DVD Review: Back Issues: The Hustler Magazine Story (2014)

A gloriously well-informed look at the rise (and continual success, in a fashion) of the American 'top-shelf' magazine, Back Issues: The Hustler Magazine Story is naturally not one for prudes, but is a fascinating and eye-opening insight into a business often dismissed as just seedy and immoral.
Director  Michael Lee Nirenberg, whose father Bill was the art and creative director for the magazine, has managed to interview dozens of people involved in the production of the magazine as well as his father; models, photographers, editors and of course original publisher Larry Flynt. Spawned from what was essentially a small newsletter advertising Flynt's strip bars it was expanded as the antithesis to the 'lifestyle' style and airbrushed, glossy spreads of Playboy and Penthouse, Hustler took the rawness of Al Goldstein's newspaper format Screw, but in colour. Goldstein himself is interviewed, clearly very ill (he would later die on December 19th, 2013) and unrecognisable from the famous boisterous cigar-smoking image we are used to, and it's quite sad to see but at least he still possessed his famous sass.

Perhaps most surprising for UK viewers who may not have come across (!) the magazine other than by name is the strong political stance it had, often handled with biting satire. No mainstream companies would advertise with them, so they ran their own parody ads, often highlighting the hypocrisy of the multinationals. These included anti-tobacco and pro-police ads, which showed the power of Flynt's convictions. Purposely tasteless, the publication's story is full of ups and downs; from a being born again Christian to atheist, via presidential campaigns.

As is usually the case, the truth is often stranger than fiction. Having seen the 1996 drama, The People vs. Larry Flynt you may think you know about the man, but hearing what his colleagues have to say, and the tapes of some of his rants, Flynt really does come across as an unsettled person. But he is also an amazing advocate for free speech and despite his mostly acerbic nature, it's profoundly touching hearing him talk about not being able to save his late wife, Althea from drug addiction which eventually led to here contracting AIDS. This is more than just the Flynt story, despite the magazine being his baby. Past contributors and editors are just as important, and people such as Ron Jeremy, Kitten Natividad, Nina Hartley as well as Chris Gore, founder of Film Threat magazine, who later edited the humour section of Hustler and photographer Suze Randall.

Joseph Franklin, the man who famously shot and paralysed Flynt, is also interviewed in prison. Blaming an inter-racial photo-spread for his motivation for the attempted murder, he certainly seems unhinged. Chillingly, he says, "Flynt is the only person to be shot by a .44 Magnum and live". Close-up photos of his wounds are graphic and disturbing, but show the reality of the incident. It wasn't the Flynt shooting which he was convicted of, as Franklin was sentenced as a serial killer in 1980 for at least seven murders. He was executed by lethal injection on November 17th, 2013.

Matched to the visuals is a cracking soundtrack of underground punk music, which suits the outsider and subversive nature of the material. As you would expect, there is plenty of raunchy imagery, but the more explicit parts (ironically, the 'pink' which made the mag famous) are obscured, but it's never meant to be titillating (so to speak) nor exploitative. Instead, it's an engrossing and entertaining history lesson on a subject so often swept under the carpet, but one which is important, nonetheless. Highly recommended. 
Trailer:
 
Back Issues: The Hustler Magazine- Official Trailer November 2013 from Michael Lee Nirenberg on Vimeo.
9 out of 10

Review: The Lords of Salem (2012)

 

Following Rob Zombie's somewhat disappointing take on Halloween, comes a all out assault on the senses, in the form of witchcraft horror flick The Lords of Salem.

                     
                        
 A major plus point for the film is the use of often overlooked but brilliant genre actresses, especially Judy Geeson (Goodbye Gemini, Inseminoid) and Patricia Quinn (The Rocky Horror Picture Show). It's, of course, always a pleasure to watch Dee Wallace too. Not to mention there's an almost unrecognisable, nude turn from Meg Foster.

 

Recovering addict Heidi Hawthorne (Sheri Moon Zombie) hosts a late night talk show on a local Salem radio station, aided by two Hermans, played by Jeff Daniel Phillips and genre veteran Ken Foree. When she plays a record left for her by an unknown band called The Lords (dubbed The Lords of Salem by Foree's Herman) during an interview with local author and authority on the witch trials, Francis Matthias (the brilliant Bruce Davison), it has a strange effect on the women of the town - and Heidi herself. Her landlady, Lacy (Geeson, who is fantastic and downright terrifying in one particular scene) and her two sisters, Megan (Quinn) and Sonny (Wallace) take a little too much of a shine to Heidi, and she starts to hallucinate as her life begins to spiral out of control, and she resorts back to drugs to deal with the haunting visions she is being confronted with. Meanwhile, Matthias researches both Heidi's past and the music of The Lords with startling results. The band themselves, are due to play an invitation only show in the town as the anniversary of the infamous witch trials approaches.

The Lords of Salem provides the kind of experience you would expect from David Lynch had he made horror films, and is both beguiling and bewildering, intriguing and repulsive. With numerous surreal, nightmarish sequences and an oppressive sound design which underlines the visuals. It's such a shame that this has not had a proper cinema release (a few one off screenings is just not enough) as the bass in some scenes is almost bowel shattering! The choice of music is stunning, too with The Velvet Underground, Rush and Rick James alongside the original score by Marilyn Manson/Zombie guitarist John 5 and producer/composer Griffin Boice. It would have been nice to hear the full "Lords Theme" on the soundtrack CD though!

Zombie has created, once again, a film that will polarise opinions, but it certainly one which requires more than one viewing to do it justice and to absorb the barrage on the senses. While his detractors accuse him of just re-hashing other tropes and films, the homages that pepper his work show a great deal of love and even more knowledge of the genre. The horror world needs someone like Zombie, and while he hasn't quite found the perfect recipe, with The Lords of Salem he has certainly gone in a different direction to his earlier crowd pleasing flicks, House of 1000 Corpses (2003) and The Devil's Rejects (2005). This film will confound the casual Saturday night horror crowd, those who are only out for some visceral scares (although they will no doubt get off on Sheri Moon's lovely behind, the aforementioned appearance by Foster will put them off their stroke), but for those who like it completely off the wall, there's plenty to devour here. If there's one major criticism, it's why is there no Blu-ray release, and no extras? We need to see the cut scenes filmed with Udo Kier, Camille Keaton, Clint Howard, etc.. in the promised film within a film Frankenstein and the Witchfinder. Someone please make this happen!

8 out of 10