booking freakboy: LANDIS (The Story of a Real Man On 42nd Street) by Preston Fassel

Thanks to my love of John Waters and my Andy Milligan obsession, I’ve been circling around the name of Bill Landis and his underground ‘zine Sleazoid Express for some time.  Like a back alley neon-infused sign blinking off as I turned to glance, I kept missing the opportunity to learn more about this mysterious figure peripherally haunting my cinematic reading.  Finally, in my obsession to learn more about Milligan, I caught the neon sign flickering on and lunged for a taste of the phantasmagorical shadows within the 42nd Street netherworld of yesteryear.  

I was quickly fascinated by Bill Landis and his love of obscure, underground cinema.  He not only seriously reviewed these rough gems in Sleazoid Express, he essentially lived his life like he was a character from a 42nd Street grindhouse flick.  Sex and drugs fused and fed his creative soul, especially when Landis fulfilled his dream of becoming a porn superstar!  There’s much more to the story of Bill Landis, but I will leave it to Preston Fassel to tell the rest with his engrossingly compact writing. 

However, I must say a little something about my obsession.  One of the reasons I purchased this book is for the Andy Milligan FANGORIA article reprinted at the end.  Bill Landis interviewed Milligan for the horror mag and it may not reveal anything new, but it seems to confirm everything ever written about the sex-gore filmic auteur.  One aspect of the interview I gleefully appreciated was how, even though the topic mainly focused on his gore films, Milligan managed to slip in  his masterpiece NIGHTBIRDS a couple of times.  

In conclusion…
If you love underground cinema and Andy Milligan, then you MUST drop whatever unimportant thing you’re doing and read LANDIS (The Story of a Real Man On 42nd Street) by Preston Fassel!  Fair warning though, just like the grindhouse films Landis loved and reviewed, don’t expect a happy ending.

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words.

Freak Out, 
JLH 

P.S. I will have to further research Bill Landis to find out if he ever delved into the films of Walt Davis...

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