Classic 80s trash U.S. cinema newspaper ads!

Some classic early-mid 1980s U.S. newspaper ads  from the incredible collection of independent filmmaker extraordinare Keith Crocker who kindly gave me his blessing to post these. Pics taken when I was at Casa Crocker in Oct 2014.

Alex Bakshaev is back! Review of S & M: Les Sadiques

S & M: Les Sadiques

2016
Germany
Director: Alex Bakshaev

Marie (Nadine Pape), bored with life in her stifling suburb, leaves the shackles and restrictions of her father’s house for the bright lights of Berlin. With little money and possessions the young woman is hoping to rely on the goodwill of friends while she settles into city life. But those Marie think she can count on let her down, and after narrowly escaping being raped by an acquaintance she has no option but to sleep rough.

The beautiful Sandra (Sandra Bourdonnec) discovers Marie, dejected, alone and freezing cold, huddled in a stairwell in her apartment building like a frightened animal. Sandra takes the gracious Marie in. Marie is instantly attracted to her benefactor, and is intrigued and aroused by the various BDSM implements openly displayed around the apartment. Sandra, the master, quickly inducts Marie, the willing slave, into her heady world of whips, boots and corsets. Like modern-day vampires, the pair prowl the streets after dark in sunglasses and bondage-chic wear, seeking out handsome young male prey for them to “play” with. Marie may have broke free from her father’s grip, but now she’s under the lock and key of her mistress Sandra, with their sexual escapades gradually descending from lust and desire to murder and madness....

After being impressed by Alex Bakshaev’s excellent The Devil of Kruezberg, the recent release of the dynamic director’s  S & M: Les Sadiques  was a very welcome and pleasant surprise. S & M is both a stunning tribute to the cinema of Jess Franco and a tour-de-force opus of its own accord. Mesmerizingly shot, with both strong performances from leading ladies Nadine Pape and Sandra Bourdonnec and the supporting cast, with both heady and uber cool, sexually charged atmosphere to burn, Bakshaev’s output only gets better and better. A highlight is the dreamlike BDSM club stage shows, which would fit into any of Franco’s very best works seamlessly. This hypnotic essay into the pleasure and pain of sadomasochism is captivating from beginning to end; it doesn’t overstay its welcome and is contemporarily stylish without ever veering into irritating hipsterdom or pondering pretentiousness. A visual and aural treat not just for Jess Franco but for all lovers of top class independent cinema, Alex Bakshaev continues to prove that he is one of the most gifted young filmmakers of his generation with S & M: Les Sadiques.

Gorgeous promo image inspired by which Jess Franco film?

Robert Monell's interview with yours truly...read at your peril

I was honoured to be recently interview by long-time genre scribe Robert Monell at his forum CINEMADROME, where I discuss everything from how I got into Eurohorror/trash, the VHS years, the hypocrisy of censorship in Australia, and much much more here:

http://cinemadrome.yuku.com/topic/1777/CONFESSIONS-OF-AN-AUSTRALIAN-CULT-MOVIE-JOURNALIST#.V_CWvPVOJdg

"Australian writer Michelle Alexander is one of my favorite critic-journalists covering world genre/obscure/infamous/cult/exploitation cinema, the people who make and appear in it, along with the history of the distribution/exhibition/advertising of these films and with censorship issues they have encountered. Based in Melbourne, Australia she has a special expertise in how these types of films have been treated there in terms of import issues, local censorship and classification, exhibition and promotion. She also writes on the history of Australian cult cinema and has a special interest in Italian genre cinema of the 1950s through the 1990s."

One of the VHS covers that led me on my road to ruin.