![]() Cover of issue #1 | |
Editor | Michael J. Weldon |
---|---|
Categories | Film |
Frequency | Quarterly |
Founded | 1980 |
Final issue | 2006 |
Country | United States |
Based in | New York City |
Language | English |
Website | http://psychotronic.com/ |
Psychotronic Video was an American film magazine founded by publisher/editor Michael J. Weldon in 1980 in New York City, covering what he dubbed "psychotronic movies", which he defined as "the ones traditionally ignored or ridiculed by mainstream critics at the time of their release: horror, exploitation, action, science fiction, and movies that used to play in drive-ins or inner city grindhouses." [1] It was published through 2006. Most of the magazine's hundreds of reviews were written by Weldon himself. Other contributors provided career histories/interviews with cult filmmakers and actors such as Radley Metzger, Larry Cohen, Jack Hill, William Rotsler, David Carradine, Sid Haig, Karen Black, and Timothy Carey. Regular features included "Record Reviews" by Art Black, "Spare Parts" (covering fanzines and comics) by Dale Ashmun, and "Never To Be Forgotten", an obituary column.
The magazine spawned two books that, like Danny Peary's Cult Movies trilogy, helped establish a foundation for critical analysis of low-budget genre movies. [2] [3]
Michael J. Weldon began writing about film in 1979 while working at the Cleveland record store The Drome, which had some connection with Pere Ubu lead singer David Thomas and other who published a punk rock zine called Cle. They asked Weldon to write a column about horror TV-movies. [4] [5] After moving to New York City that same year, [4] he founded a photocopied weekly fanzine in 1980 [1] [6] [3] entitled Psychotronic TV. [2] It was relaunched by Weldon under its more commonly known name in 1989, as an offset quarterly magazine. Both versions covered what Weldon dubbed "psychotronic movies", which he defined as "the ones traditionally ignored or ridiculed by mainstream critics at the time of their release: horror, exploitation, action, science fiction, and movies that used to play in drive-ins or inner city grindhouses." [1] Weldon coined the term after being inspired by The Psychotronic Man (1980), a low budget science fiction film, [7] and said, "To me it was a perfect word to make people think of what I mostly was writing about—'psycho' for the horror movies and 'tronic' for the science fiction." [4]
Most of the magazine's hundreds of reviews were written by Weldon himself. Other contributors provided career histories/interviews with cult filmmakers and actors such as Radley Metzger, Larry Cohen, Jack Hill, William Rotsler, David Carradine, Sid Haig, Karen Black, and Timothy Carey. Regular features included "Record Reviews" by Art Black, "Spare Parts" (covering fanzines and comics) by Dale Ashmun, and "Never To Be Forgotten", an obituary column by Weldon that covered the deaths of writers, directors, television and film actors, rock stars, comic book artists, lawyers, and anybody else that Weldon felt was related to the overall Psychotronic universe.
In December 2006, Weldon announced that he was ceasing publication of Psychotronic Video "after 18 years and 41 issues." Citing increasingly expensive printing costs and dubious business practices from distributors as his main source of concern, he noted that, "It was a struggle to self-publish in the 80s and 90s but now it's nearly impossible." [8]
In an interview conducted by The Augusta Chronicle in November 2012, Weldon said he had no interest in writing or publishing any additional books or magazines devoted to genre films, and was concentrating on running a store in downtown Augusta, Georgia named "Psychotronic", which specializes in collectibles such as vinyl records, movie posters and old comic books. [9]
Before the Georgia store, Weldon had a store called Psychotronic in New York City's East Village. [10] [6] After it closed he opened one on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, where he then lived by 2006, [8] running it for 13 years. [9] Sometime during this, he also worked as a disc jockey at the local radio station WCTG-FM. [8]
Prior to the appearance of the second version of the magazine, Ballantine Books published The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film (1983), an 815-page compilation of mini-reviews of over 3,000 cult films. [11] The book was written by Weldon with editorial assistance from Charles Beesley, Fangoria's Bob Martin, and Akira Fitton. The foreword by Christopher Cerf credited the success of the original fanzine as direct inspiration for the publication of the book. A second book was scheduled to be published by a company called Pharos in the fall of 1992, but it did not come out. [6] In 1996, St. Martin's Press published Weidon's 672-page The Psychotronic Video Guide to Film.
