konow.
.HORROR MOVIES by Alan Frank-a low rent version of Giffords book.
.HOUSE of HORROR-a history of Hammer films.
.MAD,BAD,AND DANGEROUS?-The Scientist in the Cinema by Christopher Frayling-Fasinating overview of the portrayl of scientists in film.
.the FILMS of BELA LUGOSI by Richard Bojarski-Filmagraphy-lotsa rae pics!
.CLASSICS of the HORROR FILM by William K. Everson-GREAT indepth look at some classic horrors.
.LUGOSI-by Gary Don Rhodes-One of the BEST sources for obscure Lugosiania!!! Priceless!!!
.LUGOSI:the MAN BEHIND THE CAPE by Richard Cremer-Considered by most to be theeLugosi bio.
.BELA LUGOSI:the Midnight Marquee Series-by Gary J. and Susan Sylvha-Wonderful study of some of Bela's best (and worst!) films. Wonderful.
.the ILLUSTRATED HISTORY of the HORROR FILM by Carlos Claren-Early horror film history (1968),well written and covers many,many forgotton silents!
.HORROR STARS by Micheal Pitts-Contains a look at 80 horror stars,with each getting his own chapter.
.The 3 STOOGES-An Illustrated History by Micheal Fleming-Contains bios,history and a short-by short review!
.The ENCYCLOPIDEA of SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES by Phil Hardy - a year by year listing-with mini reviews-of sci fi films from 1895 to 1985!
.TO BE CONTINUED by Ken Weiss and Ed Goodgold-A history and blow by blow overview of every serial ever made...and lotsa photos!
.The FRANKENSCIENCE MONSTER by Forrest J. Ackerman-Mostly consists of essays by various writers about the late,great Boris Karloff.
.the PSYCHOTRONIC ENCYCLOPDIEA of FILM-by Micheal J. Weldon a prequel to his...
.the PSYCHOTRONIC VIDEO GUIDE-HUGE book detailing 1000's of obscure and weird movies. Indespensible!
...plus about a hundred of monster movie mags from the 60's and 70's.
WHEW!
Oh yeah...Lenord Maltin's 2007 Movie Guide.
Zombiemania...um...that's it... :bluesad:
I need more books.
Quote from: doggett on April 26, 2009, 05:38:38 AM
Zombiemania...um...that's it... :bluesad:
I need more books.
The 2 PSYCHOTRONIC books are a good start here's a link for the PSYCHOTRONIC VIDEO GUIDE-
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0312131496/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all
...and to the PSYCHOTRONIC ENCYCLOPIDEA of FILM-
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0345303814/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all
...or try the Creepy Classics bookstore! Lots cool horror movie books!
http://www.creepyclassics.com/category.sc?categoryId=29
Not really, the only books I have are comics and sci-fi novels.
The Art of Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life
The Winston Effect: The Art and History of Stan Winston Studip
Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The unoffical Biography of "The Big G"
The Offical Godzilla Compedum
Designing Movie Creatures and Characters
Special Effects
The Mystery Scince Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide
The World of Kong
Quote from: WingedSerpent on April 26, 2009, 09:12:27 AM
The Mystery Scince Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide
Oops... I forgot that one.
RC, that Creepy Claasics is a very interesting site, I'm going to have to bookmark it. I see they'll be carrying GLEN AND RANDA; I think that's the first ever DVD release of that film.
Quote from: Rev. Powell on April 26, 2009, 09:51:50 AM
Quote from: WingedSerpent on April 26, 2009, 09:12:27 AM
The Mystery Scince Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide
Oops... I forgot that one.
RC, that Creepy Claasics is a very interesting site, I'm going to have to bookmark it. I see they'll be carrying GLEN AND RANDA; I think that's the first ever DVD release of that film.
I just ordered BELA LUGOSI:DREAMS and NIGHTMARES by Gary Don Rhodes and Richard Sheffield-Richard Sheifield was a teenage freind of Lugosi's during the final years of his life. Should be interesting!
(Richard Sheffield and Bela)
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/RCMerchant/sheffieldbela-3.jpg)
Here are a few that I can think of at the moment (most of my books are stored away right now). Most of these books have already been listed.
RE:Search - Incredibly Strange Films (Signed by Ted V. Mikels :teddyr:)
A Pictorial History of Horror Movies - Denis Gifford ( You're right RCMerchant this one is pretty indispensible, lots of great stills)
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Colossal Episode Guide
Heroes of the Horrors - Calvin T. Beck
An Illustrated History of Horror - Carlos Clarens
Cult Movies 3 - Danny Peary
Cult Movie Stars - Danny Peary
Mondo Macabro
Hong Kong Action Cinema - Bey Logan
Plus a lot more general histories on horror/sci-fi films. Before the internet books like these and the magazines devoted to them were one of the only ways to discover lost gems. The RE:Search book is particularly good with many interviews and essays, V.Vale the editor is a pretty nice fellow with a lot of enthusiasm for underground cinema. Called him up one time just to ask a question about ordering and ended up on the phone for three hours talking about this stuff.
Quote from: Tenguzame on April 26, 2009, 12:49:57 PM
Here are a few that I can think of at the moment (most of my books are stored away right now). Most of these books have already been listed.
