'Ours Is Not To Look Back, Ours Is To Continue The Crack'

Two FALL related items for you (the greatest band on the planet not the season):
IMPERIAL WAX SOLVENT was released today to much critical acclaim. FMTM procured a preview copy and was floored by the intensity and inventiveness and imagination of the songs found therein. Be warned: this is a record that'll happy-slap you stupid if you so much as glance at it funny.
A little light reading while being pummeled by the above offering; MARK E. SMITH'S autobiography - RENEGADE - is out and is choc (stock) full of vitriol and verbal violence toward self-satisfied liberals and thick-headed conservatives. Bliss squared.
So in honour of the day's offerings FMTM presents an unofficial FALL TOP TEN LPs drafted especially for the curious neophyte. Don't put your fingers between the bars...
10. IMPERIAL WAX SOLVENT (2008) - new, nasty and very, very now...
9. COUNTRY ON THE CLICK (2004) - savaging new media like ludditte on whizz...
8. LIVE AT THE WITCH TRIALS (1978) - the first and fiestiest...
7. THE INFOTAINMENT SCAN (1993) - culture skewering antidote to Britpop...
6. BEND SINISTER (1986) - darker sequel to NATION...
5. THIS NATION'S SAVING GRACE (1985) - 80's masterpiece and most consistent FALL LP
4. PERVERTED BY LANGUAGE (1983) - Lovecraft and Machen worship Pan...
3. GROTESQUE (AFTER THE GRAMME) ( 1980) - Speedy and seedy. Shower before/after...
2. HEX ENDUCTION HOUR (1982) - Monumental...
1. SLATES (1981) - Sly, witty, short, the entry point to the world of the FALL

Like A Summer Tempest Came His Tears

Coachella? Well a few months that line-up looked comparatively weak compared to previous years but now the Heineken-induced sun-drenched euphoria is calling me siren-like from the shittingly dull weather currently being proffered in Vancouver...
APHEX TWIN? KRAFTWERK? Bollocks - I hope the polo field burns down and PRINCE is replaced at the last minute by CLIFF RICHARD. Not really.
To those FMTM fans attending this year have fun and spread the word...

A Fuck Sight

There have been two major pleasures in reading STEPHEN FRY's autobigraphy 'MOAB IS MY WASHPOT' (no, I haven't worked out the title's meaning yet either) both of which should be put to practical use by readers of this blog immediately. First is Fry's wonderful adoration of VIVIAN STANSHALL (pictured above), the legendary English eccentric who fronted THE BONZO DOG BAND and introduced the dizzyingly pretentious instruments on TUBULAR BELLS ('Slightly distorted glockenspiel'...). So FMTM's first command is that you should go and listen to TADPOLE. Right away. Now.
Second is Fry's use of the phrase 'a fuck sight', assumed by FMTM to be founded in the Seventies but with no empirical evidence with which to back up this claim. The phrase can be used in the following way:
'Damon Albarn is a fuck sight more talented than Liam Gallagher'
'Drinking is a fuck sight better than polishing'
'I'm a fuck sight sexier than you'
Remember as long as it isn't used in a loud or inappropriately aggressive way swearing should be inserted as much as possible in your everyday language. Now fuck off and practice.

Abstractions Of The Industrial North

FMTM has returned from Blighty armed with records from the very edges of audio imagination, one of which is already an essential purchase for the whole of humanity. Available on the very wonderful TRUNK RECORDS (see an earlier review of their BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW soundtrack re-issue) BASIL KIRCHIN's record ABSTRACTIONS OF THE INDUSTRIAL NORTH is a gorgeous 1965 addition to the 'soundtracks to imaginary films' sub-genre and should be heard as soon as possible. Bless you all...

