Chas Balun

Another collection of seventies and eighties horror film reviews from the master "chunkblower" Chas Balun, celebrating the gory terror in all its glory. Deep Red was one of the publications of the era that blurred the already fine line between professional magazines and xeroxed fanzines, something that is exemplified by the writing style and typeset choices within, both of which I emulated in my own book Monster Rally.

Books like this are an important window into the underground film scene of the late twentieth century, which had to survive through the small press and independent publishing while it waited for internet newsgroups and IMDB to simplify the casual research of discovering new video nasties to scare your parents and piss of Tipper Gore. The film reviews and critiques of this period dabbled in the gonzo style of Hunter S. Thompson, ensuring that the entertainment factor in books and magazines such as this far exceeds today's click-bait lists. Enjoy, and long live the new flesh!… (mais)

Gore Score 2001 is a hefty collection of horror film reviews that were published in multiple magazines over the years under the Gore Score title, all of them by infamous chunk-blower Charles "Chas" Balun. A veteran of the underground horror film publishing world of the 80s and 90s, Balun was a favorite of horror fans with his over-the-top use of language - he coined the tern chunk-blower, that alone should give you an idea of his writing style - and his unapologetic love for one of the most maligned and misunderstood film genres. With a foreword by Jack Ketchum and an afterword by Stephen Bissette, this collection features hundreds of concise one-or-two paragraph reviews of every video nasty that threatened civilized society in the last two decades of the century. Don't expect to agree with him on every film (The Exterminator was better than Death Wish? Eh...), but be prepared to enjoy his intensity and passion. A must have for any die-hard horror fan.… (mais)

Horror Holocaust is a slim collection of articles on horror films by Chas "Chunkblower" Balun, whose articles, books, and magazines in the 80s garnered him a sort of celebrity status among die-hard horror film fans.

With a writing style that almost resembled a wacky drive-time radio host, Balun tapped into the audience's raw excitement for the genre, which at the time was facing severe backlash by conservative/religious organizations and parent groups decrying horror films as worse than pornography. On the front lines of the horror counterculture, Balun pulled no punches in reviewing some of the most violent and socially unacceptable films of the 70s and 80s.

Horror Holocaust, with it's mind-blowing cover, is another of Balun's love letters to the horror genre, with articles about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left, I Spit on Your Grave, Re-Animator, zombie and cannibal films, and the future (good or bad) of horror/exploitation cinema. The articles discuss the history, craftsmanship, and even social commentary of horror films on a level of seriousness not often reserved for the genre at the time, but always managed to avoid boring his reading audience by smothering everything in a healthy dose of irreverence. While I don't agree with some of his stances - I reject his stance that the down ending of Last House on the Left was weak pandering to "whining liberal sentimentality" instead of a realistic portrayal of a revenge killing's emotional aftermath - and the "chunkblower" style can wear thin after awhile, Balun's articles cut right to the bone and deliver the adrenaline rush of horror fandom at it's bloodiest.… (mais)

As far as I can recall, this was the final official issue of Deep Red magazine, founded by horror film critic Charles (Chas) Balun. Back in the golden years of horror film fan mags, Deep Red was one of many independent publishing ventures attempting to compete with the mainstream magazines such as Fangoria and Gore Zone (to which Balun also contributed). Balun came closest to obtaining the horror film critic equivalent of rock star status, and was one of the foremost splatter film gurus of the time.

This "special edition" of Gore Zone features the typical assortment of horror-related articles and interviews, ranging in quality from exhaustive film criticism to throw-away filler material like a comedians list of favorite hand-loss films. As a genre that was generally ignored by film critics and entertainment guides before the internet age, magazines like Deep Red were an essential source of information about not only new horror, but foreign and classic horror films unavailable in the normal marketplace. While Deep Red didn't have the polished look or feel of Fangoria, there was a passion and excitement in indie publication that could not be duplicated, and Deep Red was one of the best ones out there.

Of special interest to Balun fans is the inclusion of some of Balun's own fiction and non-fiction writing, including the first chapter of his soon to be published Chunk Blower (a term Balun liked to use to describe films so violent they make you vomit), and the announcement of a film adaptation by the same name, neither of which apparently saw completion.… (mais)