Review by Adrian Smith 

Headpress

Published February 2025

460 pages

229 images, colour throughout

Paperback (collector’s hardback edition also available)

ISBN: 978-1-915316-43-1

RRP: £23.99

The list of people that Chris Alexander has interviewed is quite extraordinary. In this book you can find, amongst others, interviews with Maria Rohm, Gene Simmons, Gary Sherman, Anna Biller, Caroline Munro, John Waters, Nicky Henson, Mink Stole, Luigi Cozzi, Judy Matheson, Lone Fleming, Michael Winner (Alexander is clearly a brave man), Joe Dante, Werner Herzog and Nicolas Cage, the latter providing a memorable experience when the author gets an invite to Cage's private island in the Bahamas.

The tagline for Art! Trash! Terror! states that the book explores “some of the most eccentric and unforgettable movies in cult film history,” which is of course highly subjective. But it does lead to a wide range of films (along with a whole section being dedicated to The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) being discussed) from older classics like The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), to relatively recent offerings like the controversial The House That Jack Built (2018). The latter is a film which caused festival screening walkouts and MPAA fury but is defended here are as a black comedy which only the Danish “purveyor of bad taste,” Lars Von Trier, could make.

It would be pointless to try and list them all, so I’ll just mention that some of the other films which fall under the umbrella of “eccentric and forgettable” include Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978), Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960), Maximum Overdrive (1986), Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972), Who Can Kill a Child? (1976), Contamination (1980) and Scream Blacula Scream (1973). Any of these would be a great night out, but if like me you usually have to watch movies like this on your own, reading Chris Alexander’s essays is a good substitute for that chat you have with a friend after the movie has finished and you’re trying to figure out what it was you just saw.

Art! Trash! Terror! is an eclectic collection of essays, musings, reviews and interviews with a heavy leaning towards horror, which, given that the author is the former Fangoria editor-in-chief, is as it should be. The only negative aspect is that the book is littered with spelling mistakes, some so egregious they would make Cinema Retro’s copy editor explode with rage. Perhaps it helps give the book the feel of a personal blog or diary rather than a polished, edited final product. This writing is straight from Chris Alexander’s brain to the printed page, and then straight into yours.

You can order Art! Trash! Terror! Adventures in Strange Cinema from Headpress: https://headpress.com/product/art-trash-terror/