Noonan's Sci-Fi Fun Club a great place for cult genre fans; a chat with its founder

 

Today, Plan9Crunch blogs is thrilled with the opportunity to interview Clark West, who runs the Noonan’s Sci-Fi Club Facebook page. Recently nominated for a Rondo Award, Noonan’s is just a fascinating, cerebral journey into all things fantasy and horror … and more. I’m addicted to it and love to share observations, clips, art, blog posts and more. Ed Wood, vintage horror, grindhouse, TV sci-fi, Godzilla and pals including Hedorah, I’m a frequent poster to Noonan’s. It’s just a great, valuable genre site, and we now talk with its founder, who lives in Osaka, Japan.

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Plan9Crunch: Welcome Clark! You have this very interesting Facebook page that tackles some cult genres, and has a steady stream of followers and conversation. Tell us about your past, and how you developed an interest in these genres?

West: I got an early start. Really early! My older sisters and dad were Trekkies, so I cannot even remember the first time I saw STAR TREK, but I am fairly certain my first glimpse of the Gorn required a diaper change. My earliest memory of ANY movie was James Whale’s 1931 FRANKENSTEIN. I learned how to tell time because my sister Joy came home from school one day exclaiming how there was going to be a really awesome movie called KING KONG on at 8pm that night. I sat and watched the clock on the kitchen wall for what seemed hours, and very well could have been, waiting for the fat hand to reach eight and the long hand twelve! Shortly after that, my sister introduced me to Godzilla via the infamous NBC 60 minute broadcast of GODZILLA VS MEGALON, hosted by John Belushi in a Godzilla suit! That hooked me on not just Kaiju but ALL things Japanese. Anime, Kurosawa, Hello Kitty… you name it. Almost a half century later, here I am in Osaka, lamenting that I cannot, for at least now, watch THE TWILIGHT ZONE or DOCTOR WHO, the latter of which I was hooked on since I was a 5 year old, and I’ve been a TZ fanatic since I was seven, so why not devote my spare time to creating a Facebook Group celebrating all this stuff! I was born in Oklahoma but ran away as fast as I could.”

Plan9Crunch: What made you decide to take the social media plunge and create a Facebook page. How did your ideas for it develop?

West: All the peeps I refer to as the “Founding Noonans”, and I, belonged to a really fun Facebook Group more than half a decade ago called “The Science Fiction Multiverse.” (It was) really fun, except for the person who ran the group. One day the group’s “Overlord,” as he liked to call himself, had a meltdown and closed shop on our dear old “SFM.” So a few days later, Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun Club was born. I didn’t do it all alone though. A super fan named Perry Williams, our senior admin, as it were, was a huge help, even rewriting the Group Intro into something more presentable. And Andrew Gaska, now an award-winning professional writer of roleplay games and various things, talked me out of calling the place “Richard’s Sci-Fi Fun Club”, telling me “You can’t have a more Sci-Fi name than Noonan!” I am forever in their debt! And I owe a debt to my late friend Richard Noonan, in whose memory the page was named.

Plan9Crunch: What drives you to think about new ideas, and how do you keep the enthusiasm to maintain an atmosphere where new ideas can be discussed?

West: Perry Williams clearly states in our Group Intro, “And Everything Else Geeks and Nerds Love.” So I take that as cart-blanche. Just about anything goes! From Silent Movies to Baby Sloths!  I often post about interesting things in Japan, and our Welsh Administrator often shares facts about his country. I really want Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun Club to appeal to the Renaissance Nerd, the Anorak who is all over the place, the Otaku who does not where to curb their enthusiasm. Basically, people like me!

Plan9Crunch: You place an emphasis on hashtags. I try to make hashtags. I think it's an intriguing idea within the page. How do the hashtags increase the impact of the page?

West: The Hashtag idea was introduced to me by a former admin, David Cho, and I am forever in his debt! I was slow to pick up on the idea myself, but then I realized, it was genius! Especially if you come from a Message Board Background, the hashtags enable you to actually organize your Facebook Group’s content, making it easier to browse, and in my thinking, more conducive to the sort of fan scholarship I try to encourage in the group. The average Facebook Groups I am sad to say are ephemeral wastelands. Hashtags lend your post some immortality. It is a hard sell though. None of the Admins and Mods in Group understand the benefit. Except for our hashtag hero, Alex Pass! A new member Marcie Carpenter has also been a big help of late. I think the hashtags are FINALLY starting to catch on!

Plan9Crunch: Your Facebook page was nominated for a Rondo. That must have been gratifying. Who do you credit besides yourself for the nomination?

West: Just being nominated for a Rondo, that will always be worn by the group as a badge of honor! David Colton’s Classic Horror Film Board is what I am striving for with Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun Club! That level of fun, yet serious, scholarly analysis, and discussion of the things we love. Who do I credit for the nomination? All the fantastic members of course! They are the ones who helped us come close to that goal this year!

