- Highlight
- #1
This is history thread for oldschool horror/exploitation movies. Back in the day, roughly 20-30 years ago. Movies weren't easy to find. For you Zoomers out there, keep in mind that VHS tapes could cost upwards of $50-100 brand new. There was eventually Ebay but there was still a lot of shit that was hard to find even though there was a demand for it. There was a point in time when the original Nightmare on Elm Street movies, up until part 5, released by MEDIA video were out of print. There were re-released on VHS and DVD years later. But there was a point in time where if you wanted to own a copy of Evil Dead 1 (and that was a very rare tape until the endless re-releases) then fuck you, you have to get lucky or know someone or read a catalog and order a bootleg tape. Ordering said bootleg you had to hope and pray that the quality was watchable.
A big reason why that generation (late 80's into the 90's) was able to get those tapes was due to people like Chas Balun. Sure, there was Fangoria and the short-lived Gorezone but they rarely focused on more obscure shit. Namely anything made outside of America and especially independent films. Very few people knew of Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento, Andy Milligan, Herschel Gordon Lewis, Japanese horror, Hong Kong CAT III movies (like The Untold Story). That's not even approaching finding the uncut versions of the movies and talking about the censorship from the MPAA. See attached PDF for more on that.
You had to know which release was uncut. Often settling for a bootleg of a Japanese or Dutch tape with burnt in subtitles and sometimes genital blurring. You want to see the uncut version of The Burning with every second of fuck you gory Tom Savin effects? You have to get the Japanese tape.
Chas Balun was one of the first people to talk about this shit via his fanzine Deep Red and later releasing books of mini reviews chronicling all of these movies.
He also sold tapes as well. Partly as a means to fund his self-publishing and also to get the word out on these movies. From Chas and others, the bootleg tape trading scene became a thing, more and more people were talking about shit like Suspiria, Xtro, Man Behind the Sun, and Brian Yuzna's Society. Chas's review style was blunt and to the point. Never holding anything back if it sucked and once describing a film as "Sucks dead dog farts."
RIP Chas.
Another site that's pretty important insofar as spreading the word is Blackest Heart Media:
The owner started a line of Fulci comics, sold t-shirts through the company Rotten Cotton. https://rottencotton.com/ And sold tapes. The descriptions for which are amazing. Sadly, Shawn 'Smith' Lewis got into a car accident last year and sold Rotten Cotton. Ending something of a legacy. But now, some choice reviews from Shawn:
A big reason why that generation (late 80's into the 90's) was able to get those tapes was due to people like Chas Balun. Sure, there was Fangoria and the short-lived Gorezone but they rarely focused on more obscure shit. Namely anything made outside of America and especially independent films. Very few people knew of Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento, Andy Milligan, Herschel Gordon Lewis, Japanese horror, Hong Kong CAT III movies (like The Untold Story). That's not even approaching finding the uncut versions of the movies and talking about the censorship from the MPAA. See attached PDF for more on that.
You had to know which release was uncut. Often settling for a bootleg of a Japanese or Dutch tape with burnt in subtitles and sometimes genital blurring. You want to see the uncut version of The Burning with every second of fuck you gory Tom Savin effects? You have to get the Japanese tape.
Chas Balun was one of the first people to talk about this shit via his fanzine Deep Red and later releasing books of mini reviews chronicling all of these movies.
He also sold tapes as well. Partly as a means to fund his self-publishing and also to get the word out on these movies. From Chas and others, the bootleg tape trading scene became a thing, more and more people were talking about shit like Suspiria, Xtro, Man Behind the Sun, and Brian Yuzna's Society. Chas's review style was blunt and to the point. Never holding anything back if it sucked and once describing a film as "Sucks dead dog farts."
RIP Chas.
Another site that's pretty important insofar as spreading the word is Blackest Heart Media:
The owner started a line of Fulci comics, sold t-shirts through the company Rotten Cotton. https://rottencotton.com/ And sold tapes. The descriptions for which are amazing. Sadly, Shawn 'Smith' Lewis got into a car accident last year and sold Rotten Cotton. Ending something of a legacy. But now, some choice reviews from Shawn:
Last edited:
