tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post5038263359231382725..comments2023-03-31T06:55:42.398-07:00Comments on Dinner With Max Jenke: The Magazine That Bleeds!Jeff Allardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265550466781988388noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-87256940149099903722012-05-29T18:24:36.443-07:002012-05-29T18:24:36.443-07:00Hi ... my name at Fangoria Forums was The Gorehoun...Hi ... my name at Fangoria Forums was The Gorehound !<br />I silently had a hand in the resurfacing of GOREZONE ...<br />Ranted / Protested & Begged for it's return ...<br />For it was the greatest ever !!!<br />No Horror Mag had more to offer in it's time on newsstands !<br /><br />I know some were shocked to see The Best Of comeout not too long ago ...<br /><br />But did you know that it took me 2 years of begging & getting others on my bandwagon to bring back GOREZONE ... if only for one last time !?!<br /><br />I am now working through Blackwoods Productions & The Roxy Theatre in Muskogee OK ...<br />Just recently helped them put on their 13th Annual Bare Bones International Film & Music Festival ... which they started a new award because of my dedication to Film & The Horror Genre !!!<br /><br />Look for me on Facebook : <br />Bill Russell <br />Indie Horror Director<br />Cinematographer<br />&<br />Composer<br /><br />God Bless All Of Y'all<br />For Loving The Genre So Much<br /><br />Please visit me at FB and findout about my first full length feature :<br /><br />" Why Daddy Why ??? "<br /><br />It's a female serial killer movie in the vein of <br />" HENRY : P.O.A.S.K. "<br /><br />Till then this is :<br /><br />666 { The Gorehound } 666<br /><br />& Remember ......<br /><br />There<br />Can<br />Be<br />Only<br />One †♥† ; )666 { Da Gorehound } 666https://www.blogger.com/profile/13402625293517885418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-86688520320027997192011-10-20T09:21:29.239-07:002011-10-20T09:21:29.239-07:00Gorezone was definitely my favorite mag at the tim...Gorezone was definitely my favorite mag at the time, at least until Deep Red, Psychotronic, and Video Watchdog came onto my radar (all from Gorezone contributors). But for the average kid living in suburbia with no access to small press mags like those, Gorezone was about as esoteric and incisive a horror mag as you were gonna' find. Back then even more than now, not everyone had access to the cool underground stuff, and Gorezone brought a lot of that mentality into the mainstream.Bob Igniziohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03630416222197419152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-27734078892015933442011-10-19T06:56:33.079-07:002011-10-19T06:56:33.079-07:00"Put any SAW movie against the first or secon..."Put any SAW movie against the first or second entries into the HELLRAISER franchise, which is bloodier?" <br /><br />I would say SAW III might be the most revolting R-rated movie I've ever seen (well, outside of PASSION OF THE CHRIST!). I don't know about how equal they are in terms of bloodshed but I know that SAW III struck me as graphically violent in a way that little outside of the unrated realm could compare. The first four Hellraisers were definitely bloodbaths but they were the rare exception to the rule. For some reason those films got away with more than other franchises. <br /><br />Look at the ratings battle that LEATHERFACE: TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE III (1990) faced. The MPAA slapped that with an X and director Jeff Burr had to make multiple cuts to earn an R. But if you look at that film now, even with the uncut footage, it'd be an easy R today. <br /><br />I think the difference is mostly that gore was a novelty in the early '80s and filmmakers tended to want to linger on it whereas now it would seem like clumsy filmmaking to do so. I rewatched the first EVIL DEAD not too long ago and one of the weakest aspects of it was how Raimi would just stop to gawk at an FX shot. That wouldn't be acceptable today - not because of censorship but because it'd be considered poor filmmaking. <br /><br />Is MANIAC more violent than SAW or HOSTEL? Maybe, but remember that MANIAC was unrated. Look at the kind of cuts the MPAA called for on FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII and then look at what HOSTEL got away with. You've got a full-on shot of a woman with her eye dangling out of its socket. That would've never gotten through in a R-rated film in the late '80s. <br /><br />I mean, last year's PIRANHA remake couldn't have existed as an R-rated film in 1989 or so. The last twenty minutes would've had to have been cut. <br /><br />As for the lack of new horror icons, I think it's just a matter of audiences wanting different things out of horror. Filmmakers have been trying since the '80s to launch the next Freddy or Michael or Jason but it never seems to happen. Horace Pinker, The Trickster (from BRAINSCAN), Dr. Giggles...none of them caught on. Not even Max Jenke! And like FC says, Victor Crowley and Chromeskull are going nowhere. <br /><br />I think the lesson is that these icons have