By Peter Tombs. 1998, St. Martins Press.

Buy it now from Amazon.com

First of all, you gotta admire the tenacity of any book willing to plaster its cover with a full-color photo of ugly ol' Lo Lieh in a red leotard. I mean, some people would have chosen a sexy Turkish woman or Amy Yip. But Pete Tombs and company eschew the safe move and instead proudly parade one of Hong Kong's ugliest action stars across their cover while he's wearing spandex.

That right there tells you you're getting something mighty special, and in the case of this book, you can judge it by the cover. Peter Tombs, co-author of the wonderful Eurosleaze film book Immoral Tales, is back in full effect with this book exploring the weirdest films from around the world.

Tombs' book promises us the weird, wonderful, and obscure, and delivers in frustrating quantity (frustrating because, if you are like me, each page turns you on to a difficult-to-find treasure that will obsess you for months). Some books on cult films promise you the zany stuff and then deliver yet another chapter on The Rocky Horror Picture Show or Friday the 13th. Tombs thumbs his nose at run-of-the-mill nonsense and goes for the real mind-blowing stuff.

Crazy films from Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, The Philippines, Bali, India, Mexico, and Turkey (among others) are covered, and Tombs turns up some of the most priceless gems I've ever seen. Bruce Lee Versus Gay Power?!?! From Brazil? Do you know how obsessed I am with finding this film now? A Turkish rip-off of Star Trek, complete with a Spock look-alike? Hindi disco/monster films?

I was pretty familiar with the Hong Kong and Japan material, so that was of less interest to me, but the rest of the book is phenomenal, an essential resource for anyone tired of the same old crap in your video store's "Cult Classics" section. I've seen Pink Flamingos already. Bring on the Turkish sex and horror films! Tombs writes with frightening knowledge about the most bizarre stuff from the four corners of the globe, and his writing is in a style that is both fun and informative. It's rare that a film book is actually entertainingly written, but Tombs words are almost as much fun as the films about which they were scrawled.

Dozens and dozens of pictures, some in glossy full color, adorn the pages. That way, you can ogle those sexy Turkish women (and they are sexy), Mexican masked wrestlers, Japanese bondage queens, and heroic Indian lads battling zombies in the disco.

I will issue a serious warning: you cannot buy this book and not become obsessed with its contents. You cannot leaf through this book and not find yourself suddenly launched on a quest to find a copy of Cheekh. You will be crushed and frustrated as you desperately strive to track down copies of these films. You will loose sleep wondering how you will ever get a hold of Cleopatra Wong.

Even if you are a seasoned veteran of the obscure film trenches, this book is going to turn you onto a whole new world. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see just how crazy the world is.

Labels: Film Studies