(Eclectic DVD Region 0)

Nick Zedd has always been a problematic director. A leading light in the Cinema of Transgression movement in the Eighties, he seemed to blow his creative wadd with two early films - the intense Police State and his Richard Kern-produced short Thrust in Me. Beyond these two essential movies, his work has often been overly self-indulgent and depressingly amateurish.

Geek Maggot Bingo was, I believe, his second 'feature length' movie. I first encountered this some years ago on possibly the worst ever VHS bootleg, where the colour had completely vanished and the images were so blurred as to guarantee a severe headache within ten minutes. Understandably, I didn't enjoy it.

So it was certainly a revelation to see the film on DVD. This clean new transfer is good enough to keep that headache away for at least half an hour. After that point though, the combination of super 8 production values, dayglo colours, bad acting and an incoherent plot tend to take their toll. This 'tribute' to Ed Wood features vampires, mad scientists and retro-trash imagery that tries very hard to be camp but somehow fails. At least you get to see Richard Hell and former Fangoria editor Bob Martin acting together... and how often will that happen?

Thankfully, the DVD also includes three Zedd shorts of more recent vintage. Elf Panties stars Saint Rev. Jen (a cute young girl with pointy ears which I suspect she wears all the time) musing on life as she changes into an assortment of panties and collects her 'magic elf juice'. Well, if you're going to buy used panties through the post, they might as well be from an elf...

Lord of the Cock Rings is a sporadically amusing but overly long Tolkein spoof, the title of which pretty much says it all. The owner of a magical cock ring is taken on an adventure involving half naked strippers and camp looking men. It's adapted from a stage show, so the cardboard sets can be forgiven.

Sadly, things all fall apart with the numbingly dull Thus Spake Zarathustra, which takes us right back to the worst moments of the New York underground. Even the hardiest Zedd fan should give this particular extra title a miss.

The disc also includes a (terrible quality) TV interview with the Geek cast and a photo gallery.

DAVID FLINT

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