Plan9Crunch: What new ideas are in the planning stage?

West: My wife is very insistent I make something called “money”, so now that I appear to have a recognizable brand name, even if to a limited crowd … expect Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun Club, the Pod Cast, to come soon. I have also have been trying off and on to encourage members to create local, physical chapters of the Club. All of that was before Covid-19 hit. As the world recovers, or at least gets used to the new conditions, I plan to continue that push. We have an Osaka Chapter, with a Meet Up page and everything, but with only three members!.

Plan9Crunch: I think it's a great idea to have page followers vote occasionally. Although Noonan's Sci-Fi Fun Club encompasses many genres, what is your favorite cult genre?

West: I try to make everyone feel they have a voice! They too are playing a major part in the Group. So I usually put the bigger decisions up to a poll. I want everyone to feel included! I am not sure I can reveal my favorite cult genre though! Noonan’s Sci-FI Fun Club covers so many things precisely because I love so many things with a deep passion! I love the movies of Studio Ghibli founders Hayao Miyazaki and Issao Takahata. I consider Miyazaki the greatest living director of our times. I also have a huge soft spot for pre-code Hollywood, especially the Horror Movies and Comedies. I deeply love DOCTOR WHO, at least from the Hartnell era up to the end of David Tennant. I can’t wait to see what the returning Russell T Davis has in store for us next year. It really depends on my mood. I deeply love so many different things!

Plan9Crunch: Expound on the reason for the name of the page Noonan's Sci-Fi Fun Club?

West: Richard Noonan was a sweet, elderly man in the previously mentioned Science Fiction Multiverse. He got banned for posting too many “Off Topic” posts, and I led the charge to convince “The Overlord” to re-instate him as a member. He would send me video Christmas Cards of him singing “Amazing Grace” every year. With no near family, he spent his final few days after the heart attack in a hospice. I was text messaging with the kindly lady who sat vigil over him at the moment he died. I want Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun club to be a tribute to him. (It’s) a place full of compassion, love, and understanding.

Plan9Crunch: It might be interesting to know the advantages and challenges, of following these cult genres living in Japan.

West: Since I am a pre-code Hollywood kind of guy, it hasn’t been too much of a problem. I trust the members to bring me news from the outside world! Here in Japan, we get the Marvel Movies the same date as their American releases, and Netflix and Amazon Prime have me fixed for TREK. I do miss DOCTOR WHO though. The show had a huge following amongst Japanese women for a while, the idea of a handsome foreigner taking you away on a life of travel appeals greatly to them. Sad to say the current Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, destroyed that fantasy. But Japan and the US are the same Blu-Ray region, so I just need to make money and buy American Blu-Rays of DOCTOR WHO and the Classic Horrors and Comedies I miss so! I have many pots on the fire. I’m doing various English lessons, working on starting my own English school, and of course, I want to launch Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun Club: The Pod Cast! Perhaps then, I can interview you? Thank you so much for this opportunity!

Thank you very much. This was a fascinating interview. You have a unique, creative mind.

Review: 'Troll 2' cult film made in N. Utah's 'Nilbog'

On Sunday night, Oct. 31, 2021, Top of Utah dwellers can watch the Utah-made cult film, "Troll 2." It's at The Monarch in Ogden, 445 25th Street. The film starts at 8 p.m. and is part of this year's 9Rails Film Festival. The Monarch opens at 7 p.m. Watching "Troll 2" is free, but it's a festival, and a lot is going on. There will be food for sale, a silent auction, a costume contest, lots of stuff to purchase, including art associated with Troll 2. After the film, one of the actors, Utah's Darren Ewing, will take questions from viewers. 9Rails had a previous festival for another Utah-helmed film, "Plan 10 From Outer Space."

"Troll 2" was filmed as "Goblin" more than 30 years ago with an Italian film crew in Morgan County with then-mostly inexperienced actors. Released quietly to video as "Troll 2," (it's not a sequel to the 1985 film "Troll," though) it slowly gained a cult following for its bizarre dialogue, outlandish plot and sheer enjoyment value. It involves a vacationing family, and a few others, discovering they have entered a town, Nilbog, full of murderous vegetarian Goblins, masquerading a humans. They want to feed the "Nilbog" milk and mostly green food to our protagonists; the better to make them plant-like and ready to consume. The film is so much fun and resulted in a well-regarded documentary, "Best Worst Movie," about the film, its characters and its steady cult following. It was directed by Michael Paul Stephenson, who played in "Troll 2," and actors George Hardy, and Ewing, were part of the documentary. You can watch "Best Worst Movie" on Tubi.

Here is our Plan9Crunch blog review. Hope readers will enjoy the film as much as we do. The three pieces of original art are from local artist Steve D. Stones. 

Plan9Crunch review by Steve D. Stones

Ever see a movie so bad that it actually improves with each viewing? If you haven’t, I would highly recommend that you watch "Troll II." If your viewing experience doesn’t get better with each viewing, you may need to increase your dosage of Prozac, or just simply lighten up a little and relax.

