The Apple Of My Eye

I am so proud of Donna today!
Her vision for our magazine's digital future has won the praise of a high-ranking hardware engineering professional! The VIDEO WATCHDOG Digital Archive - which has applications above and beyond just making our back issues available digitally - was something she conceived through months of intense focus and concentration in a cluttered makeshift office in a suburban home... and now her efforts have won the respect of one of the chiefs of the profession! You can read his comments at our Kickstarter Comments page, here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1416663393/video-watchdog-digital-archive-for-ipad-android-an/comments

Donna Lucas Accepts David J. Schow's "Donndo" Award

At the very end of last Saturday's Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award ceremony at WonderFest, David J. Schow -- the Brown Jenkin of Horror Fandom -- once again disrupted the proceedings to present his own awards. Rondo founder David Colton, who two years ago was recognized with Schow's "Nondo" Award, was this year presented with the "Coltondo" Award, while VIDEO WATCHDOG publisher/art director/shipper/receiver/receptionist/heart and soul Donna Lucas was feted with the "Donndo" Award. Schow explained the award by saying that Donna was required to share all of her Rondo Awards for Best Magazine with me, while I was winning Rondos independently of her.

My camera was running low on battery juice by the time this surprise event came about, so I missed David's introduction, but as Donna took the stage to receive her much-deserved solo recognition, I said "Damn the torpedoes" and recorded her short but ever-so-charming acceptance speech. You can see it on YouTube, here.

Some Pictures From Coralina

My new sister Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni sent me a selection of photos taken by her camera at Cinema Wasteland and I thought I would share them with you. This first picture is her personal favorite from the weekend and, with all due respect to Lamberto (whom I waited 28 years to meet!), it's mine too. Inside the box, of course, is Coralina's own personal copy of the Bava book. I am so proud to be in this picture, I can't tell you.

Here's another angle of the group shot featuring (left to right) Brett Halsey, Donna Lucas, John Saxon, me, Lamberto Bava, Mike Baronas, dear Coralina and Mariano Baino. What a great moment.

Here is a shot from Saturday's Q&A with Lamberto and Coralina, where she answered questions about her own career and also kindly translated for Lamberto. He was the first director to cast her in a motion picture (DEMONS 2: THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES), giving her the role of Sally, the bratty birthday girl who becomes a blood-and-pus-drooling icon of Eighties Italian horror. She was so happy to get the part, she wept and apologized profusely. This prompted Lamberto to advise her, "Don't ever change."

During the show, I saw a few different modellers approach Lamberto with tributes they had made with their own two hands. This superb facsimile of the mask from DEMONS -- I initially thought it was the original! -- is one of these tributes. He signed its interior lining and handed it back to its creator.

One of the products displayed on Brett Halsey's neighboring table was this action figure of his mosca-headed self from 1958's RETURN OF THE FLY. Whenever Lamberto saw this box, he would chuckle and cry, "Help! Help!" I'm sure that's what he's saying here now.

Our Weekend at Cinema Wasteland

This past weekend, Donna and I drove four hours north of Cincinnati to Strongsville, Ohio -- near Cleveland -- where we attended the Cinema Wasteland convention. Among the guests of honor was Maestro Lamberto Bava, with whom I have been corresponding and speaking by phone since 1980, twenty-eight years ago. Travel makes me nervous, but (as I told him in an e-mail a couple of weeks ago), Lamberto could not come halfway around the world to my state without me making the effort to join him. I am so glad that I did. This picture was taken within minutes of our first meeting at Lamberto's table.

There was an instantaneous sense of warmth and familiarity, and our rapport was immediate, happy and intense. I was with Lamberto for most of Saturday and until about 1:00pm on Sunday, and despite my general lack of Italian and Lamberto's fractured English, our communication was nearly non-stop. I love this picture because it captures some of that intensity.

I snapped this picture of Donna and Lamberto. They were charmed by each other and it was such a treat to see them interact.

While snapping some "official portraits" of Lamberto and I, Donna suddenly told us, "And now just look at each other." (She got a kick out of "directing the director.") Thus resulted my favorite picture of the two of us. There is a similar photo of Donna and me from the early years of our marriage, in which the look we're exchanging seems to miraculously summarize who we are to each other. This picture has a similar quality.

