“Fred,” I said, “I just got back from seeing


SEIZURE. It’s great!” Fred had also seen the film recently. “ I thought


so, too,” he concurred. “Who is Oliver Stone?” (It was still a bit early for the average guy on the street—or even the average working film critic—to know the answer to that question.) 1 won the assignment to review SEIZURE for


CFQ’s Volume 4 Number 2 issue, in which 1 hailed it as “the most remarkable horror film to emerge since William Friedkin’s THE EXORCIST.” I wasn’t the first critic to recognize Stone’s talent—Kevin Thomas of THE LOS ANGELES TIMES noted that SEIZURE was “made with sufficient skill and imagi­ nation to suggest that Oliver Stone may have more


and better pictures in him”—but 1 was the most enthusiastic. Most reviews were petty and negative, like the one by Ted Gershuny—Mary Woronov’s ex- husband—who used his SOHO WEEKLY NEWS re­ view (March 20, 1975) to berate the film’s “smoky, pot-heavy Deep Thought” and to describe Woronov as a “Superbitch.” Gershuny actually claimed to prefer THE BEAST MUST DIE for its “intentional humor.” Shortly after my review appeared in print, 1


received one of CFQ’s quarterly contributor up­ dates with an envelope attached. At the bottom of the cover sheet, Fred had laconically noted, “Enclosed is some fan mail...”


28

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84