The magazine spawned two books that, like Danny Peary's Cult Movies trilogy, helped establish a foundation for critical analysis of low-budget genre movies. As the Austin Film Society wrote,
There is what we might consider the Danny Peary faction. ... Peary lionized a particular kind of "cult" criticism in his multiple volumes of the Cult Movies books. Never dismissive, Peary celebrates these films for their unique qualities and their advocacy of outsider voices ... and the books are essential reading for anyone interested in what lies just outside the bounds of the canon. And then there is Michael Weldon. Springing from the same post-war junk pile that birthed the band The Cramps, Weldon's aesthetic is that of the unapologetic connoisseur of the sublime aspects of trash culture. ... The Psychotronic track of "cult" movie appreciation is responsible for many of today’s predominant attitudes about these films. Never snobbish or dismissive, Weldon sees Bela Lugosi and Vampira ... as prophets of the trash punk aesthetic. [2]
Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead wrote that,
Weldon's book was proof that even the most unlikely idea had a chance. If these movies existed, then surely whatever measly story was bubbling in my brain was not so preposterous. The psychotronic movie's disregard for mimesis, its sociopathic understanding of human interaction, its indifferent acting, and its laughable sets were a kind of ritualized mediocrity. The filmmakers were so inept in their portrayal of any kind of recognizable reality that their creations became a form of grubby science fiction, documentaries about an alternative planet." [3]
Entertainment Weekly in 1991 said "the banner that fell with the demise of the B-movie house has been picked up by video, and Weldon leads the crusade. ... In its 10 issues to date, Psychotronic Video has become something of a university without walls. The video reviews range from forgotten classics to garage-made shorts, the obits note the passing of cult faves, interviews take on the likes of Clive Barker and James Coburn, and letters present an ongoing scholarly dialogue. ... Weldon's own expertise has led to stints as a host of psychotronic-film festivals here and abroad." [6]
Weldon, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, [12] was born around 1952. [6] His father, Bill Weldon, a Cleveland Press employee, was an amateur variety performer and pop-culture historian. [12]
In the 1980s in New York City, Weldon met and married his wife Mia, then a dress designer. [6] [9] [13]
Weldon was the drummer for the proto-punk band Mirrors during their original existence (early to mid-1970s) and their later studio sessions (1986–1988). [14] [15] [16] [17]
A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and first popularized within science fiction fandom, and from there the term was adopted by other communities.
The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine Locus, a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the plaques awarded to the winners, publishers of winning works are honored with certificates, which is unique in the field.
Albert Victor Adamson Jr. was an American filmmaker and actor known as a prolific director of B-grade horror and exploitation films throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Dementia 13, known in the United Kingdom as The Haunted and the Hunted, is a 1963 independently made black-and-white horror-thriller film produced by Roger Corman, and written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola in his feature film directorial debut. The film stars William Campbell and Luana Anders with Bart Patton, Mary Mitchell, and Patrick Magee. It was released in the United States by American International Pictures during the fall of 1963 as the bottom half of a double feature with Corman's X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes.
Dannis Peary is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written and edited many books on cinema and sports-related topics. Peary is most famous for his book Cult Movies (1980), which spawned two sequels, Cult Movies 2 (1983) and Cult Movies 3 (1988) and are all credited for providing more public interest in the cult movie phenomenon.
Charles William Rotsler was an American artist, cartoonist, pornographer and science fiction author. Rotsler was a four-time Hugo Award winner and one-time Nebula Award nominee.
The Psychotronic Man is a 1979 American science fiction cult film directed, shot and edited by Jack M. Sell, and written, produced and starred Peter G. Spelson. The film opened in Chicago at the Carnegie Theatre on April 23, 1980.
Blood of Dracula's Castle is a 1969 American horror cult B-movie directed by Al Adamson and starring John Carradine, Alexander D'Arcy, Paula Raymond, Robert Dix, Vicki Volante, and John Cardos. It was released by exploitation film specialists Crown International Pictures. Although his name was played up in the lurid ad campaign, John Carradine only played George the butler in this film, and not Count Dracula. DVD prints all suffer from extensive emulsion scratches.
Michael Gingold is an American journalist, screenwriter, and former editor-in-chief of Fangoria magazine.
