THE MOTORCYCLE HELMET: The 1930s-1990s Rin Tanaka; Hardcover
214 pages (2002), Used
The motorcycle helmet has encountered much resistance from bikers who cherish the sense of freedom they get when riding without one. At the same time, the design revolutions it has undergone since its introduction in the 1930s have made it as much a part of the motorcycle culture as the leather jacket. Here the whole history is traced, from the ancient beginnings in warrior's helmets to the jet age molded plastic designs of the late twentieth century. All of the world's major manufacturers are covered, and their helmets are illustrated in detailed full color photographs. In addition, the author has included vintage advertising, racing photographs, and promotional materials. You will see the early football style helmets, leather pilot's caps, "pudding-style" helmets, the Air Force inspired full-coverage helmets introduced by Bell Auto Parts in 1954, and the continuing evolution up to the end of the century. Both technical and decorative aspects are considered, along with the changing culture around motorcyclists. For the motorcycle enthusiast and collector, or those interested in a significant design movement, this book will both entertain and inform. Great detail and amazing photos. Rin Tanaka's books are always amazing. Thus far, he has written over 20 books about the history of vintage clothing.
EVIL DEAD TRAP 2 (1992); DVD
Japan/Gore/Thriller/Cult - Unearthed Films, DVD
A sequel in name only, this second entry in the EDT-series is easily the most satisfying one. It's as gory as one might expect from an Asian horror film, some scenes almost forcing the viewer to look away (eg: when the breaking-the-arm-over-the-radiator bit comes along) but this one has an ingenious plot and decent acting to boot. Far less derivative than the original, EDT 2 involves a young, timid girl who goes on a killing spree, her self-loathing fueling the fire. There's also a sub-plot of an abortion gone awry, and the re-appearance of Hideki, probably the scariest child in movie history. Dream-logic, most of it, but it works. The photography is perversely stylish, the pacing hypnotic. Some images, like a wounded victim staggering forward against a full-neon backdrop, or the twisted ballet of protagonist and antagonist battling in a mesh of white sheets, will stay with you for a very long time. The soundtrack, a Goblin-inspired celesta-theme, is breath-taking, and extremely well used throughout the film.
EDT 2 is top-notch film-making all the way, and will have you looking under the bed for nights to come. Argento would be proud. ........
ILSA: THE WICKED WARDEN (1977) Jess Franco; DVD
Cult/Sexploitation/Sleaze, DVD
Dependably twisted schlockmeister Jess Franco dishes up enough nastiness, violence, sex, nudity and sleaze for a dozen average exploitation pictures. A female journalist infiltrates a women's prison to expose the corruption within. Once inside (posing as a prisoner), she is exposed to the grim, vile world that is a women's prison. Ilsa is the vicious warden, who puts her prisoners through all sorts of physical and psychological abuse, although the prisoners manage some pretty outrageous behavior on their own. There's a nice, long, voyeuristic catfight in the showers, as well as an unspeakably tacky scene in which self-appointed lead prisoner forces the reporter to lick her ass clean after a bout of diarrhea. That pretty much sets the standard for taste in this movie.
AMERICAN GUINEA PIG: Bouquet of Guts and Gore (2014); DVD
Underground/Disturbing/Extreme Gore - Unearthed Films, DVD
As the unsuspecting young women, Erika and Amy, get in their car, a sadistic predator in black equipped with a gas-mask knocks them out and abducts them. From this point on, an endless nightmare of unspeakable torment awaits the helpless victims--who are drugged and chained down by their throats to wooden tables--through a wide assortment of sharp instruments and common household tools. Always starting from left to right, the butchering begins, as a savage trio of desensitized executioners film the abominable act of sacrifice with their Super-8 camera. Is death the only means of salvation?
SVINET: Vase De Noces (Wedding Trough) (1974)
ART/Experimental/Cult/Underground DVD, Used
A farmer(Dominique Garny)who may be the last man on earth, loves and makes love to a huge sow-pig. When the sow gives birth, he takes the piglets from her to keep her from eating them, and knits cute little infant things for them. When the piglets abandon him for their mother, he executes them by hanging, and the sow shows the first distress she has shown for the whole film. "Wedding Trough", more commonly known as "The Pig Fucking Movie" is certainly one of the sickest and strangest films ever made. It's loaded with scenes of implied bestiality, coprophagia and insanity,so fans of unrelentingly grim, experimental transgressions will be satisfied. The action is set on a secluded rural farm and the film is completely devoid of dialogue. It certainly has some truly repellent subject matter, and the scenes of the farmer sodomizing his swine or eating his own excrement are sick as hell. Absolutely amazing film, especially for those folk who are into cinema on the more extreme bizarre side.....