I guess this is our "John Bender meets Francesco de Masi" moment, but it wasn't a conscious recreation. The emotion here is very sincere. To communicate with Lamberto from long distance is one thing, but it was so much more meaningful for me to communicate with him in person. His eyes twinkle; he's a truly genial person, and it was a treat to sit beside him at his table and see him greeted by a constant procession of his admiring public. Most of what has been written about Lamberto's work in English has been of the "He lives and works in the shadow of his father, Mario Bava" school, and while that may be the general critical view, it's not a realistic view. I saw numerous awestruck people approach Lamberto's table and tell him that his movies -- his, not his father's -- inspired them to become artists, writers, painters, actors, or just horror fans. I felt so pleased for him.

My favorite overheard story came from a couple who run a day-care center, who told Lamberto that DEVILFISH was loved so much by their kids that one group actually watched it five times in two days! I'm sure that's the best review DEVILFISH ever had!

When Lamberto was talking with me, sometimes his English failed him and he asked fellow guest of honor Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni (the Dario Argento diva also featured in Lamberto's own DEMONS 2: THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES and GHOST SON) to translate his thoughts. Meeting Coralina was one of the sweetest treats of the weekend for us, and I refer you to today's posting at the Bava Book Blog for more about this special lady.

Also present was Italian horror director (and Coralina's lucky companion) Mariano Baino, whose DARK WATERS was released here on DVD by No Shame in a deluxe box set with amulet. I haven't yet seen DARK WATERS, which Lamberto gave a strong and persuasive endorsement, but I much enjoyed meeting and talking with Mariano, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of cinema and likewise had that combination of warmth, friendliness and intensity.

I was so pleased to finally be in Lamberto's company that I never left his table except to attend to the call of nature. On Sunday, we got into the dealer's room early and I had a little time to visit some of Lamberto's immediate neighbors on Celebrity Row and that's when I discovered that, just a few seats to my right, all along, was none other than writer-director Jeff Lieberman! As a horror fan hitting all the drive-ins back in the 1970s, Jeff became an instant genre luminary with the release of SQUIRM, and he completed his Big Three with the cult classics BLUE SUNSHINE and JUST BEFORE DAWN. In reviews I wrote at the time, I compared Lieberman to David Cronenberg and the later release of REMOTE CONTROL (his VIDEODROME, if you will) supported the comparison. Jeff told me about some exciting new irons he has in the fire, and I look forward to seeing more of his work, which has always been original and healthy for the genre.

Sitting to my immediate right throughout the weekend was the great Brett Halsey, who starred in two Mario Bava films (FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT and ROY COLT & WINCHESTER JACK) and also worked with him during the filming in some sequences for the Riccardo Freda costume adventure THE SEVENTH SWORD. I've known Brett via phone and e-mail for five or six years, and this was our first meeting. Now that the Bava book is done, I was able to broaden the scope of our subject matter and he told me some fascinating stories about working with Freda and he also gave me a surprising insight into the personality of the late Steve Reeves, someone I approached to be interviewed for the Bava book a few times without success. He told me that it was his understanding that Reeves' parents were deaf-mutes and that Steve himself did not learn to speak until he was seven years old. This is something I don't recall ever reading about, and it explains a good deal of Reeves' personal reserve. Brett kindly gave me a copy of John Murray's new book about his career (from Midnight Marquee Press) and I bought the new edition of his novel THE MAGNIFICENT STRANGERS, out of print since the 1970s, and newly revised and expanded in its current edition from I-Universe.

During our Sunday morning stroll along Celebrity Row, we met Betsy Palmer, who was wearing either her original Mrs. Voorhees sweater from FRIDAY THE 13TH or something very like it! Now 83, Betsy turned out to be a real sweetheart and hugged us both for commemorative photos. As die-hard fans of I'VE GOT A SECRET, we asked for some behind-the-scenes stories about her curmudgeonly co-star Henry Morgan (a personal favorite), and boy, did we get 'em! A short but very sweet encounter.