Panic On The Streets of London...

as one half of FMTM goes for a full on London blitz. To wit: attending a party at which THE ENEMY played and AMY WINEHOUSE showed up, munted; visiting the oft-praised GHOST BOX RECORDS for some freebies and a plea for a place on their website (pending...); and a wee spot of SPAM-A-LOT tonight. Blimey, I should coco, be lucky, etc,etc.../

Too Long Too Long

Weeks between posts due to illness but FMTM blogs back with a vengeance with these vaguely interesting tidbits:
1. FMTM #13/15 has been recorded and is now in the Orlac-like hands of Mad Stitcher Griffiths for a swift polish and the audio equivalent of a happy ending. Cut wisely McG and don't spare our blushes.
2. FMTM has been interviewed for another blog and the vile spewings are now on display at DVD Panache: http://dvdpanache.blogspot.com/
3. Over at Dr.K's great comic/film blog they're half way through an APES week spectacular: http://doctor-k100.blogspot.com/
4. And then there's this rather splendid mix by new pop combo NEON NEON (really a montage of BOOM BIP and SUPER FURRY ANIMALS) available at Pitchfork. Here's the playlist:
Neon Neon: "Theme Song"
Goblin: "Tenebre"
Neil Young: "Sample and Hold"
Paul McCartney: "Temporary Secretary"
Kraftwerk: "Numbers (Wicked Mix)"
Tears for Fears: "Mother's Talk"
Neon Neon: "Raquel (Extended Mix)"
Debbie Gibson: "Only In My Dreams (Extended Club Mix)"
Janet Jackson: "Pleasure Pricipal (Eli Edit)"
Prince: "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man"
Neon Neon: "Fuckin' Off Cover (Outtake)"
I'm going back to bed.

Dark And Lonely Water

Is it any wonder FMTM has a morbid fascination with death and horror when he was exposed to this kind of public information film as a child?

New Golden Dawn of Disco (or something...)

Because truly great dance albums are so much rarer then their R'n'R counterparts it's oh so pant-wettingly thrilling when one does finally materialize. The last time FMTM was this excited about ten tracks of 4/4 handbag jigging BASEMENT JAXX unleashed Remedy on an unsuspecting world. Of course there's been worthy offerings at the alter of the hi-hat since then but so many work more as ethereal song collections (KELLEY POLAR) or by smuggling pop through a dance veneer (LCD SOUNDSYSTEM); the LCD connection serves well as this new dance trophy is on DFA and produced by label boss TIM GOLDSWORTHY. They are HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR, the album is self-titled, and it's feeling like 2008's first music miracle. It wouldn't be surprising to hear the single Blind on the next FMTM (it's coming soon we promise...).

'What's the worse word you can possibly imagine? '

What does it say about a film when just a screen grab makes FMTM well up? ATONEMENT (the forthcoming DVD reviewed here: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews35/atonement.htm)
came in for an unfair amount of flack when it was released last year, mostly, it seems, for being true to itself; it seems to have been judged by that most outmoded and lazy criticism that 'it's not as good as the book'. What it does have is stunning cinematography; restrained and subtle performances from McAvoy, Redgrave, newcomer Ronan, and even Ikea Knightley; camera movement that seems to have been designed to support the themes and rhythms of the narrative (shock!horror!); and a cohesiveness of direction that makes Joe Wright's exclusion at the Oscars all the more inexplicable. It's not perfect but it is intelligent: tears at the denounement feel earned and deserved. Weep away, children, and don't let me catch you using that word...

'Maybe Industrial Ghosts Are Making Spectres Redundant'

In trying to find a picture in support of yesterday's HAUNTOLOGY article FMTM failed to post an image that truly embodied the strange harmony of the physical and the ephemeral that the philosophy so beautifully witnesses in the world around us. When in doubt go to the source: the picture sleeve for CITY HOBGOBLINS by the mighty FALL. Collage, intentional naiveity, the horror beneath the surface of the abandoned (look at the broken window). Glorious.
The title quote is from the sleeve notes to DRAGNET, possibly Mark E. Smith's most explicit contribution to HAUNTOLOGY.