Teen-Age Strangler is a 1964 American independent crime drama film directed by Ben Parker. It was made in Huntington, West Virginia. It was re-released in black & white in 1990, resulting in local screenings, newspaper writeups, and cast reunions. It has become a cult film ever since it was featured on an episode of the TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Cult Movies is a 1981 book by Danny Peary, consisting of a series of essays regarding what Peary described as the 100 most representative examples of the cult film phenomenon. The films are presented in alphabetical order, with each chapter featuring a story synopsis for the covered title, Peary's response to the film, production and release details, and a brief selection of contemporary critical reviews.
Terror Is a Man is a 1959 black-and-white Filipino/American horror film directed by Gerardo de Leon.
The Doll Squad is a 1973 low-budget Z-grade action film by Feature-Faire that was later re-released under the title Seduce and Destroy. Directed, edited, co-written and co-produced by Ted V. Mikels, it features Francine York, Michael Ansara, John Carter, Anthony Eisley, Leigh Christian and Tura Satana. Mikels claimed he filmed it for a total cost of $256,000.
Evils of the Night is a 1985 American science fiction horror film starring Aldo Ray, Neville Brand, Tina Louise, John Carradine, and Julie Newmar. The film was directed, co-produced and co-written by Mardi Rustam.
House of the Black Death is a 1965 American horror film directed by Harold Daniels, Reginald LeBorg and Jerry Warren. The film was written by Richard Mahoney, based on a novel titled The Widderburn Horror by Lora Crozetti. The movie starred Lon Chaney Jr. and John Carradine, although the two actors shared no scenes in the film.
Kane W. Lynn (1919–1975) was an American film producer who made a number of movies in the Philippines with producer Irwin Pizor and Filipino director Eddie Romero as Hemisphere Pictures, or the House of Horror as they often referred to themselves. Later Pizor quit the company after an argument, and when Romero left to form a production company with actor John Ashley, Lynn tired of making movies and his Hemisphere Pictures became just a movie distributor, mainly handling adult films and low budget B-movies. It was his guidance that kept Hemisphere Pictures solvent and constantly moving forward, releasing a diverse product line of low-budget independent movies from the early 1960s through the mid-1970s.
Attack of the Beast Creatures is a 1985 American independent horror film produced, and directed by Michael Stanley. It stars Robert Nolfi, Julia Rust, Robert Lengyel, Lisa Pak, and Frank Murgalo. The film centers on a group of survivors who wash up on the shores of a seemingly deserted island in 1920, after their ship capsizes. While there, it slowly becomes apparent that the island is home to a tribe of small doll-like creatures, who begin stalking and killing the survivors one by one.
Night Angel is a 1990 American horror thriller film directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard and written by Joe Augustyn and Walter Josten. The film stars Isa Andersen as Lilith, a female demon who seduces men before killing them and consuming their souls.
His project grew from a weekly Xerox, which he assembled in his East Village apartment, into an encyclopedia that was eight hundred pages long and covered more than three thousand films, from Abbott and Costello Go to Mars to Zotz!
The 39-year-old editor cultivated his democratic approach in Cleveland's long-gone movie palaces and drew inspiration from a former TV-horror-movie host named Ghoulardi. In 1980, after moving to New York, Weldon started a weekly guide to trashy TV fare, and in 1983 Ballantine published the Encyclopedia (a second volume is due next fall from Pharos).
Michael and Mia Weldon, who recently moved from Chincoteague, Va., opened Psychotronic video at 859½ Broad St. on Nov. 19.
Michael Weldon's Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film (1983), and Video Guide to Film (1996) contain reviews of hundreds of genre films – whether it's Blaxploitation, Roger Corman or kung fu western movies, his books contain a truly staggering amount of trivia and obsessive attention to detail. His guides have gained a cult following themselves, even garnering praise from celebrities such as John Waters, Clive Barker and Quentin Tarantino.
...my father, Bill Weldon (1920-2006), Oklahoma born WWII vet magician, ventriloquist, hypnotist, magic and vaudeville historian.... I was the rhythm guitarist of a 60s suburban high school band (River's Edge) you never heard of and the minimal original drummer of an early 70s band (Mirrors) who at least made some recordings and had publicity photos.