© London FrightFest Ltd. 2000-2007

12th March 2007.

So between covering the new Channel 4 drama series Cape Wrath (think Desperate Housewives meets Twin Peaks), airing Autumn, and going to Prague for Vin Diesel’s latest (Babylon A.D.), I found myself at a Guildford Registry Office for a wedding ceremony. Not just any wedding though but that of FrightFest quiz-setter Ian Kirby to the very lovely Nicki. You might remember Nicki darting about last year with her camera covering the Guillermo signing. Ian has been a good friend for many years, and a staunch FrightFest supporter throughout the early times, and went through a bit of a sticky patch recently. But he’s now out of that depressing period and I hope you’ll join me in wishing the happy couple all the very best.

Ian used to be a schoolteacher and he once invited me to his college to talk on the subject of Dario Argento and Italian horror for his film class. What an eye-opener that was! It made me hopeful a new generation might actually keep the memories of giallo alive. Everything from Carroll Baker in Orgasmo to Marisa Mell in Perversion Story meant a lot to me in my formative years and I would hate to see their charms evaporate though neglect. But then that was part of the whole grindhouse ethos I loved indulging in throughout my misspent youth. It was for that reason I jumped at the opportunity to take up Total Film’s offer of writing the A-Z of grindhouse exploitation in their upcoming issue devoted to the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez celluloid celebration.

Who’d have thought that what many of my generation considered the cinema-going norm – schlock double-bills shown in out-of-the way fleapits – would be the must-see event of 2007. But then that’s what makes Tarantino an absolute marketing genius when it comes to zeitgeist trends. What were my favourite double-bills? Too many to mention but Night of the Big Heat and The Tenth Victim, The Devil Rides Out and Slave Girls, The Flesh Eaters and Death Curse of Tartu, Castle of the Living Dead and Terror Creatures from the Grave stand out when I look back in my diaries from what turned out to be the Golden Age. 

If you weren’t there you really don’t know what you missed, especially if you were lucky enough to get a chance to visit that sleaze Mecca of 42nd Street in New York during the 70s. I’m still proud I was first in line to see Snuff at its world premiere and got myself on the local TV news clashing with the demonstrators. Of course at the time I didn’t know they had all been hired precisely for that reason, which makes it even better as I became part of grindhouse history in a totally unexpected way. I can still remember my old acquaintance Bill Landis, creator of the much-loved seminal fanzine The Sleazoid Express’, taking me to a Bowery fleapit known for its gay action in the toilets. The third-run double feature was Tilt and Blow Out, which felt more like instructions upon entering rather than what was actually showing! But my favourite triple bill sign remains 10 Meatballs Escape from Acatraz. None of the films listed could ever measure up to what I’m surprised some exploiter didn’t use as a plotline.

While on the Argento subject, the news I was dreading has been confirmed this week. The Third Mother, his Suspiria sequel, has now been given the firm premiere date of October 31 in Italy. The good news for me is it will be a fabulous Halloween in Rome. I promise I’ll keep trying to work something out for screening it as a one-off FrightFest event.

Until the next time.