Crimson Orgy by Austin Williams Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Crimson Orgy
Book Review: The cover is the best thing about it..
Summary: 2 Stars
I very seldom do not a finish a book that I have started. This is one of them. While reading, I kept wondering when the "horror" element was going to kick in. When I finally dropped it on the floor at page 184, horror of any stripe had yet to make an appearance. The cover art was the scariest thing about this book.Book Review: This book is made of cool.
Summary: 4 Stars
Austin Williams, Crimson Orgy (Borderlands Press, 2008)
Crimson Orgy is not, most likely, a book that's going to resonate with everyone. You have to be a fan of a certain stripe of exploitation film to really get everything out of it that was intended, I believe. (I could be wrong. I'd certainly like to be, because this book deserves the widest audience possible.) But whether you completely grok Williams' love affair with exploitation films may be beside the point; Crimson Orgy is a good read nonetheless.
Director Sheldon Meyer and producer Gene Hoffman are in the business of exploitation--which until the late fifties basically meant nudie-cutie pictures (as they were known at the time, I kid you not). Then came Herschell Gordon Lewis, the Wizard of Gore. In Williams' world, it's the early sixties, and Lewis' first gore film, Blood Feast, has just been a sensation in drive-in theaters around the country. Eager to cash in, Hoffman tasks Meyer with the creation of a Lewis-like flick. Meyer has other ideas, though; he wants to take the template with which Lewis had such success and turn out the deep, meaningful art film he's been wanting to make ever since he got into the game. So there's tension behind the scenes, and what's going on in front, well, that's not going to well, either. Meyer, out of an odd sense of prudishness, is feeding the leading lady the script a scene at a time, keeping her in the dark about the nature of the movie. The male lead is a drunk who's already on the wrong side of the hick lawman who runs the obscure Florida seaside town where they're filming. And the key grip is convinced the production is cursed. When one of the film's extras dies in a weird accident, the rest of the cast and crew start wondering if he isn't right...
For me, much of the pleasure of reading this book came from Williams' integration of the quick-and-dirty shooting schedule, and the techniques of shooting exploitation film, into the narrative. For others, that may not be the case, but Williams balances the movie-geek stuff and the actual story here quite nicely; non-movie-geeks will still have a strong narrative to work with, though what kind of narrative it is is up for debate. The book effortlessly switches gears from high drama to comedy to suspense novel. Impressive, but it does leave me wondering what impression we were supposed to come away form the book with. Still, that's not a gripe as much as it is a moment of confusion, and didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book in any way.
This is very good stuff, and I recommend it without hesitation. Read this the next time you've got a few spare hours; once you start, you won't want to stop until it's done. *** ½
Book Review: Writing is good, subject isn't of interest to me
Summary: 2 Stars
On writing alone I could have given this book 4 stars. Unfortunately cult films, or the making of them, are outside my sphere of interest. I get questions about why I read books I probably won't like and my answer is always the same. I like to expand my knowledge about things unknown. Sometimes I hit pay dirt, sometimes I get a duster. Most dusters get set aside immediately but I made it through BLOOD ORGY, mainly because I enjoyed Austin Williams's talent. The book, however, did not turn me into a gore film addict and I certainly couldn't recommend it to those who use my reviews to find enjoyable books.Book Review: a tense and terrific page-turner
Summary: 5 Stars
this is the kind of novel that makes you feel like the walls are closing in. very taut, the suspense becomes almost unbearable by the end. also pretty funny and sexy at times, the story moves along with a will of its own. i think Williams scored a direct hit with a unique subject matter.Book Review: ripping yarn
Summary: 4 Stars
This was very literate and highly readable book. Pretty surprised to see the venomous reviews up here. At least it didn't lead to predictable hollywood endings, which is my least favorite part of so many stories.