Vispo: Dancer At The End Of Time / Fred Astaire in Hard Core Horror / Horror films / British Murder Boys

 

Dancer At The End Of Time, RTomens 2026

The title is stolen from Michael Moorcock, as I'm sure you know. The dancer in my piece is Fred Astaire, minus his cane because that would have proved impossible to cut out. A few hours after making this piece I picked up a copy of Hard Core Horror (No.2) just for a flick through, and where should I land but on a page featuring Fred Astaire. 

You may be wondering what the hell Fred is doing in a comic strip with a title like that and I would explain but life really is too short so I suggest you buy the Hard Core series, then everything else published by Savoy. That should keep you occupied for most of the year.

Alain Resnais' Last Year in Marienbad is an exquisite film, isn't it? Dreamlike. Yes...but I think I'll be watching Predator next - ha-ha. Starship Troopers seems to have set me on the trashy monster movie path. But is it trashy? Perhaps. It's a no-brainer! Alien, on the other hand, is almost 'art'. It creates tension, a claustrophobic atmosphere on the brilliantly designed Nostromo....etc...you know all about it.

Fear of The Alien was palpable in the cinema, as I recall. The only scary monster that had a similar effect in my cinematic experience was Dennis Hopper's Frank in Blue Velvet.  I'm not one for Horror films, generally. It's not my favourite genre. That said, The Haunting (1963) and The Shining are two of my very favourite films. Truth is I'm a lightweight who scares easily and hates the site of onscreen buckets of blood. I have an overactive imagination, perhaps. As a kid, native Americans whooping around a campfire in an old Hollywood film would have me terrified in bed at night, thinking they might come creeping into my bedroom for my young scalp. I should take the British Murder Boys advice...