4 Kelly Hu: A PREVIEW OF HER FF INTERVIEW Brief introduction to a forthcoming FF cover woman: she's also the chop-socky
siren on CBS' blockbuster, MARTIAL LAW.
Article by Craig Reid
5 FATALE ATTRACTIONS
8 Radha Mitchell: AN AUSSIE VS. ALIENS
A veteran of lauded, independently-produced movies, she competes with monsters
and sexual politics in a sci-fi thriller.
Article by Russell Drake
12 Candace Hilligoss: "CARNIVAL OF SOULS"
Back in 1962, she was cast in a neglected $30,000 "drive-in" movie that
would subsequently be acclaimed a horror classic.
Article by Ira Sandler
16 BOBBIE PHILLIPS: WES CRAVEN'S "CARNIVAL"
An X-FILES veteran and ex-SHOWGIRL, Phillips almost rejected this carnival cruise,
a remake of the 1962 classic.
Articles by Mitch Persons
22 Asia Argento: HORROR PRINCESS
The daughter of Dario Argento, Italy's sultan of shock raps about her dark side,
dad, horror, "shitty scripts" & America.
Article by Alan Jones
25 Asia Argento: "PHANTOM OF THE OPERA"
Starring in her dad's spin on the classic, she unmasks her heroine's virtue. rips
into "actor bullshit" & talks nudity and tatoos.
Article by Alan Jones
29 Asia Argento: FUTURISTIC EROTICA
The Italian femme fatale meets roguish U.S. director, Abel Ferrara for NEW ROSE
HOTEL: sex, violence, improvisation.
Article by Alan Jones
30 Asia Argento AS "B. MONKEY"
When her romantic liaison nuked ("I chose hard work over sex"), Argento's
role as a "mad fuck" prompted her to grow up.
Article by Alan Jones
32 THE BABES OF "TERROR FIRMER"
Tromettes Roxanne Michaels and Rachel Robbins in a sizzling pictorial on the latest
Troma discoveries.
Interviews by Dan Scapperotti
35 TROMATIZING TERROR FIRMER
The leading lady, and a beauty who had her fill of the Troma aroma, are divided
on their TERROR FIRMER treatment.
Article by Dan Scapperotti
43 Debbie Rochon: TERROR FIRMER
Scream queen Debbie Rochen, talks about Troma's low-budgets & stuff. /Article
by Frederick C. Szebin & Dan Scapperotti
49 TIFFANY SHEPIS: TROMA TEASE
Her further misadventures at Cannes: the indie industry's #1 N.Y. siren on sex,
Hollywood hyperbole, parties and money.
Article by Dan Scapperotti
56 CINDY SHERMAN: BLOOD AND BIAS
Turning director of OFFICE KILLER, the photog cracks the Boy's Club & reforms
the Horror Cinema's sex stereotypes.
Interview by Laura Schiff
62 LETTERS
EDITORIAL NOTE
Effortlessly sexy, cerebral, fiercely independent, envied, sublime, irresistible,
visionary: these words no longer apply exclusively to myself. I share this sparkling
description with Asia Argento, whom I suspect will draw the Fantasy Cinema into
a post-Gen X renaissance. Yes, she's an inventive actress, but one only hopes
this 23-year-old prodigy will more often park herself behind the camera: Ms. Argentoas
a director—could translate into serious therapy for a very anemic Horror
Cinema. I'm confident that Argento's exploration into her darkest psyche could
prove more visually melancholic than her old man's milieu. And I'd bet the farm
that she could translate that vision to film sans Hollywood extravagance (the
unnerving CARNIVAL OF SOULS, page 12, is a lesson in restraint. Budget, $30,000.
Jenny and I screen it with the lights on. In contrast, I forgot about the GODZILLA
remake as soon as the concluding credit crawl flashed on-screen. Budget: $200
million).
This issue will also introduce you to a couple of other renascent women. Along
with Ms. Argento, Cindy Sherman (page 56) is pioneering the female director's
regenerative impact on horror films. Laura Schiff, who profiled Ms. Sherman, is
also interviewing Jon Jacobs, director of GIRL WITH THE HUNGRY EYES: Jacobs has
genuinely reformed women's roles in the genre—the results are sexy, substantive,
scary and breathtaking enough to make one forget about CGI technology.
So why are we covering a Troma film? I suspect you're thinking that Asia Argento
and the low-brow Troma don't belong in the same magazine (let alone the same planet).
But Troma's latest quickie afforded us an introduction to Roxanne Michaels (she
did their movie to demonstrate an aptitude for fire-eating, not a metaphor here);
the outspoken actress/writer, charging-out of the closet, addresses lesbianism
in the sci-fi genre. She's crossed-over, earning the adulation of both women and
men.
Footnotes: Tiffany Shepis (page 49) has turned producer and we're prepping a cover
story on the vivacious Denice Duff (page 7). It's late: a Diet-Pepsi for Jenny,
a sake for me. See you in three weeks.
Bill George
