I first heard about Chas Balun in Fangoria in 1988. At the time the only source for extreme gore movies and weird video tapes was trading through the mail with other horror fans. These are the caveman days before everything was available on youtube. There are some I wish I had never seen (Like “Man Behind the Sun 731” or Cannibal Holocaust”) then there are some that I’ve come to appreciate a lot more than I did like: “Last House on Dead End Street”, which he did the commentary for along with it’s director Roger Watkins. It’s still only tolerable to me with the commentary turned on though.
The catalog was menu sized and it just described in each movie what went on and who directed it(sometimes). So you had to guess if it would be any good and gamble your 15 bucks in hopes that you’d have your face blown off and be nauseated. It helped you cross reference which director and actor did what and built your knowledge of underground stars and films (waay before IMDB). I mean this was high quality stuff!
You’d sit by the mailbox and wait for a blank video with a letter that was always signed, pretty sweet deal. Some videos I received were: Bad Taste( a few months before it was on video, The Beyond(duped offa laserdisc), Mad Ron’s Prevues From Hell, Dead Alive(a year before it was on video),Meet The Feebles(I was obsessed with early Peter Jackson films),I Drink Your Blood,etc. I had rented a lot of other ones at regular video stores based on his recommendation.
A lot of times I would write him back with a question, like once I rented “Seven Doors of Death” and the credits were all “Americanized” and the director's name was Louis Fuller. I was confused and asked him if it was really directed by Lucio Fulci? I mean I need conformation man I did! There was no internet to constantly rely on and I needed an answer! plus I had like one friend, who also was into these movies and he didn’t know either. He sent me a postcard (which I kinda already knew the answer),but the point is he took his time out to answer a stupid kid like me with such a simple response, that probably anyone could’ve figured out, if he took the time to think about it. I actually just went to the Virgin Megastore recently and they had the pristine ultra edition(all new print) of “The Beyond”(with extras),so we’re really talking dinosaur days for me now. My friend got a copy of “Guinea Pig” and played it for a bunch of drunk people and they flipped out, Chas Balun was the only source at the time for this video (which would later almost incriminate him). Retarded Charlie Sheen saw it and called the Feds because he thought it was an actual snuff film.
Chas Balun’s reviews and descriptions were brutally honest, rated on a scale of four skulls or the worst ever a Bow-wow(a small dog symbol was represented.)Then there was the Gore Score(which was one of his book titles as well) a 0-10 ratio. There was a whole team that worked effortlessly for “Deep Red Magazine”. If Fangoria taught me anything it was that, they weren’t giving me the whole picture, so I was forced to resort to underground trading. I still don’t know how all of these things previously deemed way too messed up for normal people to understand eventually became more mainstream then I’d ever imagined. It’s proof that society is completely insane now, but I’m actually really happy about it!
I mean Criterion put out “The Sweet Movie”, which I ordered from Chas and it was so murky I couldn’t make heads or tails of it! I’m glad this all came along when it did, because I guess I wouldn’t have appreciated it as much(does this build character?, or just turn you into a crabby old man?) It’s too psychological for me to get into.
Fast Forward into the Future: Rotten Cotton really supports his stuff on their site. They have the Ladies of Rotten Cotton(porn stars and Troma girl rejects, I guess, and really if you give any model enough money, they will pose in a “Cannibal Holocaust” shirt, no problem). Capers don’t belong on anything tasty and porn and gore don’t mix, that’s a fact.
I guess I have to mention Necrophagia, since they like to fancy themselves a tribute band of gore movies(which is a bad idea anyway),for me the only groups who have done it well have been Impetigo(because they are hilarious and were the first to tribute underground gore movies in song) and Rok Opera Inc.(who there is no information anywhere on,for some reason, it’s probably the dopey way they spell Rok?) Balun has done artwork for all of these groups(which is the only reason. I’m mentioning them. These people give gore fans a bad name and I don’t think it’s fair. People in a perpetual state of adolescence need help in general. Anyway I accidentally derailed there, I just think more people should appreciate this man’s artistic talent and contribution to underground horror films and I think a lot of people do, but this is just one person’s opinion on the subject.
Chas Balun Artwork links:(some art pics may not be SFW)
Deep Red Site
RottonCotton
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