Rare Zombie/Alien/Porno From France –– Oui!!!

Recently came across this pretty amazing '78 French horror/porno/sci-fi flick known as PORNO ZOMBIE, but whose actual title is LA FILLE A LA FOURRURE (Girl in the Fur Coat?)

In the same genre as EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD, it adds a fascinating sci-fi angle to a Jess Franco-like plot involving a just-married couple whose pending consummation is interrupted by the appearance of the husband's late wife (yes, the dead wife reappears). This creates some complexity, needless to say.

A story in one review of the film explains that director Claude Pierson's screenwriter wife (Huguette Boisvert) was happy for Claude to make porn as long as proper emphasis was placed on the importance of marital relations in the film. Well, I'm happy to report that Ms. Boisvert's condition does work in this film's favor because much of the sex is quite loving and very erotic, and that makes for a steamy, unusual tone.

This French treat is the best horror/zombie/porno hybrid I can think of, and the female screenwriter's addition of aliens to the couplings (and one beautifully shot moonlit orgy) works a treat. A synth score underlines the horror elements, and a memorable score for piano and some strings enriches the sex scenes and the film's forest setting.

Though promoted as such in some markets, this is not really a zombie film, it is more of a porno/sci-fi film with a zombie film vibe (ZOMBIE LAKE, OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES). Had I been told Jess Franco directed this, I wouldn't have been shocked, but the sex scenes don't possess the Franco point of view.

Ultimately, the plot doesn't make any real world sense, but spending ninety minutes in the cinematic world of this film was a rare pleasure.

(I researched the work of Huguette Boisvert (who often wrote as Elisabeth Leclair) and, wow!, she's been incredibly prolific, and did write a number of obscure French films I'm very fond of including TENDRE ADOLESCENTE, JEUNES FILLES POUR PARTOUZES, LA GRANDEV RECRE, and ALL ABOUT WOMAN. Admittedly, some of these titles I've only watched un-subbed).

Horror for Breakfast

With a big day of reading and writing ahead, I woke up at 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep.

So, at 5:05, I showered, prepared my usual oatmeal with pineapple and cranberries, then plonked City of the Living Dead into the DVD. I like a breakfast horror feature.

I hadn't seen the film for ages.

At 6:55, I decided that I never want to see the film again. I had a similar experience with The House By The Cemetery a couple of weeks ago.

I guess I've changed. While enjoying the wonderful gore and ghastliness, I used to tolerate the ludicrous, puerile drama that was sandwiched between the gore scenes. I must have overlooked the (mostly) terrible acting, too. And then there's the pacing. These films are just pasted together. There is no finesse in the cutting. No rhythm. The music, which is often sensational, often cuts out abruptly between scenes. The zooming is non-stop.

Enough!
Zombie is definitely my favorite Fulci horror film. It's the most coherent. The score is hypnotic, the action moves quickly, and the special effects become more graphic as the horror intensifies. The images of the undead throwing their worn, torn bodies against the wooden doors of the hospital are evergreens.

The Beyond isn't perfect, either. More bad acting. Uneven pacing. Shitty English. Still, it has enough classic moments to be deserving of its status.

I discovered a great piece of news last night -- Denny Harris's Silent Scream ('80) is finally coming to DVD in November.

Sold and remembered as a slasher movie, it is more accurately a haunted boarding house movie.

I saw it when it was first shown in Australian theaters and was very impressed with its deliberate pacing, strong lead performance from Rebecca Balding, a stellar supporting role from the wonderful Barbara Steele, and a terrific turn from Mason Engels, who plays the chief nutbag son of a very nutty family.

It does have some unnecessarily soapy moments and a sax solo, but it's a nice throwback to a more restrained, moody type of horror film.

I'm hanging out to revisit it.

I caught up with District 9 and loved it.

There's no point me adding words to the millions already written about it.

I'll just say that it was one of the saddest films I've seen in a long time.

A solid achievement, and a smart, grounded piece of science fiction.

TM Wright's Blue Canoe with cover art by the author.

I've just been sent the new TM Wright novel, Blue Canoe, and I'm aching to get into it.

Mr. Wright is one of the most original voices in fantastique fiction, and I'm always bowled over by his talent.

Some words on that in a day or two once I've participated in and processed the journey.

Zombies On Mushrooms

Hugh B. Cave, a master of pulp, was born in 1910 and cremated in 2004.

He wrote over 1000 short stories and more than 35 novels.

After WWII, he lived in Haiti for a time and wrote Haiti - High Road To Adventure, an acclaimed non-fiction work on the subject of voodoo.

In '79, Avon Books published Legion of the Dead, a rip-roaring paperback original. Its focus was voodoo-created zombies long before zombie fiction became a virtual genre of its own in the early 21st century.
Although a horror novel, Cave incorporates a lot of meaty, well researched business about the country's militia and the genocide of its people. Zombies, fueled by exotic mushrooms, are being enlisted to help in the overthrow of the corrupt President. Against the grain of Romero-inspired zombie lore, these undead critters are not dependent on human brains or other body parts.

The novel's hero, Cary Connoway, is not dissimilar to most men. He throws good judgment out the window when the vagina calls (and who can blame him). After traveling to San Marlo for some much-needed rest and recreation, he becomes embroiled in the undead coup d'etat. Although most guys would get themselves onto the first plane at the first sight of a shambling corpse, Carey's intensifying affections for the beautiful native girl Juna are stronger than the undead threat.

In a gloriously lurid sequence, our hero opts to pursue the kidnapped princess of his loins into a godforsaken cave:

"I'm going back there," he said to Sebastian and Decano when night came again.

"Cary, be reasonable," the poet begged. "What can you hope to accomplish?"

"I can find her!"

"If she is still alive, they have her. And if you try to take her away from them, they will have you, too. We are just no match for them yet."

Getting laid is at stake, so Cary isn't swayed.

"I've got to know what happened."

They did their best to dissuade him, but he would not listen, and in the end they went with him to the cave entrance. There the poet said: "You are a brave and loving man, Cary. God go with you. And Sebastian said: "I will ask the loa to keep you safe, amigo."

If God had been aware of Cary's true intentions, he may have decided to bail out of accompanying the adventurer on his subterranean pussy hunt. Buckets of luck, which one could attribute to divine intervention, come Cary's way, nevertheless, and he achieves his goal.

Legion of the Dead bubbles with invention and the writer's love of the absurd. After the zombie terror has been contained, the following exchange, in true Scooby Doo style, occurs:

"Without any food, my zombies will die. Really die. It will happen soon, too, because they are in need of food now, and would have been given their ration long ago but for the trouble you have caused us." He paused. "Their odor is less strong, you may have noticed. I was on my way to feed them when I discovered you just now."

Another character elaborates:

"They (the zombies) need very little, you see...This small bagful of the dried mushroom powder would have sustained them all. But, as you can see, it is gone. Gone forever, along with all the powder stored here for the future use and all the growing mushrooms from which the powder is prepared. All gone. Forever."

Unfortunately, Hugh B. Cave, who died at 94, is also gone forever.

But his brilliant pulp legacy lives on without the help of mushrooms.

Hugh B. Cave with writer/editor Stephen Jones