The Sacred Rite of the Undreamt

Sometimes FMTM is exposed to a wave of incoming ideas, connections and cultural cross-wires that are so joyful they must be shared before truly digested and understood. What the fuck am I on about? The incredible website K-PUNK has introduced FMTM to DERRIDA's concept of HAUNTOLOGY, a philosophical idea that 'the present exists only with respect to the past, and that society after the end of history will begin to orient itself towards ideas and aesthetics that are thought of as rustic, bizarre or "old-timey"; that is, towards the "ghost" of the past.' Swirling around in this are the stories of H.P. LOVECRAFT, the music of THE FALL (try 'City Hobgoblins'), RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP, Mark E. Smith reading H.P. Lovecraft at Christmas for the BBC, QUATERMASS AND THE PIT, the Ballardian musings of JOHN FOXX, BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW, ACKROYD, MOORCOCK and finally the new record label GHOST BOX, with collages of music from groups such as THE FOCUS GROUP and THE ADVISORY CIRCLE. Here's an excerpt from a review for THE FOCUS GROUP's new long-player WE ARE ALL PAN'S PEOPLE ( amazing play of concepts echoing the recent past - the dancing troupe from TOP OF THE POPS - and the arcane mysticism of ARTHUR MACHEN - we are the people of the god Pan):
"Ghost Box are Weird England in exile. Each release gives us another glimpse into their alternative Albion (one track here is titled, aptly, ‘Albion Festival Report’). Pan’s People is
punctuated by logotones, station idents for alternative Albion’s regional TV franchises, the old Dr Who, Nigel Kneale, Open University - remains central to the Ghost Box synaesthetic."
Oneiric fragments. Empty TV studios used for sacrifice. The carcass of a half-remembered cultural dialogue. How very, very exciting.
I'm going for a lie down.

The Man With The Golden Lightsaber

FMTM hero Saul Bass designs the titles to STAR WARS in a parallel universe where everything is right...

FMTM - The Cover Versions Special

As announced on the FMTM facebook page there'll be a brand new FMTM special edition coming soon(ish...) and we're beginning the preperation by letting you know the subject: THE ART OF THE COVER VERSION. Cover versions have always held a special place in FMTM's musical hearts and we think this is probably true of all music lovers; and a whole show featuring the strangest, funkiest, wackiest versions of popular tunes seemed the way to celebrate this. So over the next few weeks send in as many of your favourite cover version suggestions as you deisre and FMTM will compile and select the very best for inclusion in the forthcoming special.
Here's a few we quite like:
CEREMONY - RADIOHEAD (originally by NEW ORDER)
NO SURPRISES - CHRISTOPHER RILEY (originally by RADIOHEAD)
HOUNDS OF LOVE - THE FUTUREHEADS (originally by KATE BUSH)
OH MY GOD - LILY ALLEN/MARK RONSON (originally by KAISER CHIEFS)
DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER - DEVENDRA BANHART (originally by OASIS)
I DIE:YOU DIE - THE MAGNETIC FIELDS (originally by GARY NUMAN)
and on and on and on...get cracking!

Hello March

Now the achingly dull February is done (with the accompanying awards ceremonies and lack of new media) let's celebrate the new month with one of FMTM's occasional 'coming soon' threesome:HOLD ON NOW YOUNGSTER - LOS CAMPESINOS!
You may have heard FMTM mangle their name on the last podcast and the album doesn't officially 'drop' till April Fool's Day but let's get excited anyway - sarcastic pop ditties, seven members sharing the same surname and the lead singer's called Gareth!


THE LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE (2-Disc Special Edition)
Also known as LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE Blue Underground's new print of this bonkers Spanish zombie classic is an absolute must-rent after an evening in the pub - if only for the hero's Oasis haircut, ARTHUR KENNEDY's hippie-hating copper and a truly unsettling air of 70's doom.


