Oliver Carter

Peter Graves dies at age 83.

I am surprised that I had not heard of this earlier.  A documentary film about the late, great comedian Bill Hicks has been made and will be released this summer.  Without a doubt the greatest comedian to ever live, this film documents the life of Bill Hicks using animation and interviews with those closest to him.  I really cannot wait to see this.  More information can be found over at the official site.

I recently completed a chapter of my PhD fan film production in the Euro-Cult cinema fan community, focusing on the Fantom Kiler film series.  An abridged version of this chapter will hopefully be published in a forthcoming edited collection on serial killer fandom.  Here is the abstract for the book chapter:

The giallo film was based on pulp crime novels that were popular in Italy from wartime onwards, the popularity eventually leading to film adaptations of several giallo stories.  A typical giallo film narrative will feature a crazed black- gloved serial killer murdering beautiful women in varying in exaggerated fashions.  In the early 1990s British and American horror film fans learnt about the giallo in fan publications such as Giallo Pages and European Trash Cinema which created interest and paved the way to forming a Euro-Cult fan culture centred around the giallo film.  Euro-Cult cinema itself is a fan determined category Not only do fans discuss the films in online communities but also actively produce texts for distribution amongst the fan network. 

I will examine the Fantom Kiler series of films, fan produced re-imaginings of the giallo film and demonstrate them as examples of ‘slash’ production; a form of fan production that particularly focuses on serial murder and highly sexualised violent content.  ‘Slash’ production is not just exclusive to fan film making but also other forms of fan production such as fanzines, clothing and DVD production. It also considers fan reactions to the Fantom Kiler film series.  Building upon textual analysis, this piece will raise theoretical and methodological questions, reflecting on the author’s developing research and personal understanding of the fan culture as a fan scholar.  The Fantom Kiler series further illustrates the contemporary fascination with the serial killer and allows for a new consideration of how fan cultures are researched and considered.

On Wednesday I presented the paper I gave at the Transforming Audiences 2 Conference on fan DVD production to my research group peers at Birmingham City University.  My colleague Andrew Dubber was kind enough (no hint of sarcasm there at all) to take a picture of me at the end of the presentation when I was fielding questions.  Though I felt that I gave a better presentation at the Transforming Audiences conference, the response from my colleagues was much more positive, having a number of useful comments.  I was quite surprised at how different it is presenting to your peers compared to presenting to strangers at a conference.  I think I prefer the latter. 

In April the Italian publisher Glittering Images will be releasing another volume in their lavishly produced Bizzare Sinema book series.  The good news is that this volume will be purely devoted to the giallo.  The book can be ordered direct from the Glittering Images website for €29.00 plus shipping.  The front cover image, taken from Blood and Black Lace (Mario Bava, 1964), looks superb.  As with their previous releases, text will be presented in Italian, English and French.

Peur Sur La Ville is one of my all time favourite films.  Think Dirty Harry (Don Siegel, 1970) meets giallo and you get some idea of what this film is about.  I am not one for hyperbole but the stunts that Jean Paul Belmondo performs in this film are jaw droppingly awesome.  He hangs off of the edge of high-rise buildings, walks along the top of a speeding train and dangles from a helicopter.  How this film has never received more exposure is completely beyond me.  I have been looking a poster for this film for some time but have been put of by the disappointing artwork on some of them.  I recently lost an auction for the original French poster but was very happy to find a US one-sheet poster in excellent condition on eBay this afternoon for a decent price. 

Optimum have recently announced that they will be giving Lucio Fulci's masterful giallo A Lizard in a Woman's Skin a UK DVD premiere on June 7.  The blurb states that this release has been directly mastered from the original negatives and therefore 'should' be the definitive DVD release of the film.  Fingers crossed that this one gets through the BBFC unscathed, I expect that the infamous vivisected dogs sequence won't cause any trouble.  The cover art looks great.

When I first saw Dream On in 1991 I was amazed by how original the show was.  Even now, the use of old Universal movie clips to represent the thoughts of main character Martin Tupper (Brian Benben) still holds up well.  HMV are currently selling the first season on DVD at the ridiculous price of £2.99.  You would be foolish not to add it to your collection.