The surprise of the weekend came when Donna and I were heading to the elevators to get ready for dinner on Saturday, when I heard an unmistakable voice call my name from around the corner. It was Don May, Jr. of Synapse Films! Don (seen here at the right, with his partner Jerry Chandler in the middle) has been a friend and reader/supporter of VIDEO WATCHDOG since the beginning, then became a contributor of articles about HIGHLANDER and THE EVIL DEAD, and now he heads one of the most important independent horror/exploitation DVD labels around. As this photo shows, every moment I spent with these two guys was an absolute joy. Support Synapse Films and Impulse Pictures products! They tell me they'll be bringing Christina Lindberg to the next Cinema Wasteland convention!

I don't have a photo to commemorate the event, but during Saturday night's dinner with Lamberto, Coralina, Mariano and Mike Baronas (who brought everyone together at this event -- bravissimo, Michele!), our table was approached by an effusive admirer of Lamberto's whom I immediately recognized as Adrienne King, the female lead of the first FRIDAY THE 13th. It seems Adrienne is quite an admirer of classic Italian horror, knew all about the movie's debt to TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE, and we invited her to join us. She added still more excitement to an already happy and animated table, and Brett Halsey also dropped by, completing a perfect evening.

This weekend also allowed for a personal reunion for Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni and her aunt and uncle, Bruno and Rose Botti, whom she hadn't seen in about five years. She told me that they weren't very familiar with her work in movies, and the convention gave them an opportunity to see their famous niece in her professional element. They were very nice, friendly people, clearly very proud of their niece, and you can see how moved Coralina was to be in their company again.

As the clock ticked down the moments to the time of our departure on Sunday afternoon, we finally succeeded in assembling the Italian horror contingent for a commemorative photo. From left to right: Brett Halsey, Donna Lucas, John Saxon (so consistently in-demand at his signing table that we had very little time to get reacquainted), Tim Lucas, Mike Baronas, Lamberto Bava, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni and Mariano Baiano. The photo was taken by John Saxon's fiancée Gloria Martel, a terrific lady, and I consider it one of the great keepsakes of my life.

In fact, once Gloria started setting up the shot, she was suddenly joined by a half-dozen other photographers... and as the flashes started going off, they were joined by other camera bugs who followed the bombardments of light over to our corner. Soon, our eyes were all dazzled by the blue afterburns of flashing cameras.

This picture was snapped dozens upon dozens of shots later, just as we thought we had finally finished. Then one of the many photographers, a member of the Cinema Wasteland staff, suddenly exclaimed, "This is too good to pass up; I'm getting in on this!" -- then handed his camera to his girlfriend and sidled through the tables to stand in front of the group. More pictures ensued. And then more people joining the group to be photographed ensued! The expressions in this candid shot -- the way Donna and Mike and I are laughing, the way Coralina is looking at me, the way John is looking at the Cinema Wasteland staffer who wants a piece of this historic moment ("Oh yeah? You want a piece of this?") -- capture the spirit of the weekend in ways that the posed shot doesn't, and that's why I cherish it just as much.

Would You Believe... MORE Vacation Pictures?

Friday, June 27 -- It's the KALEIDOSCOPE Kids!

Lunch with Joe Dante, his partner Elizabeth Stanley and charmin' Charlie Largent at Musso & Frank's Grill on Hollywood Boulevard -- just a stone's throw away from the Monkees' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (We have photos of Donna's visit to that sacred shrine, too, if you're interested.) They make a terrific corned beef sandwich there, an open-faced job so big I couldn't finish it. I remember Joe taking home half a club sandwich, come to think of it.

I wish Joe was prepping Charlie's and my Roger Corman biopic script, THE MAN WITH KALEIDOSCOPE EYES, but the budget still isn't in place. He's currently in pre-production on two new horror movies, BAT OUT OF HELL and THE HOLE (which I told him will be called ONIBABA in Japan). Joe and Elizabeth aren't giving up on our project, though; they say they have never heard any complaints about the script, but the general (incorrect) feeling is that the story is too Hollywood-inside to be a commercial success. As we all know, it's only insiderly because it happened to famous people like Roger and Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper and Nancy Sinatra (quite a cast of characters, wouldn't you say?); the movie's message is as benign as it is universal. At the very least, it's a future cult comedy waiting to happen, the kind you'll watch again and again as you surf it up on one of your cable movie channels. A major Oscar-winning actor-director has expressed interest in playing Corman, too. If you're looking to invest in a terrific film project, let one or all of us know.

