My cousin Brian appeared on a local Chicago television show called Kidding Around when he was in junior high. The show focused on ordinary kids doing extraordinary things. Brian’s talent was…
All Posts By
Joseph A. Ziemba
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I’m obsessed with DIY comic books from the 1980s and ‘90s. Like their indie film counterparts, these comics explode with crude ambition, intense passion, and blunt savagery. One of my favorite…
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I’ll watch any horror movie that features a Swami. Especially if said Swami is capable of mind reading (Son of Dracula), crystal-ball-gazing (Supernatural), or raising spirits from the dead so that…
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In ninth grade, I was failing geometry. Each problem was an impossible riddle involving points, surfaces, and other trash. My brain refused to accept it. I felt helpless and frustrated. I…
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AGFA + Bleeding Skull was a collaboration with our friends at the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) from 2018-22. Purchase The McPherson Tape Special Edition Blu-ray here. The world’s first found footage…
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In Essential Deren, experimental filmmaker Maya Deren said that the essence of her work was to, “externalize an inner world to the point where it is confounded with the external world.”…
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Humans are the worst organisms on the planet. We hate, pollute, and don’t know how to share. That’s why we knock down trees for no good reason. But sooner or later,…
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There will never be a moment in time when aliens aren’t cool. By that logic, the same goes for Tartarus. John has spent his life scamming people for large sums of…
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After watching Fuck the Devil, I was convinced that the best 40 minutes of my life were over and it was all downhill from there. Then Nightmare Feddy showed up during…
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In Pop: A Survey of the Explosive Rise of Pop From the 1950s-60s, Andy Warhol is quoted as saying, “You have to do stuff that average people don’t understand because those…
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In 1964, one-and-done filmmaker Louise Sherrill wrote, produced, and directed a crude, avant garde reinterpretation of The Haunting and called it Ghosts of Hanley House. No one cared. Until now. While…
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When a movie called Fuck the Devil opens with a scene of a baby crawling across a floor, it’s safe to assume that something bad will happen to that baby. Enter…
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AGFA + Bleeding Skull was a collaboration with our friends at the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) from 2018-22. In 1989, filmmaker Barry J. Gillis and friends renewed the world’s faith…
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In issue 27 of Marvel Two-In-One, Ben Grimm (aka The Thing from the Fantastic Four) and his blind girlfriend Alicia are vacationing in London. But even on vacation, Grimm is his…
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The most beautiful visuals on the planet aren’t found on tropical beaches or the walls of the Louvre — they’re found in experimental Super 8 films. Especially when these movies include…
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In 2007, my marriage and career both ended within a six month timeframe. My entire identity was erased before my eyes. I got used to the fact that insomnia, pills, and…
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Someone went on vacation and brought us a souvenir called Flesh Freaks. FLESH FREAKS!!! College students Barry and Stan have a lot on their minds. Barry has just returned to Toronto…
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Chicago experienced a golden age of repertory film screenings in the early 2000s. And since I had just moved to the city proper, I took full advantage of the situation. From…
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A 1951 issue of the comic book Darling Love featured a story of love-gone-wrong at a costume party that ended with the protagonist saying: “Thanks to you, my fickle friend, I’m…
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In Where Evil Dwells, every night is Halloween. On June 19, 1984, Long Island teenager Ricky Kasso went to the woods, smoked PCP, ate acid, and stabbed his friend Gary Lauwers…