Crimson Orgy

An authentically seedy, almost charming tale of zero-budget horror moviemaking morphs cleverly into a genuine splatterfest in Williams’s unnervingly enjoyable debut. With just one week and almost no money, director Sheldon Meyer and producer Gene Hoffman hope to make the ultimate underground horror film on location in south Florida, but star Vance Cogburn is drinking, local lawman Sonny Platt is making trouble, and Meyer hasn’t told novice ingenue Barbara Cheston his real plans. Readers familiar with Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films or Bruce Campbell’s memoir If Chins Could Kill will find Williams’s descriptions of less-than-a-shoestring movie production wholly convincing, escalating crises and all. The gratuitous gore—filmed and real—delivers solidly on the horror end, and a sly framing device adds a slightly ambiguous layer of additional authenticity. Those looking for a pure bloodbath may find the book too literate, but horror film buffs should be delighted and chilled in equal measure. (Jan.)