Joseph A. Ziemba - Bleeding Skull!: A 1980s Trash-Horror Odyssey

A HEADPRESS BOOK

Published by Headpress in 2013

Headpress, Unit 365, 1 0 Great Russell Street,
London, WC1B 3BQ, United Kingdom
Tel: 0845 3301 844 / +44 (0)208 2577 195
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Web: worldheadpress.com

Authors: Joseph A. Ziemba and Dan Budnik
Book Designer: Joseph A. Ziemba
Contributing Editor: Annie Choi
Proofreader: Zack Carlson

Headpress Diaspora: David Kerekes, Thomas Campbell,
Caleb Selah, Giuseppe, Dave T.

BLEEDING SKULL! A 1980s Trash-Horror Odyssey
This volume copyright 2013 Headpress. All text is copyright 201 3 Joseph A. Ziemba and Dan Budnik. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, on earth or in space, this dimension or that, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The moral rights of the authors have been asserted.

Images and artwork are reproduced in this book in the spirit of publicity and as historical illustrations to the text. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the respective artists, actors, filmmakers and studios.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781909394148 (ebk)
ISBN 9781900486880 (pbk)
No ISBN. Special edition (hbk)

worldheadpress.com

JOSEPH A. ZIEMBA

First, Joseph E. and Carol Ziemba. Theyre my parents. If they didnt make me, this book wouldnt be happening. Thats obvious. Whats not so obvious is that without their friendship, support, and love, my life would be kind of lousy. Theyve stood by every creative endeavor Ive ever been a part of, including this book. I want them to feel proud and warm inside because their son co-authored a book about movies with titles like Death Nurse and Satanic Attraction. Additionally, I hope that they can share this special feeling with their most cherished friends and neighbors.

Next, Zack Carlson. Zack is the co-author and editor of Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide To Punks On Film (Fantagraphics), which is the new 21st century standard for books on cinema. Zack is the most genuine and kind person Ive met through my work on Bleeding Skull. He donated his time to proofread this book. Im grateful for his support and guidance throughout this process. He also sent me an original promotional poster from The Hackers, unannounced, and for no reason in particular. Thats the kind of guy Zack is. Im happy to call him a friend.

Then, theres Annie Choi. Annie is the author of the beautiful and hilarious Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters (Harper Collins) and the also beautiful and hilarious Shut Up Youre Welcome: Thoughts on Life, Death and Other Inconveniences (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster). Shes the most intelligent, funny, and inspiring person that Ive met in many years. Annie donated her time to edit every word that I wrote for this book. She spent countless hours discussing all aspects of the books process with me. She has also helped me to live better through strength, determination, and trust. Watching cannibals eating boobs with someone has never been so special.

Thanks to the following friends, filmmakers, and fellow film heroes for providing us with promotional materials, scans, photocopies, VHS tapes, and most of all, SUPPORT. We wish all of you happy lives from here on out: Edward Ej Anttila, Tim Boggs, The Cinefamily of Los Angeles (Hadrian Belove, Bret Berg, Jordan Dobbs Rosa, Tom Fitzgerald), Gary Cohen, Johnny Cornett, Paige Davis, Mike Downey, Eddie Brandts Saturday Matinee of Los Angeles (Claire Brandt, Donovan Brandt, Tony Nittoli, Alex Vandyne), Enzo Giobbe, Micki Grover, Evan Husney, Mikhail Ilyin, Josh Johnson, Doug Jones, Louis Justin, Adina Kwasigroch, Paul Malleck, the Margaret Herrick Library of Los Angeles and its staff, Jon McBride, Ryan McDonald, Carolee Mitchell, Christopher Palmer, Andre Perkowski, Lisa Petrucci, Wiley Pickett, Chris Poggiali, R.J. Porter, Micah Prude, Michael Raso, Tim Ritter, Eric Robitaille, Charles Pinion, Spencer Savage, Nathan Schiff, Richard Glenn Schmidt, Mark Shostrom, Paul Schwochow, Leland Thomas, Caelum Vatnsdal, Mark Veau, and David Zuzelo.

Thank you to David Kerekes, Thomas Campbell, and everyone at Headpress for helping us to make the dream of a Bleeding Skull book a reality.

Finally, a special thank you to Dan for being my confidant through it all.

DAN BUDNIK

To my mom, for letting me rent almost anything I wanted.

To my dad, for watching many of these films with me.

To Eric Zydel, for all the trips to video stores in the Rochester area.

To Uncle Mike and Pam Adamski, for describing the kill scenes in every early 1980s horror film to me when I was too scared to watch them.

To Joe, for inviting me along for the ride.

I want to dedicate this book to Madelynn Fattibene. My sweet wife and my best friend. Thank you for your constant support and your never-ending love. This book is for you.

In My Autobiography, Charlie Chaplin stated that One cannot wring ones hands and express in words ones appreciation of great art.

Thankfully, were not dealing with great art.

Bleedingskull.com was launched on January 4, 2004. The intent was simple. I would write reviews of trash-horror films that were collected on VHS during my travels across the United States. I simply wanted to share my enthusiasm for these movies. The more obscure the film, the better. No ego. No over-analysis. Just me, the movies, and my enjoyment in collecting, exploring, and watching. Then, Dan and I met. It was clear that we might have been brothers who were separated at birth. We combined forces. And now, a decade after Bleeding Skull was conceived, weve built a massive archive totaling nearly one-thousand reviews and articles.

Bleeding Skulls initial focus was on the 1980s, especially films that were shot-on-video (SOV). This was virgin territory. No one acknowledged the importance of these movies in the history of exploitation filmmaking. What started as a creative outlet on the Internet transformed into a personal passion for giving these films the credit, respect, and understanding we felt they deserved. To the general public, Chester N. Turner is no Robert Altman. And Doris Wishman is certainly no John Cassavetes. Bleeding Skull sought to change this.

Why the 1980s? Our book celebrates a cinematic era that few people consider valid. In fact, if you flip through any number of film reference guides from the past thirty years, youll find that 80s trash-horror is treated like a plague. One that will undoubtedly cause your dick or boobs to turn purple and fall off should you come into contact with it. Consider this book a changing of the guard. The gutter-underground of 80s horror was a final gasp in authentic exploitation filmmaking. It was a time when video stores were assaulted by unbelievable amounts of insanity, ineptitude, mystery, and earnestness. It was a time when D.I.Y. direct-to-video filmmaking led a home entertainment revolution. As the 1990s crept in, that time would end. Technological advances, trends of self-awareness, and the Internet eradicated the vitality of these big-boxed golden years. Thats why were here. Thats why youre here. This era deserves to be acknowledged and preserved.