Red Ink: Terror In 2000 A.D. Review from Blackest Heart Media!
If you check my review for Chas Balun’s More Gore Score (review here) you’ll notice I have a special place in my heart for Chas Balun and his works.
This one is an oddity. Red Ink was published very basically in 1999 by Blackest Heart Media and is a 32-page essay by Chas about the horror film genre leading into the year 2000.
Is Red Ink an angry rant? Nope. Is it a love letter to modern horror at the time? Hell, no. It’s a controlled summarization illustrated by black and white photographs from Re-Animator, Demons, etcetera, and interesting quotes from the likes of Rob Zombie, Frank Henenlotter, and more, including real life high school killers.
A rather grin-inducing quote comes from Tony Timpone, once editor of Fangoria, as he pounds into small press fanzines like Chas Balun’s own Deep Red (“Poorly written and designed, poorly edited…”) Ooooh, Tony with a large company behind you, and pushing out maybe five good articles in every fifty. Fanzines are done for love, not for money, not for anything other than a great indication to others like you, and a hive of underground information! I was personally raised more on Deep Red and In the Flesh, than Fangoria (though I admit Gorezone was fantastic and helped me along).
Chas puts into perspective the rise of the Scream movies, ‘jumbo budget’ epics such as Mimic, and hybrids like Se7en, From Dusk til Dawn and the remake industry. Time is taken over Halloween H20, plus the Psycho Remake. Chas aims barbed wire at Fangoria numerous times — for instance, how John Carpenter’s Vampires was his best since Halloween… erm, it’s good, but…
John Russo is beaten to a pulp in Chas Balun’s essay due to his stunning destruction of Night of the Living Dead, time and time again (I’ve kicked him about briefly in my review for The Flesh Eater (read review of Flesh Eater here) but you can truly understand why.
Chas writes without mercy what he thinks and feels. By page 17-18, the central article (?) does go off kilter and my interest began to wither away. Page 22 onwards brings in his famous movie charts, in this case it’s The 50 Best Horror Films of the Postmodern Era and The Chazmanian Devil’s Dirty Dozen. The Devil’s Advocate, Bad Taste, The Omen, Deranged, Carrie, Cannibal Apocalypse, Story of Ricky, The Nest, and so many others get a brief and cool overview.
Red Ink isn’t anywhere near Chas Balun’s best. It feels rushed in parts, rambling towards the conclusion, but for the fans of his novels, his articles and, of course, Deep Red, there are a few gems of wisdom from a guy who just loves horror movies and likes to pass his thoughts out to whoever wants to read them. Chas Balun is still sorely missed by all who loved his output, and Red Ink is for his people.
Book: Red Ink: Terror In 2000 A.D. | Edited by: Chas Balun | Written by: Chas Balun | Art by: Chas Balun | Year: 1999
Published by: Blackest Heart Media