WE ARE ROCKSTARS - DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH?
Hyped as only the British music press can hype, DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH? are a foursome from Reading currently on the NME tour and sound like JUSTICE shagging SHAUN RYDER's rotting corpse while snorting K off MUSE's arse. See? FMTM can write like a Brit rock journo after all. Killer single tho...

Bonus beat:
FILMSPOTTING PODCAST
Even FMTM acknowledges there may be other audio broadcasts worthy of attention and this film reviewing podcast is definitely one of them. Highlights include Massacre Theater, Top Fives and Film Marathons. They've just reached their 200th edition so give them a listen...

More Intraweb Nonsense

In an effort to expand our virtual empire FMTM launched a facebook group today so that the CIA could also enjoy all our on-line tomfoolery. So gentlemen this is for you...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZBCcY0nJao

And everyone else please spread the word so we can increase our audience. Thank you.

Arnaldo (Goldteeth) Bolt

FMTM went a-gigging for the second time this week, this time to soak in the rays of the cool ruler and lonely lover, Mr. GREGORY ISAACS; unfortunately it was JETHRO TULL all over again, a hero of advancing years with a huge heritage and back catalogue but no voice. Ian Anderson could at least retreat behind his astonishing flute skills; in Gregory's case it was his super tight backing band with the appalling name of LIVE WYYA. The undisputed star of the ensemble was Arnaldo (Goldteeth) Bolt who turned out to be probably one of the top ten drummers ever seen by your humble blogger. So between his super skills and Gregory digging out the phenomenal comeback hit 'Rumours' it was not an entirely wasted night...

Thank You Joe Gibbs

FMTM says goodbye to legendary producer JOE GIBBS who died in Kingston on Feb 21st aged 65. Everyone play 'Uptown Top Ranking' by ALTHEA AND DONNA and say thank you...

'I've Been To A Post-Punk Postcard Fair'

FMTM went a-gigging last night with both of your gracious hosts up for an evening of fun. We'd learned the lessons of the BATTLES gig - post math-rock and being munted isn't the best combo - and so indulged prudently and somewhat infrequently. Richards (the bijou venue and one of the best places for gigs) was surprisingly busy for a Monday night in February, swarming with bearded indie-kids. The main support for the evening came from Brooklyn's A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS and through a tidal wave of effect pedals and distortion reverberated the spirits of goth rock and JESUS AND MARY CHAIN; very enjoyable in a euphoria-through-pain kind of way, but a sound one suspects may lose impact on record - FMTM will endeavour to track down their eponymous debut.
HOLY FUCK displayed all the tightness and brevity that most of their post-rock peers lack; dense mini universes of sound layered over chugging, insistent rhythms with no aural experiment out staying its welcome - in fact FMTM haven't experienced quite the leave-them-wanting-more aesthetic in a young band in a while. Shows admirable restraint. Highlights pretty much matched the record - Super Inuit and Lovely Allen. Gold stars all round.

The Film Director As God

To what extent can the actions of a character, who organizes events in a film's narrative, be said to represent the director? FMTM has come over all academic due to the wonderful BFI Film Classic book on VERTIGO in which Charles Barr argues that Elster, Scottie's old friend from college, in his almost omnipotent orchestration of events, is Alfred Hitchcock; this isn't simple symbolism but rather is part of the existential debate that all fictional characters are puppets in the hands of their creators. There's something both philosophically attractive and repellent about this: a universe in which there is a guiding hand in manipulating the narrative of our lives may be of some comfort in an apparently chaotic non-fictional world; but the fact that all the characters created must, by the demands of narrative conflict, suffer, and usually suffer immensely, is of no solace at all.
CACHE takes this idea to its logical and horrifying extreme: the terrors visited upon Georges Laurent, fueled perhaps by a collective colonial guilt, are not personified at all. The camera's POV on the tapes he receives occupy spaces that Laurent knows no camera has been - that it is physically impossible for the footage to have been gathered unless it is in the process of making a film itself. The evidence is clear though Laurent is never seen reaching this conclusion: I am a fictional character in a film, reacting to events orchestrated by an unknown hand.
The Director As God - just don't tell James Cameron (though FMTM suspects he knows...)

