Bummer! I just received today's newsletter from Asian Trash Cinema (i.e. Asian Cult Cinema for you kids) and due to personal issues they're closing down the mag right away. The ish that's already out will be the last. At least for now.
I'm aware quite a few fans of HK movies don't like Thomas Weisser because of, well, heaps and heaps of faulty info especially in the ATC books, plus info that was purely made up!! (and a friend of mine who collects spaghetti westerns told me Weisser wrote a book on the genre and reviewed a number of films even tho those films were only planned but never got actually made!! Haha).
And not least due to his being behind Video Search of Miami (VSoM) in the early days (not so much because he was behind it as such but because their video dupes were often crap, to put it bluntly).
But, hey, I bought the mag in the early days from when #1 came out. Actually from when the first incarnation of the mag, Naked! Screaming! Terror! the special HK issue (that later got re-released as ATC #1) came out! And back then, when Craig Ledbetter was onboard, it was a lotta fun.
Sure the mag hasn't been "fun" for a long time, the old excited fan feel went down the drains a long time ago but they still published good interviews and info. And I just love to read a REAL magazine instead of always staring into a computer screen. I was looking for a misplaced tape today and found an old issue of European Trash Cinema (from '92) and I thought Gee, why doesn't anybody do real fanzines anymore (and where the fuck is Craig Ledbetter?? I'd buy every issue if he put out ETC again!!).
Thomas Weisser/ATC newsletter:
The current issue #64 of Asian Cult Cinema magazine is the last.
Effective immediately, I am shutting down publication of ACC magazine.
Personal family obligations force me and my wife Yuko to retire from this business and - at least temporarily - to relocate in Japan.
This may be a brief venture. Or Yuko and I could be gone for a much longer period of time. Simply, we are uncertain of our immediate future; however, I have already passed company responsibilities to my assistant, Archie Cole.
Most of you already know Archie. He has managed the Asian Cult Cinema and World Cult Cinema website for the past eight years. Although he does not feel qualified to helm the magazine (see his comments below), Archie Cole is committed to continuing - and excelling with - the ACC E-Commerce website. So, most importantly, you will continue to have access to all the Asian and World Cult DVDs.
I want to personally thank you for your support. It's been a good 18 year run.
The above post was originally posted on Dvdmaniacs, yesterday. I simply couldn't find the energy to write a different post for the blog. Live with it! xD
I loved ACC, still found it fun and jam packed with info. I also loved how Weisser got everyone from extreme horror novelists to porn directors to write articles (what's not fun in that?). I don't know too much about his fake reviews and such, but even if he were a complete huckster, I still loved reading his mag. The only one I had a subscription to and I'm sad to see it go.
ReplyDeleteYeah i was semi shocked by that news mail too! And surprised that Archie wasn't going to just take over and run the mag. Sad news indeed. Then again those books did spread some pretty hard misinformation, but then again they where a valuable source, and they will be missed.
ReplyDeleteYeah! Where the heck is Ledbetter? Why don't they just re-issue those old mags in a collected book form. Damn I'm sure that FAb or one of those companies would get in on that, and it sure as fuck would sell.
ReplyDeleteObviously, I agree with the both of you. As Robin of "Cinema Sewer" mag said over on Dvdmaniacs there aren't too many mags left. Too right!
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope that Thomas Weisser might return at some stage as he says in that newsletter. And yes, Magnus, someone ought to reprint those old issues of ETC!
In regards to Ledbetter: He's still out there. I have no idea of what he does in "real" life but he does run a bootleg operation called, not surprisingly, ETC. I doubt he's making a living out of it. You'll find it here:
www.eurotrashcinema.com
He used to sell old issues of the mag on his site but I guess they're all gone by now. I have never ordered any films from him or tried to get in touch. Back in the early days of ATC I ordered the first book directly from him and causally mentioned I'd lived in OZ and if he knew a mag called "Fatal Visions", to which he replied "It's one of my favourites". Hah. Happy days.
I also have a feeling that most of the old guard are being gently pushed aside in this modern age of internet and twitters and facebook because everyone is a Tim Lucas, Tomas Weisser, Ledbetter, Lucas Balbo etc etc. Shit is so much more accessible and everyone want's to be the leading hound in the pack of entusisatic "fanzine" scribblings.
ReplyDelete