On July, Friday the 13th, 2018, Forbidden Planet NYC celebrated the relaunch of the classic horror magazine, Deep Red! This classic horror magazine was the creation of one Chas. Balun, a legend in the horror community. One of the most beloved writers to ever deal with the genre, Balun knew and loved horror and splatter very deeply. The man knew his gore films and was never afraid to speak his mind, even if the movie he was referring to sucked ass. He was my hero, my biggest influence, both in my love for horror, especially of the extreme variety, and my writing. Without his influence my life, and career, quite frankly would be very different. As such, this relaunch was one of the most exciting things I knew were happening the entire summer! I had to be there and attend.
There was a big list of those that worked on the magazine that were present. They signed copies of the magazine and talked to fans. They were all so so gracious and awesome! After all, they are fans like all of us are and live for and love the same bloody and scary things that we do.
Those present were: Tom Skulan (Publisher) John Szpunar (Editor-in-chief) Raz Sanchez (Managing editor and copy writer) Contributing Writers: Chris Poggiali, Dennis Daniel, Nick Casto, Mike Hunchback, and Art Ettinger Contributing Artists: Matt Putrid Carr and Eric Rott Some of them worked on the original Deep Red, others were new blood to the mag. All were cool as fuck!
I got to talk to them about my love and the influence of Chas. I learned that many were influenced by the man, themselves (how can you be a writer into bloody horror movies and not be?!), and of course, some knew the man and had been friends with him. The fact that they liked my Friday the 13th Victims and Survivors tee from Fright-Rags, that I was wearing on that day, was so humbling!
I got the issue signed by all. Simply looking at the glorious cover (which has images inspired by Slugs, Videodrome, and Tenebrae, as well Chas., himself) was enough to make me go all fanboy! The inside is great and having started reading it, I can tell you that it is awesome. It definitely keeps the legend and spirit of Chas. Balun alive!
There is also a glorious hardcover version, that they had on their table and were preparing signed copies of!
This was without a doubt the highlight of my summer, so far. If you are a fan of gory horror, you need to buy and read Deep Red! Here is to its return and the memory of Chas. Balun. And, I am keeping crossing my fingers and hoping that one day, I may have the honor of writing for them.
This last month of the year has had so many sad and tragic deaths (beginning with one of the saddest, Kerri Lee Tucker), that I felt compelled to write this blog. I consider myself a fan of all of the following people. May they all RIP and God bless them.
Dan O'Bannon (September 30, 1946 – December 17, 2009) - O'Bannon was an undeniable talent in the world of horror and sci-fi. The man wrote many great scripts, including the classic Alein, movie whose influence on horror and sci-fi is inarguable. Aside from many other genre scripts, he also wrote the second best Arnie movie ever, in the form of Total Recall, which has just about everything you could ever want in a film. He also directed The Resurrected and one of my personal favorite movies, The Return of the Living Dead, a movie that only gets better with age and viewings. Here is the trailer:
Brittany Murphy (November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) - The lovely Ms. Murphy's death shocked me to the core, so young, beautiful, and talented. Like many, I first remember her from Clueless. She went on to do lots of other films, but my fav role of hers remains to be her role of a virgin in the reverse (by reverse I mean that it is virgins, who get killed in this one), underrated slasher flick Cherry Falls. It was one of her, if not her, sexiest role. Here is the trailer to it:
My favorite movie she stared in has to be Sin City, one of the finest movies ever to be inspired by a comic book.
James Owen "The Rev" Sullivan (February 10, 1981 – December 28, 2009) - This one made me quite sad, as I am a huge fan of hard rock/ heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. I had the pleasure of seeing them live at an Ozzfest a few years. The fact that he died so young, makes the death that much more tragic. He was a solid, highly talented drummer in a band that is technically sound and plays some of the best rock in the biz, right now. Here is my absolute fav video they ever did:
"Dr. Death" Steven Williams (May 14, 1960 – December 29, 2009) - I only really know him for his short tenures in the WWE, when JR bought him in and WCW when he was with JR parody Oklahoma. Regardless, I did like the guy. He sub came to cancer, sadly. Here is a clip of him and JR on Raw:
Chas. Balun (1948- December 29, 2009) - Out of of these deaths I think this one hit me the hardest. Chas. was important to me growing up. He introduced me, and many other fellow gorehounds, to a lot of the hardcore splatter and gore movies, we so love, including foreign classics, many of which he was the first to champion, like Shogun Assassin, The Beyond, Cannibal Holocaust, and many more. I loved reading his stuff in Fangoria and Gorezone magazines, as well his classic books like the Gore Score and More Gore Score, books that, I still, to this very day, read over and over again. He was funny and highly opinionated. I cannot even begin to tell you how much his style is a direct influential to my own style of reviewing movies. He was also an artist and made the designs for many a rotten cotton T-shirt and wrote linear notes on some DVDs. He had been battling cancer and lost last night. Here is the trailer for one of his favorite movies, The Beyond:
- O'Bannon was an undeniable talent in the world of horror and sci-fi. The man wrote many great scripts, including the classic Alein, movie whose influence on horror and sci-fi is inarguable. Aside from many other genre scripts, he also wrote the second best Arnie movie ever, in the form of Total Recall, which has just about everything you could ever want in a film. He also directed The Resurrected and one of my personal favorite movies, The Return of the Living Dead 
, a movie that only gets better with age and viewings. Here is the trailer:
- The lovely Ms. Murphy's death shocked me to the core, so young, beautiful, and talented. Like many, I first remember her from Clueless. She went on to do lots of other films, but my fav role of hers remains to be her role of a virgin in the reverse (by reverse I mean that it is virgins, who get killed in this one), underrated slasher flick Cherry Falls. It was one of her, if not her, sexiest role. Here is the trailer to it:
My favorite movie she stared in has to be Sin City, one of the finest movies ever to be inspired by a comic book.
- This one made me quite sad, as I am a huge fan of hard rock/ heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. I had the pleasure of seeing them live at an Ozzfest a few years. The fact that he died so young, makes the death that much more tragic. He was a solid, highly talented drummer in a band that is technically sound and plays some of the best rock in the biz, right now. Here is my absolute fav video they ever did:
- I only really know him for his short tenures in the WWE, when JR bought him in and WCW when he was with JR parody Oklahoma. Regardless, I did like the guy. He sub came to cancer, sadly. Here is a clip of him and JR on Raw:
- Out of of these deaths I think this one hit me the hardest. Chas. was important to me growing up. He introduced me, and many other fellow gorehounds, to a lot of the hardcore splatter and gore movies, we so love, including foreign classics, many of which he was the first to champion, like Shogun Assassin, The Beyond, Cannibal Holocaust, and many more. I loved reading his stuff in Fangoria and Gorezone magazines, as well his classic books like the Gore Score and More Gore Score, books that, I still, to this very day, read over and over again. He was funny and highly opinionated. I cannot even begin to tell you how much his style is a direct influential to my own style of reviewing movies. He was also an artist and made the designs for many a rotten cotton T-shirt and wrote linear notes on some DVDs. He had been battling cancer and lost last night. Here is the trailer for one of his favorite movies, The Beyond:
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