RE:Search - Incredibly Strange Films (Signed by Ted V. Mikels :teddyr:)
A Pictorial History of Horror Movies - Denis Gifford ( You're right RCMerchant this one is pretty indispensible, lots of great stills)
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Colossal Episode Guide
Heroes of the Horrors - Calvin T. Beck
An Illustrated History of Horror - Carlos Clarens
Cult Movies 3 - Danny Peary
Cult Movie Stars - Danny Peary
Mondo Macabro
Hong Kong Action Cinema - Bey Logan
Plus a lot more general histories on horror/sci-fi films. Before the internet books like these and the magazines devoted to them were one of the only ways to discover lost gems. The RE:Search book is particularly good with many interviews and essays, V.Vale the editor is a pretty nice fellow with a lot of enthusiasm for underground cinema. Called him up one time just to ask a question about ordering and ended up on the phone for three hours talking about this stuff.
Very nice collection! I never figured out exactly what RE:Search was. I noticed they had other guides on topics besides film, but I couldn't really tell if it was an organization, a movement, a pseudonym for one guy, or what. But it was (is) a cool little guide, and having it signed by Mikels makes you a hero in my book!
besides what have already been named I guess I'd add Nightmare of ecstasy, which the movie Ed Wood was based on and "Hollywood talks turkey" which Iused to read when I was supposed to be studying at the Boston Public Library. its accounts from the golden era of hollywood of what it was like being on the sets of movies that someone okayed that were bad ideas, like Bogart playing a vampire and stuff like that. I can't remember what the movie was but I remember one star drinking vodka from a jar and saying "get me out of here" to some guy who had dropped by to visit
hollywood talks turkey (http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Talks-Turkey-Screens-Greatest/dp/0571129013/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1240774087&sr=1-10)
The only ones I have are "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor" by Bruce Campbell and "The Zen of Zombie" by Scott Kenemore. For the most part, I don't buy a whole lot outside of actual fiction (mostly horror stories and classics like Moby Dick). I wouldn't mind finding a few books on daikaiju or giallo movies, maybe even something on Lucio Fulci or Dario Argento.
Quote from: Rev. Powell on April 26, 2009, 02:12:44 PM
Quote from: Tenguzame on April 26, 2009, 12:49:57 PM
Here are a few that I can think of at the moment (most of my books are stored away right now). Most of these books have already been listed.
RE:Search - Incredibly Strange Films (Signed by Ted V. Mikels :teddyr:)
A Pictorial History of Horror Movies - Denis Gifford ( You're right RCMerchant this one is pretty indispensible, lots of great stills)
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Colossal Episode Guide
Heroes of the Horrors - Calvin T. Beck
An Illustrated History of Horror - Carlos Clarens
Cult Movies 3 - Danny Peary
Cult Movie Stars - Danny Peary
Mondo Macabro
Hong Kong Action Cinema - Bey Logan
Plus a lot more general histories on horror/sci-fi films. Before the internet books like these and the magazines devoted to them were one of the only ways to discover lost gems. The RE:Search book is particularly good with many interviews and essays, V.Vale the editor is a pretty nice fellow with a lot of enthusiasm for underground cinema. Called him up one time just to ask a question about ordering and ended up on the phone for three hours talking about this stuff.
Very nice collection! I never figured out exactly what RE:Search was. I noticed they had other guides on topics besides film, but I couldn't really tell if it was an organization, a movement, a pseudonym for one guy, or what. But it was (is) a cool little guide, and having it signed by Mikels makes you a hero in my book!
Thanks Rev, I'll have to dig out the photo I took of him at the convention I was at, it was around '95 or '96 I believe. Larger than life fellow, wearing a boar's tusk necklace and that twisted Dali moustache. While there I saw a panel about low budget filmaking with him and Bruce Campbell that was very entertaining . He was at the time raising funds to make Astrozombies 2.
The RE:Search books were mainly about counter culture themes or obscure music/movies it started in San Fransico in the '70s with a zine called Search And Destroy. Their one book 'Modern Primitives' for better or worse helped kick off the craze for body piercings and tribal tattoos. Not my thing personally, but still fascinating to learn the history. Not as controversial as Adam Parfrey's Feral House Imprint.
Currently only "A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series" but I'm hoping to change that soon.
Got quite a few, some already mentioned. Off the top of my head [inc in this are mainstream films as well as more B-movie styled ones]:
Art of Ray Harryhausen
World War Z
The Zombie Survival Guide
Sin City: The making of the movie.
Donnie Darko Book [Screenplay and interviews about Donnie Darko]
Your Face Here: British cult films since the '60s.
Future Noir: The Making Of BladeRunner
Grindhouse film companion
Hercules: The Legendary Journey official companion [bought this for $0.50 so figured why the hell not]
Peter Jackson: From prince of splatter to lord of the rings [unofficial autobiography]
Tim Burton [another unauthorised one]
Star Trek: In myth and legend
A book on the Goonies
Indiana Jones the Ultimate Guide
From Alien To Matrix: Reading Sci fi film
And a few more academic books on film noir, a couple on Scorsese and some general film style books.
Reading is fun!
I forgot to mention those directors series of books
Cronenberg on Cronenberg
Burton on Burton
Gilliam on Gilliam
All pretty good reads.
mondo macabro is fascinating and nicely illustrated, and has led me to some real novelties. i would never have tracked down boxer's omen without it.
I've thinned out my book colllection a lot but I'd never get rid of these two...
Cult Flicks And Trash Picks
The Zombie Survival Guide