Next on that day's schedule was a long-planned pilgrimage to the Ennis-Brown House on Los Feliz. This fabled location, best-known as the unforgettable exterior of William Castle's original HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959), has been suffering some signs of age and erosion in recent years, but we found it everything we ever hoped it would be. One side of the structure, the side overlooking the city, has been shored up along its lower hillside -- but what haunted house doesn't have its signs of decrepitude?

The guests will soon be arriving...

Here's one now. Isn't she pretty?

Donna couldn't resist ringing the doorbell to see if Frederick or perhaps Annabelle might actually answer. She also once touched a Van Gogh self-portrait at the Chicago Art Institute, knowing full well that it might set off every alarm in the place. She's so amusing...

We felt stangely at home here at the gates of the House on Haunted Hill. After all, we've been haunting it for many years.

You can't get this close to the house's "front" door, but a camera with a nice zoom lens, pushed through one of the gaps in the ironwork gate, affords a better view than can be obtained in person.

By the way, Charlie Largent took these photos of Donna and myself. Compositionally and in terms of our expressions, this is one of the best pictures ever taken of us. Seeing these pictures for the first time, Charlie told me, "You look like you know the secret to the House on Haunted Hill, and you ain't tellin' anybody" -- but I really can't comment.

This photo was taken on the side of the house that has begun to slip down Haunted Hill. It might be that very room, judging from the leading of the window, where the interiors of Eldon Tyrell's abode in BLADE RUNNER (1982) were shot. It didn't occur to me to take photos of the repair work underway; perhaps, unconsciously, I didn't want to reveal this grand old building's infirmities.

I was there.

I was never here, but we passed it several times in our rent-a-car and I finally grabbed this shot of it. This eye-catching sign of a Los Angeles tailor shop reads like a Zen koan in comparison to the witticisms found on some of the churches we drive by locally here in Ohio ("CHRCH -- What's Missing? U Are!").

Later in the day, David J. Schow took Donna and me to the famous Dark Delicacies bookshop in Burbank. Here I am in the clutches of the store's mascot, who stands guard outside the front door.

Here I'm making the acquaintence of the store's proprietor, Del Howison, whom I once noted in a review is the only actor to have played Renfield in more than one picture. Del told me that he's now played the role four times, in different movies directed by Don Glut. Anyway, as the author of THE BOOK OF RENFIELD: A GOSPEL OF DRACULA, shaking Del's hand was like shaking the hand of my own character. He's the only Renfield actor I've ever met. We were also charmed by Del's wife Sue, who also runs the store and is camera-shy. She agreed to pose for a picture with us only if I agreed not to post it on the Internet, so I must honor my word. If you want to see Sue Howison, you'll have to troop out to Burbank in your best black clothes.

Earlier in our visit, my friend Lucy Chase Williams (author of Citadel's THE COMPLETE FILMS OF VINCENT PRICE) and her husband Gibby Brand hosted a party for me at their charming house in Glendale -- the approach to which, a blankety mountain range beyond an aisle of skyscraping palms, was literally breathtaking. I left my copy of her book behind for personal inscribing and returned with Donna and David J. Schow on Saturday, June 28 (our last day in town), to retrieve it. It was also an opportunity for two local authors, Lucy and David, to finally meet. I had to smack myself when I got back home and found we had no picture of Gibby... or their excitable mastiff, Ranger. Lucy's a wonderful hostess and friend and it was good to put my arms around her twice this trip. (Although David's doing it here.)

Trivia note: See that uniform set of books just above Lucy's head? They're a set of Robert Browning's poems and they belonged to Vincent Price when he was still a student at Lucy's alma mater, Yale University. Each endpaper is signed "V.L. Price, Jr. '31."

Team Watchdog at the Saturn Awards

Here are some shots that were taken by David J. Schow at the 34th Annual Saturn Awards last Tuesday, June 24. Here's Donna and me, posing with our Special Achievement Award.

Dining at Table #24 with award presenter John Saxon, who I complimented on his surprising performance in Dario Argento's MASTERS OF HORROR episode, "Pelts."

