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Schlock-O-Rama: The Films of Al Adamson

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This biography of schlock director Al Adamson is a friendly introduction to his work, if not a thorough exploration of it. Reading more like an extended fanzine article than full-fledged bio, author David Konow gives readers an engaging tour of Adamson's career as a director of low-brow, low-budget movies that his partner Sam Sherman (whose recollections make up the bulk of this book) booked in drive-ins during the 1960s and '70s. Konow's affection for his subject is contagious as he giddily tells of the making of "Satan's Sadists," "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" and the incoherent "Blood of Ghastly Horror" (essentially three different movies patched together). Self-identified horror fan Konow gives short shrift to Adamson's forays into sexploitation and blaxploitation, however, offering anemic two and three paragraph synopses to such films as "Angel's Wild Women" and "The Black Samurai" and very little background about the making of these movies. In fact, "Schlock-o-Rama" offers very little insight to what made Adamson, who was murdered in the mid-90s, tick. Konow includes a lot of redundant quotes, "sidebars" that could just as well been part of the main text and is overly fond of exclamation points. But while his writing lacks sophistication, Konow's enthusiasm for the amiable director who loved Kentucky Fried Chicken and his wife and frequent star Regina Carrol, makes "Schlock-o-Rama" a worthwhile textbook for all fans of trash cinema.

David Konow gives the fans of Mr. Adamson what they want in this book. He was able to meet Al and set his story straight and put it in a good-looking-easy-to-read fashion. I recommend this book to fans of not only Al Adamson but to movie fans in general who would like to know more about film industry and it's peaks and valleys. My favorite book.

If famed director Roger Corman was the King of the Bs thanks to his low-budget favorites, then Al Adamson was the Sultan of the Zs, a filmmaker who devoted a career to bargain basement productions. David Konow provides an overview of the filmmaker's often hard-edged drive-in favorites from the 1960s, '70s and early 80s. Those titles include Satan's Sadists, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, The Naughty Stewardesses. Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame appeared in Hell's Bloody Devils. None of Al's films made the AFI list of the greatest 100 movies. Al's female films were groundbreaking for their strong roles for women. Al's women were tough; they were not victims. Men were the enemy and were often branded and killed like animals.. Thanks to Konow, Adamson and his often misunderstood films will live long into the future.

Just got the Al Adamson book and its great!! Its a drag that he died the way he did, but great that he's getting so much attention. I find his films facinating--real personality.

There's a foto on page 57-- I just wanted to point ou that its from THE BLOOD SEEKERS (Drac Vs Frank), Gary Graver is behind tha camera and in the far left is Denver Dixon!!!

How can I write to David Konow? A website is listed in the book

Thanks---James B, recovering IIP fan.

The films of product-oriented auteur Al Adamson (and, significantly, his producer-collaborator Sam Sherman) have deserved a book-length explication for some time now. The golden age (ahem) of micro-focused film studies, outside of the ususal high-budget/high-gloss realm, is in full swing, and Adamson's films can lay some claim to personifying the basis of such writings. Sure, this critical sub-genre is motivated as much by nostalgia as anything else, but it has a place in the body of work detailing film history. So does Adamson.

Konow's book, a work of clear adoration, sidesteps overt critical intent; the author presents a combined personal reflection and verbal history of Adamson's movies and his era. It works on a sheer fan basis, and fans (I'm one) will appreciate the glee and the inside information. If we leave wanting more, we must ask ourselves: Does the world really need two books on Al Adamson? Well, sure - why not? The only thing we have to lose is... paper. Thanks, Mr. Konow (and Lone Eagle Press), for this book, and its blatant heart.

I guess no one can say Al Adamson made any good films but don't let that stop you from reading this book. It's an interesting look into the world of lowbudget exploitation filmmaking in the 60's and 70's and it's a must for people interested in filmhistory in general and especially for those interested in old exploitation films. Interviews with Al himself, Sam Sherman and others with lots of anecdotes. It's all great stuff, this book is a must.

"Ed Wood gets a rap as the world's worst film director. But the real culprit is Al Adamson. His flicks had bottom-basement scripts, minuscule budgets and actors with one foot in the grave, such as Lon Chaney Jr. Adamson's cheesy legacy is nicely chronicled in SCHLOCK-O-RAMA: THE FILMS OF AL ADAMSON by David Konow."

"David Konow's book is a tribute to the life and mysterious death of the king of the drive-in movie, director Al Adamson, who helped father the exploitation-flick formula of hippies, monsters, LSD, musical numbers, and occasionally dolphins. Throw in a dry martini and you've got Nirvana." --Vanity Fair

"Konow and his delight at discovering the offbeat auteur will strike a chord in any of us who've ventured off the beaten trail in search of cinema thrills. Konow uses tons of quotations from not only Adamason and Sam Sherman, both articulate men, but an extensive lineup of actors and technicians that goes far beyond the usual suspects. For instance, when's the last time you read an interview with `70s exploitation film star Sondra Currie? . . . this is a valuable, intriguing book, worthhile for its earnest collected voices and the portait that emerges not only of the late Adamson, who was murdered in 1995, but of the fiercely independent spirit that drove his filmmaking. It's just too bad Al himself isn't around to see it.