Movie buffs will be particularly drawn to a young Landis’ founding of his infamous zine Sleazoid Express, a monthly publication that was equal parts film journal and anthropological study. Told chronologically, Landis combines historical facts, the author’s perspective, and extensive quotes from Landis’ friends and collaborators to build a three-dimensional picture of a life devoted to cinema. “Sleazoid wasn’t just about exploitation films, it was about the people who watched and made them, and the environment that preserved them.” Landis is the result of Fassel’s passion as much as Bill’s, and the devotion and respect for the man in question is evident on every page. “Where had it come from? What did it mean?” Pursuing these answers lead the young Fassel on a personal odyssey into the salacious history of 42nd Street and eventually into the proverbial arms of Bill Landis.

Unaware of the larger history of grindhouse filmmaking, the young Fassel was left with questions that will sound familiar to like-minded sleaze freaks. Like so many fans, Fassel first discovered his passion for exploitation movies as a child. For both Fassel and Landis, it’s not just about the film, it’s about the experience that surrounds it. The book begins with the same personal perspective from Fassel as Landis frequently employed in his film writing. Landis: The Story of a Real Man on 42nd Street details Landis’ extraordinary journey from indie film journalist to legendary porn star to sometimes-venerated historian.

And now film fans have the chance to get to know the legendary writer and actor in a new book by Preston Fassel out Decemfrom Encyclopocalypse Publications. In some way, we want to be the films we love.Īlthough he probably wouldn’t have used the term, Bill Landis was a cinephile. We cinephiles don’t just want to know movies we want to feel like we’re a part of them. After years of being part of this insatiable group, I’ve come to one conclusion. We spend hours conspiratorially connecting the dots between plot points and social mores. The movie alone is enough for most, but we film fans aren’t satisfied until we’ve consumed, digested, and expelled every single facet of the experience.

We spew ones and zeros into the ether of Twitter when reviewers pan our cherished films. While the casual viewer may take in a feature on Friday and forget it by Wednesday, cinephiles feel deprived if their new favorite release doesn’t include 65,000 hours of featurettes.

Sleazoid Express by Bill Landis