Tuesday, May 30, 2006

TEMPLE OF SCHLOCK - Zine Week Part 9

Now this one really takes me back. Not to be confused with Schlock, Temple of Schlock came long before I was writing for Factsheet 5. In fact, it's the first film fanzine I recall ever seeing. If memory serves, I subscribed after seeing an article on zines in High Times in 1988.

In addition to having the single coolest zine logo of all time, Temple of Schlock reviewed only the best and sleaziest of cinematic swill. In 1988 home video was only a six or seven years old (give or take), making this zine something of a trendsetter. Typewritten and pasted up, the look was downright crude, but it was cheap, dependable, and you sure as hell weren't going to find reviews of Warlords From Hell, Shanty Tramp, or Scream, Blacula, Scream in Premiere magazine.

Click on any image for a closer look.

Click here for: Zine Week Part 1 | Zine Week Part 2 | Zine Week Part 3 | Zine Week Part 4 | Zine Week Part 5 | Zine Week Part 6 | Zine Week Part 7 | Zine Week Part 8 | Zine Week Part 9 | Zine Week Part 10 | Zine Week Part 11 | Zine Week Part 12 | Zine Week Part 13 | Zine Week Part 14 | Zine Week Part 15

4 comments:

Temple of Schlock said...

Hi Matt. I co-edited Temple of Schlock with Paul DeCirce from the summer of 1987 until the end of 1989 when Paul left to pursue a life in music (he now plays for a band called Peace Jones and has a sideline project as BB Drum). I ran the Temple for another two years with the help of many great contributors, including John W. Donaldson (a longtime Psychotronic Video researcher), fanzine legend Dave Szurek, and my high school buddy Karl Buechner (later the singer for Earth Crisis). I actually got into Factsheet Five's "Hall of Shame" when Paul forgot to give me a bunch of new subscribers' names during the transition and they all wrote to FF to complain when their issues never showed! Ah, the good old days. Thanks!

Temple of Schlock said...

Also, gotta mention Barry Wooldridge, our graphic designer. He did some amazing stuff for us, including that logo you mentioned.

Matt Bradshaw said...

Chris,
Thanks for your input. Always glad to hear from a resident of "The Temple."

Paul said...

Hey Matt, Paul DeCirce here. Thanks for the scan of the old issues. I've got pretty much all of them myself, mostly for posterity. Truth is, between Chris and myself, we really managed to hammer in on a lot of sleaze, and I often refer to our own reviews for refreshment.

TEMPLE OF SCHLOCK was published from July of 1987 to about 1991 or so. We managed 24 issues with (At one point) about 150 subscribers (cripes, for 75c who wouldn't?) Our zine featured a lot of amazing stuff: interviews with Fred Olen Ray, overviews of hammer's films, so much more. Quite complete and well rounded, if you ask me. One cat I wanted to mention was DAVE SZUREK, we gave him a column called the "Szurek Zone" and he wrote massive 30 page missives in straight printing, listing scads of films. Me and Chris would howl over this unbelievable dedication. Anyway, just thought I'd go back to the old days of Syracuse for a bit. Cold winters and warm VCRS, ya know? Chris was right, I am in music now (http://www.myspace.com/peacejonesband) and living in the Asheville NC area. So; who's going to offer me and Chris a book deal, binding all 24 issues? First copies go to those angry subscribers, eh ??? PD, Asheville NC

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