Officially Disturbed

Far too long between posts and FMTM has no excuses save the renewed attempt to view classic film as-yet-unseen by your trusted narrator. Actually a certain ALFRED HITCHCOCK is the current subject of obsession fueled by the reading of Patrick McGilligan's A LIFE OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT. FMTM has been trying to keep up with the films chronologically as the book progressed including revisiting some very early efforts such as BLACKMAIL. Finally last night two late films were screened - VERTIGO and FRENZY. New ideas emerged from the tenth viewing of VERTIGO that FMTM hopes to elaborate on at a later date but from the first time with FRENZY this initial thought emerged: IT'S VERY VERY DISTURBING! FMTM was ill prepared for an extended sequence featuring the brutalization of a successful business woman through fear, intimidation, rape and strangulation, all experienced, one could argue, through the privileged POV of the killer. It has a pungent, sleazy quality that is really unpleasant to sit through (this from an avid fan of RAW MEAT and STRAW DOGS). Surely this criticism has been made before, and FMTM is not going to delve into a more thorough analysis of FRENZY, but it feels like finding pornography under your favourite uncle's mattress. FMTM wants it to be like it used to, Uncle Hitch, but alas it can never be.

Whatever Knows Fear Burns At The Man-Thing's Touch

STEVE GERBER - 1947-2008.

Death strikes again! I'm sure FMTM would be forgiven for the slightly tacky hyperbole but today we're mourning a comic-book writer; Steve Gerber created and/or wrote many books I followed as a wee bairn - OMEGA THE UNKNOWN (iconoclastic superhero), HOWARD THE DUCK (sharp satire and surreal comedy), MORBIUS THE LIVING VAMPIRE (tragic anti-hero) and a marvelous run on Marvel's THE MAN-THING. Steve's images and ideas filled little FMTM's head with horrors and wonders during those dark London evenings of the 1970s. Thank you Mr. Gerber.

So Long Chief

ROY SCHEIDER 1932-2008

The Devil's Music

More fantastic releases flowing into the FMTM offices. These two both have diabolical overtones:


First, the second record by Vancouver's BLACK MOUNTAIN called 'In The Future', full of SABBATH-esque riffs, prog-like epics and, buried beneath apocalyptic metaphors, astute political critiques.

The second really is the devil's music. Finally available is BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW, the ultra-rare soundtrack to the British horror film of the same name. From the liner notes: "If the compelling atmosphere of classic early '70s British horror could be bottled, then here is the elixir. Listen to this on headphones while walking through town to remind yourself of the wonders of 'wishcraft' and the unseen. Watch the townsfolk appear in their puppet show. Play it on your car stereo and the countryside will show you new mysteries. Hark the sobbing of the Wicker Man's troubled sister! Marc Wilkinson's orchestrated soundtrack is joyous and bizarre, playful and menacing, a constant cycle of anxiously watching a door slowly open followed by the relief of only sunlight pouring through. Trust me, it works.". Should fit nicely next to your WICKER MAN soundtrack.

Grubby

If your cinematic viewings of late have left you feeling cleansed, uplifted, spiritually satiated or even plain old optimistic, may FMTM recommend this upcoming DVD collection? After sitting through these four Pete Walker classics you will left feeling jaded, pessimistic, a little violated perhaps, and most certainly grubby, and at just $20 it may the cheapest of illicit thrills.
(And if the glories of a cannibalistic family in FRIGHTMARE or a perverse corrections facility in HOUSE OF WHIPCORD leave you gasping for more then run to the HOUSE OF MORTAL SIN!)

Shiny New Music

FMTM hopes you're enjoying the new podcast episode now available. There were a few tunes we wanted to play that were so new they weren't available for the recording session and hopefully we'll get to them on the next show; but in the meantime here's a few new records (with flippant sound-alike comparisons) to go and check out at your local music emporium or download centre:

THIS GIFT - SONS AND DAUGHTERS (Elastica challenge The Bad Seeds to a conker fight...)


