Synapse Films presents FANTASM COMES AGAIN

A former distributor who introduced Australian moviegoers to the sublime (PRAVDA) as well as the ridiculous (THE CORPSE GRINDERS), producer Antony I. Ginnane later became one of the most important figures in the Aussie film industry partly due to the enormous success of his freshman effort, FANTASM, the first Australian softcore sexploitation movie. The smutty, low-budget moneymaker was such a big hit worldwide that Ginnane wasted no time putting together a follow-up. Tentatively titled FANTASM 99, FANTASM 2 and MY FIRST TIME, the sequel followed the original’s basic formula: 10 comic sex tales filmed in Los Angeles, starring American adult film stars, with linking scenes shot in Melbourne. The final result, FANTASM COMES AGAIN, begins in the editorial offices of an Australian newspaper, where retiring “Dear Collette” columnist Harry (Clive Hearne) is schooling his successor, the lovely young Libby (Angela Menzies-Wills), in the art of writing a sex advice column. In what adds up to roughly 20% of the film’s running time, the two writers read and answer 10 letters. The other 80% of FANTASM COMES AGAIN is comprised of 10 short, smutty films with “made in U.S.A.” clearly stamped on each.














To read the rest of Chris Poggiali's liner notes, buy FANTASM on DVD from Synapse Films!

Synapse Films presents LEMORA: A CHILD'S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL

“The dead travel fast,” wrote Bram Stoker, who probably knew that the opposite is true of legends, which spread slowly by word of mouth. For all the volume sales of Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft or Stephen King, it is fables, folktales and urban legends of the oral tradition that are the most enduring at lights out. Thirty years have passed since UCLA graduates Richard Blackburn and Robert Fern shot their first (and only) feature film, LEMORA – A CHILD’S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL, an amateurish yet crudely poetic and not infrequently eerie vampire story set in the American South (albeit filmed in the wilds of Pomona, California). Writer-director Blackburn and producer Fern had hoped to cash in on the vogue for low budget horror pictures sparked by the success of Bob Kelljan’s COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE (1970) and quickly assembled a cast and crew comprised of friends, lovers, first-timers and the odd industry professional. Although the troubled production did yield a finished film, the partners were soon discouraged by a disastrous first screening and difficulties with securing a distributor. In an interview conducted in 2003, Richard Blackburn recalled the film’s dismal reception...


To read the rest of the liner notes by Richard Harland Smith & Chris Poggiali, buy LEMORA on DVD from Synapse Films!