Guillermo del Toro meets Charlie Largent -- VW cover artist and Donna's most important collaborator in the design of MARIO BAVA ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK. Charlie and Guillermo had a great conversation about GDT's intentions for THE HOBBIT... and now both Charlie and I want to take another stab at reading it!

Donna meets PAN'S LABYRINTH's Faun and Pale Man, and the Silver Surfer, all rolled up in one: Doug Jones. A gifted mime, a very sweet and charming gentleman... and, as Charlie shrewdly noted, "If they ever get around to making a biopic on John Waters, there's your guy."

But all this is prologue to today's new entry on the Bava book blog. Click here for instant teleportation to more pictures and much more text.

A Big Rondo for the Little Lady?

Donna burning the midnight oil as she designs the discography layout for the Bava book, with lil' Pip riding shotgun, on March 10, 2007.

I filled out my Rondo Classic Horror Awards ballot a couple of nights ago and sent it in, but last night I received an e-mail from a friendly reader and customer that jolted my thinking about a particular category.

Tim Hammell of Calgary, Alberta wrote: "Just did my Rondo voting with MARIO BAVA ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK as Best Book, yourself as Best Writer for said book, and wrote in Donna as Best Artist for book design of said book."

This friendly note was gratifying to read, but especially for the part that had nothing to do with me. I'm on the ballot for the Bava book, but to be perfectly honest, I had not considered Donna for the Best Artist category and had cast my vote for someone else, someone who paints and draws. But as soon as I read Tim's note, I knew immediately that Donna was not only worthy of the award, but -- as I had witnessed at first hand -- had done more to earn it this year than anyone else. The wording of the category guidelines only served to further solidify my conviction:

25. ARTIST OF THE YEAR (for 2007)

Not your favorite all-time artist (although they might be the same), but which painter, illustrator, model-maker or designer did the best published (or online), work in 2007?

The key word here is "designer." Most everyone who received the Bava book has written or called to tell us how overwhelming it is visually, and I know myself that it actually satisfies the reader on purely visual and visceral levels before they read a word of my text. What Donna achieved with her design of the book is extraordinary, and if you agree, I ask that you consider Donna Lucas as your choice for Best Artist of 2007. Or -- if you've already voted, like me -- there is still the option of writing to Rondomeister David Colton at taraco@aol.com and reconsidering your previous vote.

Donna is the first to remind people who compliment her efforts on the book that she was assisted in her labors by people who are more deserving of being called artists -- Charlie Largent, Simonida Perica-Uth, and Matt Bradshaw -- but I can personally testify that it was Donna's vision of the book that guided them all, and that she and her computer were the final filters through which all of her assistants' digital work had to be passed, processed, and finally applied to page.

I think it's wonderful that the Rondo rules are flexible enough to allow for the recognition for the superhuman work she did. If you were impressed by the book, I would naturally appreciate your vote in the appropriate category or categories, but I would particularly love to see Donna win a Rondo all her own for what she contributed to MARIO BAVA ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK.

Guess Who's Day It Is?

That's right: The cutiful and charmbling publisher of VIDEO WATCHDOG, gifted designer of MARIO BAVA ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK, that friendly voice on the telephone, sworn enemy of all Big Business weasels, the hardest working woman in film fandom, computer genius, quilter extraordinaire, Monkees connoisseur, Oz collector, Hoops and Yoyo fan, Titanic devotée, den mother of the Old Dark Clubhouse at Wonderfest, mother to three cats, enabler of all my dreams, dedicatee of my two novels and THE VIDEO WATCHDOG BOOK, the best friend anyone could ever have (many will support me in this) and my beloved wif (no, I didn't forget the "e") -- Donna Marie Goldschmidt Lucas -- was born on this day [cough, cough] years ago!

As Bobby wrote and Ricky sang, "Bow down to her on Sunday, salute her when her birthday comes..."

And that seems just about the right thing to do.

Cover Story & Twitch

Now on Cincinnati newsstands and racks about town, the new issue of CITY BEAT (our local entertainment paper) profiles Donna and me and our 32 year struggle to produce MARIO BAVA ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK in a cover story called "Book of a Lifetime." Excellent work by Jason Gargano, which non-Cincinnatians can read online here.

And over at Twitch, Dave Canfield presents his own ATCOTD interview with yours truly.