FALLING OFF THE LAVENDER BRIDGE - LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION (Belle and Sebastian buy Nick Drake a snakebite...)



HUMAN BELL - HUMAN BELL (Mogwai tell Godspeed You! Black Emperor that life is really shite...)

FMTM 12 IS NOW ON-LINE!

And that's all I have to say.
Go here: http://www.cyclemedia.net/fmtm/FMTM_all/Welcome%20to%20FMTM.html

RAIDERS - the perfect film?

When FMTM's fifteen-year-old offspring asked to be taken to a rare theatrical screening of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - part of the SPARK VFX FESTIVAL 08 at the VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM CENTRE - two things became evident to your faithful blogger: one, always always say yes to anything that lets you spend time with your increasingly independent daughter - especially if it involves cinema; and two, perhaps it would provide an opportunity to re-assess the film in question, with an audience and in the hallowed ground of the repertory film theatre.
FMTM did not come away with much original profundity and felt it was perhaps unnecessary to add to the many (far greater) words written about this film but a few thoughts emerged. To wit:
1. The opening sequence - the film-within-a-film - of RAIDERS is perhaps the most perfectly executed piece of pure popular cinema ever made. There is not a shot wasted, ill-judged or superfluous. ( One of a thousand examples: when the pilot is fishing as Indy tells him to start the engine, Spielberg shoots him in a static wide - not craning along the water or tracking across the sea plane to reveal him - just a simple establishing shot; Spielberg knows when to move the camera and when to leave it static - in a post-Bay world this is a rare ability).
2. The film has faults but not many. Sequence after sequence is executed with a zesty confidence and a wry manipulation of cliches. It is a film that almost forces you to relax and enjoy the ride.
3. And it is a film that knows what a McGuffin is and still has the heart to make it the best McGuffin ever; the Ark is essentially the propellant to get Indians Jones across the globe in a series of chases, fights and stunts in much the same way Hitchcock uses the hidden plans of spies to ensue Roger Thornhill has a similarly thrilling adventure. Spielberg however imbues his McGuffin with the promise of devastating power, like the briefcase in KISS ME DEADLY (and to a less extent PULP FICTION). And at the end of it all, when the Ark has served its narrative purpose he indulges us, and leaves us completely satisfied, by revealing just how awesome a power is contained within - melting faces, angels of death and electrified Nazis.
4. It's full of British stunt men, their every fall and leap reminding FMTM of madmen of Walthamstow rather than Nazis in Cairo. RAIDERS is a peculiarly British picture.
Roll on CRYSTAL SKULL...

Blog Fame

Arriving home after a cold day of filming in a disused hospital (think THE LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE - which, incidentally, is being re-issued in a spanking new 2-disc set with a HD transfer) FMTM was extremely gratified to find a recommendation on Glenn Erickson's famed DVD SAVANT blog. Here it is:

Anyone with a passing interest in film should be reading Glenn's roughly twice weekly postings at DVD TALK; essentially reviewing new DVD releases with an emphasis on older films, the reviews are a feast of film production history, cultural context and film criticism. So thanks to DVD TALK from FMTM.

FMTM 12/14

We've got to stop numbering these episodes, it's getting very confusing. The latest podcast is in the can and is now being tweaked, sweetened and polished for your aural consumption. It has a very good selection of tunes this time, possibly the best we've ever assembled. So refresh that iTunes button and soon FMTM number 12 (or is it 14 ?) will be here...

