I finally got around to coloring that Glenn Danzig portrait I sketched a few months ago. Had a lot of fun with this and you're in luck because I'm raffling off the original 11" x 17" painting for my one year anniversary of Last Wednesday On The Left tomorrow night! You get a free raffle ticket just for walking in the door and there's no cover so even if you're broke you've got a chance at owning an original piece of art. Why, it's almost like Halloween.
"Seven suicides- and they roared back as The Living Dead!"
Portland Grindhouse returns to Hollywood Theater this Tuesday with a rare 35mm print of the 1973 undead biker classic PSYCHOMANIA! This is a beautifully filmed Hammer-style occult romp that boasts amphibious psychedelia, genuinely risky high-speed chases, an occasionally fantastic soundtrack and a gateway to the grave...and back! The silver-spooned leader of a decidedly wimpy British biker gang called The Living Dead figures out how to cheat death- with the help of his mom, naturally- and his crew of puffs soon break on through to th' other side only to return as mild mannered reanimated blokes (and a bird) with dapper uniforms, go-go boots and the most unforgettable headgear since Astro Zombies (1968). The fact that these outlaw bikers wear helmets at all is telling but they up the unconvincing ante with flowers, stilted slang, decent hygiene and general peacenik funeral etiquette. Terry the Tramp would be displeased. Nonetheless, this amazing film caused its share of moral panic upon its initial release as The Death Wheelers and endures as a testimony to what only rarely happens when square producers attempt to cash in on popular youth trends. It is a nearly perfect exploitation fusion that milks the biker film cash cow (waning financially by 1973), hippy counterculture (also moribund by '73) and the always lucrative horror genre. Much like Werewolves On Wheels (1971), another unlikely exploitation hybrid, Psychomania never quite delivers on its bloody promises but manages to become something altogether unexpected and no less brilliantly entertaining in the process. It also features the final on-screen performance by George Sanders, the prolific British dandy perhaps best remembered from Village of the Damned and the impeccably sinister voice of Shere Kahn in Disney's 1967 Jungle Book. Increasingly bitter and in poor health, Sanders committed suicide just a few months after the release of Psychomania and, according to wikipedia, exited this mortal coil with characteristic pomp and anemic wit:
"Dear World,
I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck."
August marks the one year anniversary of my monthly DJ gig LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT! For the past year I've been dutifully dragging records down to Portland's East End on the last Wednesday of every month and presiding over rituals of heavy vinyl worship. The event has slowly grown from an empty room to an alcoholic communion of potlatch proportions (in an empty room) and I'm celebrating this month with an appropriately self-destructive purging. Everyone who walks in the door on August 31 will receive one free ticket for the midnight raffle. Additional tickets can be purchased at the DJ booth for $2 and winners will be announced at midnight. Prizes include vintage vinyl, shirts, comics, art prints and an original Dennis Dread drawing! If you don't reside in Portland but wish to take a stab at owning an original work of art, you can purchase 2 tickets for $5 via PAYPAL to dennisdread@hotmail.com (4 tickets for $10, 6 tickets for $15, etc, etc...get it?). Your name will be written on your tickets and added to the midnight raffle cauldron. Out-of-town winners will be contacted on September 1 to coordinate shipping. If you have never come out to LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT, this is the perfect opportunity! I know, I know. Your boyfriend's band is playing the same night across town and it's a week night and you have to work the next morning. Guess what? We all have to work the next morning! Don't be a weak knight. See you there...
Some of you have contacted me about hunting down a copy of DESTROYING ANGELS #10. Of course it is long gone through me but Crucial Blast still has a few copies available on e-bay at a reasonable cost. This hand-assembled monster was originally self-published in August 2010 and comes with 3-D front & back covers, 3-D glasses and a polypropylene bag for easy storage. In-depth interviews with acclaimed American artist Joseph A. Smith (creator of the legendary Bathory goat), Ray Zone (the undisputed King of 3-D artwork), French cartoonist Julien "Nagawika" Le Guennec (of Morbid Tales zine and Hellbent For Cooking infamy) and amazing Polish-born artist Jowita Kaminska (of Italy's Metal On Metal recordings)! Also features a massive biography on obscure underground comix artist Jim Osborne, showcasing a wild assortment of his macabre out-of-print masterpieces from the late 60's and 70's. Plus a tribute to legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta, reader art and more! 50 pages (8.5" x 11") and full color covers!
TONIGHT! Portland, Oregon's Hollywood Theater is screening a rare 35mm print of Dario Argento's classic DEEP RED! One night only! Come for the mechanical puppet, stay for the brilliant Goblin soundtrack. Show starts at 7:30. "You will NEVER forget it!!!"
