BLACK KNIGHTS AT THE END OF TIME by J.P.V. Stewart, ISBN 0-905262-27-1, A5, 24pp, £2:85/$6 (USA orders in cash or stamps of 50¢ or less) from Steve Sneyd, Hilltop Press, 4 Nowell Place, Almondbury, Huddersfield HD5 8PB. SF poetry that explores scenarios as diverse as inside the atom to the end of the universe.
CONFESSION OF A HOLLOW MAN by Peter Tennant, A5, 52pp, £4 from Paul Bradshaw, 44 Knowles View, Holmewood Estate, Bradford BD4 9AH (e-mail: thedreamzone@btinternet.com; http://www.dreamzone.co.uk). The story of a homosexual living in a future where space exploration is commonplace, who joins the Space Corps to escape the homophobia that exists on Earth. On the strange world of Barathania he falls in love with an alien he christens Lucifer, and from this point his life changes irrevocably.
FABULOUS BRIGHTON edited by Elizabeth Counihan, Dierdre Counihan and Liz Williams, ISBN 0-9538481-0-8, A5, 108pp p/b, £4:99 from Scheherazade, 14 Queens Park Rise, Brighton BN2 2ZF (http://www.fabulousbrighton.co.uk). An anthology of stories celebrating the unique town of Brighton, with all its wickedness, vitality, beauty and vulgarity. But this is not quite Brighton as we know it – there are a lot of aliens about, the Elf King lives in the Royal Pavilion, the sea freezes over at the flick of a switch, and the football team keeps winning. Eminent Brightonians contributing to the anthology include Lynne Truss, Peter James, and Peter T. Garratt.
AFRICA FILM & TV 2000, A5, 212pp p/b, enquire to Africa Film & TV, P.O. Box 6109, Harare, Zimbabwe (e-mail: info@africafilmtv.com; http://www.africafilmtv.com). Providing over 3,600 contacts in the African film and TV industry by country from Algeria to Zimbabwe, this yearbook is a must-have for anyone seeking to forge links in the business. Each country's entry has an overview of the domestic industry, as well as a comprehensive listing of everyone involved in film and TV from animation through directors and distributors to hair stylists, riggers, stunt services and wardrobe design.
SEE NO EVIL: BANNED FILMS AND VIDEO CONTROVERSY
by David Kerekes & David Slater
ISBN 1-900486-10-5, B5, 416pp p/b, £15:95 (US $25:95) from Headpress, 40 Rossall Avenue, Radcliffe, Manchester M26 1JD (e-mail: david.headpress@zen.co.uk; http://www.headpress.com/) (reviewed by Tony Lee).
This wide-ranging look at the media phenomena of so-called 'nasty' videos (which were mostly American and European horror movies, demonised by hypocritical newspapers) is an excellent study of the whole sorry business of politically expedient UK censorship throughout the eighties and nineties. Despite plenty of indisputable facts indicating that censors made foolish mistakes, the writers of this book demonstrate a commendable restraint in their unprejudiced commentaries on some of those involved in the infuriating affair. I'm sure that not many other dedicated followers and fans of genre cinema would be so forgiving in their attitudes towards the likes of James Ferman (recently retired head of the BBFC) and, in particular, onetime Liberal MP David Alton.
Chapter titles like 'Unease', 'Clampdown', 'Siege' and 'The Big Influence' chart the rise of the British Board of Film Censors (nowadays Classification - a job description they still insolently refuse to be bound by), and the Board's detrimental effect on our freedom of viewing choice in this country. Kerekes and Slater report fully on the successful but immature propaganda and tabloid-fuelled moral panics of the last twenty years, citing examples of arbitrary film bans, randomly cut video releases, and actual prosecutions resulting from the campaign for, and eventual passing-into-law of, such despicably flawed documents as the Video Recordings Act. The all too often ludicrous arguments for the BBFC and its supposedly independent censorship of cinema and videos are sensibly reassessed here, now that some of the films that they previously refused to grant certificates to, have, quite recently, at last been released uncut.
As preparation ritual for this review and to help focus my thoughts about censorship issues, I watched William Lustig's Maniac (1980) - an above average stalk'n'slash thriller, still shamefully banned on video in the UK (according to the BBFC the film is "unhealthy and dangerous because of the way that the killing of women is linked with the sexual arousal of men") but, luckily, available to order from the USA via the Internet. And, as the authors of this book point out, the increasing use of technology to bridge the gap between international retailing and a worldwide consumer base is making the work and, more importantly, the 'powers', of the BBFC largely irrelevant - and rightly so, in my opinion. Maniac is a typical example of what's wrong with censorship by the BBFC. It isn't a badly made film. It isn't even especially disturbing as a sadistic fantasy. But, what certainly alarms me is the existence of an organisation that can ban a film like Maniac without public consultation or consumer accountability.
The core of See No Evil is devoted to the variety of films once targeted by the Director of Public Prosecutions. This almost legendary blacklist included Lucio Fulci's The Beyond, H.G. Lewis' Blood Feast, Tobe Hooper's Death Trap, Abel Ferrara's The Driller Killer, Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead, Meir Zarchi's I Spit On Your Grave, Dario Argento's Inferno, Andrzei Zulawski's Possession, Robert Houston's Shogun Assassin, Jean-Claude Lord's Visiting Hours and Harry Bromley Davenport's Xtro. As Kerekes and Slater point out, some of these are now freely available to buy on the High Street, while a couple of titles have actually been shown on TV. Every film that was on the DDP list is critically analysed here, and while very few are found to be suitable for family viewing, the authors can find no compelling reasons why any of them should be outlawed today.
In addition to their meticulous study of these controversial films, the authors' research tackled numerous troubling claims that real life murderers are copycat killers, inspired by watching films such as the 'Rambo' trilogy (out on DVD now!). And, overall, interviews with video industry insiders and other anecdotal evidence contribute to the book's most persuasive argument that shows links between actual violence (football and alcohol are among the real causes) and make-believe bloodshed on the screen are nonexistent or coincidental.
I have read most of the books about this subject - well, it's a harmless enough hobby interest, right? See No Evil is the most complete and insightful text so far.
