<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: He put Colonel Sanders in his movies!
Review: Being that this is the only biography on Al Adamson to date, his fans really don't have much to go by. Thankfully, this book is a fantastic resource, as well as extremly funny. Konow started writing this book when Al was still alive, so its not written by somebody trying to exploit Al's tragic death, but rather a fan. If you're into Al Adamson's movies, you have no reason not to purchase this book. Since the other reviewers have already done a great job at commenting on this book, I'll leave well enough alone.
Rating:
Summary: This book is great.
Review: David Konow gives the fans of Mr. Adamson what they want in this book. He was able to meet Al and set his story straight and put it in a good-looking-easy-to-read fashion. I recommend this book to fans of not only Al Adamson but to movie fans in general who would like to know more about film industry and it's peaks and valleys. My favorite book.
Rating:
Summary: Great book about Al Adamson.
Review: I guess no one can say Al Adamson made any good films but don't let that stop you from reading this book. It's an interesting look into the world of lowbudget exploitation filmmaking in the 60's and 70's and it's a must for people interested in filmhistory in general and especially for those interested in old exploitation films. Interviews with Al himself, Sam Sherman and others with lots of anecdotes. It's all great stuff, this book is a must.
Rating: 
Summary: Adored By Dozens: Al Adamson, Low-Budget Pioneer
Review: The films of product-oriented auteur Al Adamson (and, significantly, his producer-collaborator Sam Sherman) have deserved a book-length explication for some time now. The golden age (ahem) of micro-focused film studies, outside of the ususal high-budget/high-gloss realm, is in full swing, and Adamson's films can lay some claim to personifying the basis of such writings. Sure, this critical sub-genre is motivated as much by nostalgia as anything else, but it has a place in the body of work detailing film history. So does Adamson. Konow's book, a work of clear adoration, sidesteps overt critical intent; the author presents a combined personal reflection and verbal history of Adamson's movies and his era. It works on a sheer fan basis, and fans (I'm one) will appreciate the glee and the inside information. If we leave wanting more, we must ask ourselves: Does the world really need two books on Al Adamson? Well, sure - why not? The only thing we have to lose is... paper. Thanks, Mr. Konow (and Lone Eagle Press), for this book, and its blatant heart.
Rating:
Summary: An Overview to an Overlooked Director
Review: This biography of schlock director Al Adamson is a friendly introduction to his work, if not a a thorough exploration of it. Reading more like an extended fanzine article than full-fledged bio, author David Konow gives readers an engaging tour of Adamson's career as a director of low-brow, low-budget movies that his partner Sam Sherman (whose recollections make up the bulk of this book) booked in drive-ins during the 1960s and '70s. Konow's affection for his subject is contagious as he giddily tells of the making of "Satan's Sadists," "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" and the incoherent "Blood of Ghastly Horror" (essentially three different movies patched together). Self-identified horror fan Konow gives short shrift to Adamson's forays into sexploitation and blaxploitation, however, offering anemic two and three paragraph synopses to such films as "Angel's Wild Women" and "The Black Samurai" and very little background about the making of these movies. In fact, "Schlock-o-Rama" offers very little insight to what made Adamson, who was murdered in the mid-90s, tick. Konow includes a lot of redundant quotes, "sidebars" that could just as well been part of the main text and is overly fond of exclamation points. But while his writing lacks sophistication, Konow's enthusiasm for the amiable director who loved Kentucky Fried Chicken and his wife and frequent star Regina Carrol, makes "Schlock-o-Rama" a worthwhile textbook for all fans of trash cinema.
<< 1 >>
|