B is better than A

FMTM is barely half-way through the third and final TCM horror film of the day - THE EYE OF THE DEVIL - and I have come to this conclusion: medium-budgeted films with simple but intelligent scripts, acted by character actors rather then stars, are so much more preferable than the prestigious A-picture, especially in the horror genre. Case in point: see my earlier entry on the strengths and pleasures of DIE! DIE! MY DARLING! and contrast it with the pretentious mess that is THE EYE OF THE DEVIL. The film is a kind of dry run for THE WICKER MAN, but is full of ponderous, repetitive scenes; serious acting from NIVEN, CARR and a strangely dislocated DONALD PLEASANCE; and a sombre downbeat score accompanying stately camera moves. There are some pleasures: SHARON TATE's debut (is it enigmatic or shallow?), some beautiful compositions and landscapes, black-and white photography by ERWIN (I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING) HILLIER and a staggering scene of TATE being whipped by DAVID NIVEN - not something you see everyday. Still give me an ill-timed crash zoom, a lurid colour palette and a cast list full of British B-actors any day.

Joyce and Vaughn

FMTM is halfway through my three film TCM horror mini marathon. SPIDER BABY, though an obvious influence on THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, is overrated with its tongue too firmly placed in its cheek. DIE! DIE! MY DARLING!, however, is a hidden gem, the possible highpoint of Hammer's famous-actress-as-mad-old-lady-in-twilight years line of late sixties films, this time with TALLULAH BANKHEAD. Apart from the pleasant surprise that it really isn't the camp B-movie that British horror critics make it out to be, the film is genuinely unsettling, and emotionally involving, partly because of the committed performances of Yootha Joyce and Peter Vaughn. Obsessives of seventies British sitcoms will know Joyce from her work on the appalling GEORGE AND MILDRED; she died young of liver failure from alcoholism. She graces the sleeve of THE SMITHS single ASK pictured above. Vaughn is more famous and still working; stand-out roles for FMTM are STRAW DOGS and BRAZIL. He is as nasty and intimidating in DIE as anything else he's done. RICHARD (I AM LEGEND) MATHESON should also take a bow for the screenplay. And DONALD SUTHERLAND as a sweetly demented gardener - come on what else do you need? One more film to go...

Demented Children Psychotic Parents

There's so much for FMTM to do: preparing the new show (yes folks number 14 is coming soon...ish..), writing a television pilot, seeking the inner meaning of existence, as well as dog-walking, family-feeding and spouse-comforting. So how does FMTM intend to spend FIVE precious hours this wintry 30th day of January? Watching three obscure horror movies back-to-back on TCM! Fantastic! The movies:
SPIDER BABY (Jack Hill 1968) - A caretaker devotes himself to three demented adults after their father's death.
FANATIC (aka DIE! DIE! MY DARLING) ( Silvio Narizzano 1965) - A young woman is terrorized by her fiance's demented mother who blames her for her son's death.
EYE OF THE DEVIL (J. Lee Thompson 1966) - Vineyard owner marquis Philippe de Montfaucon is called back to his castle Bellenac because of another dry season. He asks his wife and children to remain in London, but they still come after him. His wife Catherine de Montfaucon soon discovers that her husband is acting mysteriously and that his employees are following old pagan rituals that call for the life of the marquis himself to save the crops. Wicker Man anyone?
Theme? Your Mum and Dad they fuck you up...

Dennis Price

There is something immensely sad about the artist who cannot see his own worth and turns in despair to some form of addiction. Heath Ledger may fit the first category but I know too little of him to say whether he sought solace in the second. I'm thinking of DENNIS PRICE. Probably unknown to the contemporary public other than the cinephile or to someone of an age corresponding to his ascent as an actor, Price was, briefly, close to being a major British star. After an early stage career alongside Noel Coward he began an initially first-class film run with Powell's A CANTERBURY TALE (1944) before starring in his most famous role as Louis Mazzini in Robert Hamer's KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS in 1949.
Price had many demons to contend with; a failed marriage, his homosexuality, alcoholism and gambling. In 1954 he attempted suicide. His final stretch of films are often seen as the sad end of his career but it is in these various later comedies, horror and science-fiction films that he is best remembered by FMTM. Denis Price died in 1973 aged 58.
For your DENNIS PRICE viewing plea