DER TODESKING - Jorg Buttgereit (1990); DVD
Graphic Horror/Cult/Underground DVD, New
Cult Epics presents the third release in the series Corpse Fucking Art; Jorg Buttgereit’s powerful masterpiece Der Todesking (aka The Death King), made in between Nekromantik (1987) and Nekromantik 2 (1991). Seven stories on Death and Suicide, each taking place on a different day of the week, enframed by the decomposition of a human body.
Warning: extremely graphic. Der Todesking, available for the first time on DVD and Blu-ray, is presented Uncut and Uncensored in a new High Definition transfer.
SANTA CLAUS: SERIAL RAPIST (Bill Zebub); DVD
B-Grade/Sex/Absurd DVD
A woman who is researching alien abductions for a book receives increasing reports of nocturnal attackers described as resembling Santa Claus. She enlists the aid of a scholar of mythology to see if the legend of Santa has a darker side, and what she discovers is more horrifying than she could never have expected.
A female figure sleeps, face buried in a pillow, covered only by a sheet of uninspired textile pattern. Something is off. Slowly an unseen force begins to pull the sheet off of her voluptuous figure. To our terror, it is Santa Claus! The intruder has his way with his victim with images of red velvet, white fur, nose piercings, and breasts, fill the tight close-ups spilling across the screen. Thus begins Santa Claus: Serial Rapist. This surprisingly pensive film delivers rape, Santa, and the philosophical ramblings of writer-director and star Bill Zebub. It all adds up to something that is thoughtful, yet painfully remiss of the absurdist possibilities that the title indicates.
ANTFARM DICKHOLE (2011); DVD
Bill Zebub B-Grade/Sex/Trash DVD
Hailed as having "the most WTF moments in movie history" Antfarm Dickhole is the story of rampaging army ants that have nested inside a living human man's 'dickhole'. The unwilling host discovers that when bullies attack him, the ants defend their penile nest. Thus begins a tragic tale of what happens when the powerless become powerful. After a painful encounter with some bullies next to an ant colony, Ant-Drew will never have to fear again, as an improbable, yet miraculous symbiosis begins. Now, he is unstoppable, and he thirsts for revenge. Is this a dream come true? Who could have ever come up with this shit? He's Got Ants in His Pants! - Later re-released as "Human Antfarm"
A MUTT FOR MOM; XXX Paperback Novel
Greenleaf Classics (1983) XXX Erotic Novel (Rare)
Rare as shit and wrong as shit Greenleaf Classics "A Pet Book" XXX novel from 1983 'A Mutt For Mum'....work it out for yourself. For hardcore collectors.
CITY OF SHADOWS: Sydney Police Photographs 1912-1948; Hardcover
239 pages (2007); New
Focusing on the victims, perpetrators and vicinities of crime, City of Shadows introduced the world to the Justice & Police Museum's extraordinary and compelling collection of police forensic photography dating from 1912 to 1948. You will meet thieves, breakers, receivers, magsmen, spielers, urgers, gingerers, false pretenders, hotel barbers, shoplifters, dope users, prostitutes, makers of false oaths and the occasional murderer.
Radio Silence: A Selected Visual History of American Hardcore Music; Hardcover
224 pages (2008), Used
Hardcore music emerged just after the first wave of punk rock in the late 1970s. American punk kids who loved the speed and attitude of punk took hold of its spirit, got rid of the “live fast, die young” mind-set and made a brilliant revision: hardcore. The dividing line between punk and hardcore music was in the delivery: less pretense, less melody, and more aggression. This urgency seeped its way from the music into the look of hardcore. There wasn’t time to mold your liberty spikes or shine your Docs, it was jeans and T-shirts, Chuck Taylors and Vans. The skull and safety-pin punk costume was replaced by hi-tops and hooded sweatshirts. Jamie Reid’s ransom note record cover aesthetic gave way to black-and-white photographs of packed shows accompanied by bold and simple typography declaring things like: "The Kids Will Have Their Say", and "You’re Only Young Once." Radio Silence documents the ignored space between the Ramones and Nirvana through the words and images of the pre-Internet era where this community built on do-it-yourself ethics thrived. Authors Nathan Nedorostek and Anthony Pappalardo have cataloged private collections of unseen images, personal letters, original artwork, and various ephemera from the hardcore scene circa 1978-1993. Unseen photos lay next to hand-made t-shirts and original artwork brought to life by the words of their creators and fans. Radio Silence includes over 500 images of unseen photographs, illustrations, rare records, t-shirts, and fanzines presented in a manner that abandons the aesthetic clichés normally employed to depict the genre and lets the subject matter speak for itself. Contributions by Jeff Nelson, Dave Smalley, Walter Schreifels, Cynthia Connolly, Pat Dubar, Gus Peña, Rusty Moore, and Gavin Ogelsby with an essay by Mark Owens.