to catch on almost by accident. Whenever filmmakers try to create an instant horror icon right out of the box, it never works. <br /><br />One exception to that might be Chucky. I have to think that the filmmakers saw a future in that mavelolent doll and they really caught lightning in a bottle with that character. <br /><br />But in general, it's a matter of the public latching on to something and then filmmakers running with it. Clive Barker said that he didn't think that Pinhead was the character that the HELLRAISER films would revolve around. He thought that any sequels were going to be about Julia's character. But the look of Pinhead was so striking and Doug Bradley's voice so commanding that audiences demanded to see more of him. <br /><br />And who could've predicted that Jigsaw would've been the horror star that he was? Instead of an implacable, indestrucible psycho killer, you had an old guy with one foot in the grave. There's just no formula for this stuff. <br /><br />But that's one thing I love about following the genre - no one knows what the next trend or phenomenon will be.Jeff Allardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04265550466781988388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-57713150407638088802011-10-19T05:29:49.249-07:002011-10-19T05:29:49.249-07:00Hey J.D., I see what you mean about Hostel and SAW...Hey J.D., I see what you mean about Hostel and SAW, because they are pretty graphic, but I see a lot theatrically released horror movies from the 80's and they were a whole lot more graphic than HOSTEL or SAW. For me it's been like I rewatch an old film from the 80's like say MANIAC or HELLRAISER and I go "they just dont make them like that anymore" because I can feel the difference in terms of violence and gore. <br /><br />Even films like INSIDIOUS, which I personally love seem to be playing around the fact that they cant show gore, so they make a horror film like INSIDIOUS which doesnt have any gore at all, and is PG-13. <br /><br />Now I applaud a film that can be scary and still be PG-13 (like THE RING) but you can tell that filmmakers are trying their best to be scary without the red stuff. <br /><br />And Im talking mostly about american horror, foreign horror films dont have to worry about a ratings system, so they can show whatever the heck they want. Thats why we get films like MARTYRS, and INSIDE, FRONTIERS and A SERBIAN FILM. <br /><br />Now foreign horror, those guys have no freaking restraints whatsoever, and this is why foreign horror films are usually better. They can go further.Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-360591542865032992011-10-18T19:57:14.019-07:002011-10-18T19:57:14.019-07:00I would argue that the horror genre has it easier ...I would argue that the horror genre has it easier today in some respects. Now, there are so many ways to get your film seen - VOD, direct to DVD, streaming, Netflix, iTunes, etc. So long as you can keep your budget down. Look at guys like Larry Fessenden who runs his own outfit and not only writes and directs his own films but is now producing others under his own label.<br /><br />As Jeff pointed out, even more gore and violence is permitted now. Would a movie like A SERBIAN FILM been able to be shown let alone made in the 1980's? Highly unlikely. Films like HOSTEL and SAW are really pushing the boundaries of what you can show on screen.<br /><br />But I do agree that we are missing the beloved horror icons of yesteryears. The younger generations coming up don't seem to care for the Freddys and Jasons and Michael Myers. Of course, it doesn't help that the remakes for all of these guys were pretty piss poor so no wonder! I wonder if any young moviegoers actively seek out the original versions on DVD or TV? That's why I'm glad that channels like AMC champion these older films pretty relentlessly around this time of year. Or that you see the Carpenter THING on TV quite a bit recently. Hopefully, people who were disappointed by the 2011 THING will check out JC's version on TV and appreciate what he did.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-76800994282469580902011-10-18T12:00:05.409-07:002011-10-18T12:00:05.409-07:00Here's an example though: Put any SAW movie ag...Here's an example though: Put any SAW movie against the first or even second entries into the HELLRAISER franchise, which is bloodier? <br /><br />The SAW movies are gory, but they dont show as much as they make us think they do. It's all a lot of flashes, and fast forwards and lots of quick editing. <br /><br />And maybe their being no new horror icons is because "they" dont want youngsters to have horror characters as their heroes these days? Maybe the powers that be thought this was not a good thing for young people to have so they elminated them from cinemas. Maybe this is the reason why new horror films dont have a main character like a Jason or a Freddy anymore. <br /><br />But it's not for lack of trying, the Hatchet movies have tried creating a new one with their Crowley character, as well as the Laid to Rest movies with their Chrome Skull character. But they are obviously going nowhere. <br /><br />It's funny you wrote this article because I had typed one up on "the state of american horror films" but decided to delete it for some reason. It was a pretty lenghty rant, but decided to not post it. It certainly is a debatable theme. Is American horror doing okay? Or eve good? The word I used to describe the state of the american horror film on my unpublished article was "anemic".Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-88761593010738956852011-10-18T11:06:32.229-07:002011-10-18T11:06:32.229-07:00FC, as far as horror having it easier these days, ...FC, as far as horror having it easier these days, I think there's no way to argue that censorship isn't far more relaxed than it was twenty years ago. Just the Saw franchise alone is proof of that. None of those films would've seen the light of day in the late '80s. <br /><br />And while there isn't much in the way of horror icons today, I think that's mostly to do with changing tastes of audiences. Supernatural boogeymen are out and movies that center on unspecified forces - like the Final Destination or Paranormal Activity films - are more in favor. <br /><br />And as fondly as I recall the heyday of horror franchises in the '80s, it has to be said that most of those sequels were lousy and probably did more harm than good to the genre. Yes, we had a new Michael Myers, new Jason, and a new Freddy movie almost every year but what those films mostly did was run their respective series into the ground. <br /><br />I agree that the lack of the internet was a huge factor in what made magazines so important back then. Especially when mainstream magazines rarely covered the genre at all, except to slam it. But I still think that magazines are still vital. Part of the answer may be to spend more pages on opinionated content but I think set visits and interviews shouldn't be left behind. <br /><br />Will, thanks - glad you enjoyed the post. Sorry you didn't pick up GZ when you had the chance!Jeff Allardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04265550466781988388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-27734968489903738062011-10-18T10:16:38.436-07:002011-10-18T10:16:38.436-07:00This is a fantastic post on a mag I really only re...This is a fantastic post on a mag I really only read at the newsstand! Don't know exactly why I didn't buy it - probably because I "knew" I'd never be able to see the movies they were featuring. And this is spot-on:<br /><br />"Honestly, as much as I appreciate filmmakers having more freedom and viewers having more access to movies, I miss those earlier days. GOREZONE was a magazine for an "Us Against Them" kind of time and that's, unavoidably, a romantic sort of thing."<br /><br />Hells yeah.Will Erricksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16285306262078600804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964885632131848660.post-65542259861571045522011-10-18T10:13:09.312-07:002011-10-18T10:13:09.312-07:00Things are better now for horror? I dont agree so ...Things are better now for horror? I dont agree so much with your comments on this article about horror having it easier nowadays. <br /><br />I mean, if anything horror is watered down because it is being systematically eliminated. Horror films are restricted more than ever. I mean, these new horror movies are very limited in terms of gore. They only show you seconds of a gory moment where in the 80's and 90's you'd get a whole lot more show to you on screen. And we all know thats thanks to MPAA asking filmmakers to snip snip snip away seconds of blood or gore in their movies. <br /><br />Where are todays Hellraisers? Where are today's Re-animators? Hell, I remember a time when it was a new Freddy, Michael Myers and Jason movie every other year. And they all went theatrical. In fact, where's todays horror icons? <br /><br />They've tried resurrection Freddy and Jason and even old Pinhead without success. I mean something is weird when both the Freddy and Jason remakes made money, yet we havent seen sequels for either of them have we? What gives? <br /><br />Today we might have more horror product, but its mostly pretty bad and it doesnt go theatrical, it's all straight to dvd and for good reason. Have you seen the latest Hellraiser abortion? "Hellraiser: Revelations"? Wow, thats a sorry ass movie when compared to that franchise's glory days. <br /><br />And of course, if you want to see anything thats worth a damn, you have to turn your heads towards foreign horror films, because American horror is dead on it's tracks, with few exceptions of course. <br /><br />The days of Gorezone were awesome, I lived through them, I read the magazine. It was pretty graphic, I loved it. The real problem back then was there was no internet, and so less information was available. Magazines like these were needed to keep up with the world of horror all around the world. Now all that information is a click away. <br /><br />The only way these magazines would survive is if they stuck more to editorials, instead of whats latest in the film world, sort of what Rue Morgue does.Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.com