After all, "Troll II" is just a little movie filmed in rural Morgan, Utah where the cows outnumber the local citizens 10 to one. In the case of "Troll II," the Goblins outnumbered the local citizens for several weeks of filming during the summer of 1989.

At the time of filming, a street sign was put up, changing the city to: NILBOG. What I wouldn’t give or pay to have this sign in my movie memorabilia collection! I would even trade a double-decker pastrami sandwich with all the works, hold the mayo and mustard please.

The Goblins in the film might not take too kindly to this trade, since they are vegetarians who sweat green and eat anything green. Young Michael Stephenson even saves the day in the film with a cold cut bologna sandwich, which repels the Goblins from eating him. My favorite scene in the film is when Michael Stephenson approaches a mirror to talk to the spirit of his Grandpa Seth, and ask for his protection and guidance against the Goblins that have him and his family trapped in a house.

A Goblin immediately jumps out of the mirror attacking Stephenson. Grandpa Seth appears with an ax, cutting off the left hand of the Goblin. The Goblin then jumps backwards through the broken mirror, and the scene cuts to Creedence Leonore Gielgud, the Goblin Queen, screaming in pain in her Goblin lair of a run down old church. She tries to heal her severed arm by shoving it into the crevice of a glowing magic rock.

The expression on the Goblin Queen’s face, played by Deborah Reed, is priceless, and worth  the effort to watch or own the film. A later scene has Reed trying to seduce a teenage boy in a motor home with a cob of corn. She is dressed in a sexy black gown with black nylons and high heels, similar to Elvira, Mistress of The Dark. I don’t know about you, but I have a soft spot for those sexy raven-haired women dressed in black. Come to me Creedence Leonore Gielgud, sexy Goblin Queen!! 

Little Shop of Horrors (1960) – A Humble Flower Shop On Skid Row

Review by Steve D. Stones

If you're a fan of director Roger Corman, you can't help but recognize the plot similarities of his 1960 film – Little Shop of Horrors to his 1959 film – A Bucket of Blood. Both films are great fun and make an entertaining double feature.

Actor Dick Miller, who played the struggling coffee house waiter and sculptor in A Bucket of Blood, plays a floral shop patron who eats flowers by sprinkling salt on them. Myrtle Vail, who played Miller's annoying landlady in A Bucket of Blood, is also cast in this film, only this time she is Seymour Krelboin's hypochondriac mother. 

Pay close attention for an appearance by very young Jack Nicholson as Wilbur Force.

Seymour Krelboin, played by Corman regular Jonathan Haze, works as an incompetent floral shop clerk owned by Yiddish owner Gravis Mushnik (Mel Welles). Mushnik blames Krelboin for his slow business, even though it is located in a run down part of town known as skid row. He threatens to fire Krelboin for the slow business. Krelboin pleads for his job by telling Mushnik that he has invented a unique plant by crossing a butterworth plant and a Venus fly trap. He believes this new plant will attract new customers to the flower shop.

Krelboin brings the plant to the shop and names it after Mushnik's daughter – Audrey (Jackie Joseph). Mushnik and Audrey are pleased with the plant and Krelboin is able to keep his job. Audrey is greatly flattered that Krelboin would name the plant after her, so she gives him a kiss and the two become very close and eventually engaged. The plant begins to look unhealthy, so Mushnik once again threatens to fire Krelboin if he cannot nurse the plant back to life.

That evening Krelboin pricks his finger and accidentally flicks blood on the Audrey Jr. plant. The blood brings the plant back to life. The plant even talks to Krelboin by saying “feeed me!” and “I'm hungry!” Krelboin eventually pricks all his fingers to provide blood for the plant. This makes for a funny scene when Mushnik asks about the cuts on all ten fingers and Krelboin tells him it is from ten bee stings.

Krelboin feeds the plant body parts of a town drunk, a prostitute he accidentally kills, and his murdered dentist – Dr. Forbes. The plant grows bigger and bigger with each feeding. This begins to greatly concern Mushnik, who witnesses Krelboin feeding body parts to the plant one evening when he returned to the shop. The growing plant catches the attention of the Society of Silent Flower Observers of Southern California and two giddy teenage girls who want to purchase a thousand dollars worth of flowers from the shop for a high school parade float.

When the chairwoman of The Society of Silent Flower Observers of Southern California arrives one evening to give an award to Krelboin for this plant, some of the buds open up on the plant to reveal the heads of victims fed to the plant. Krelboin then flees the shop. Two police detectives named Fink and Smith chase after Krelboin through a tire factory and toilet accessories warehouse.

Like the ending of A Bucket of Blood, Krelboin returns to the scene of the crime and offers himself as a sacrifice to the Audrey plant by killing himself inside the plant. Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) in A Bucket of Blood also returns to his scene of the crime and hangs himself in his apartment where he made sculptures molded from his murdered victims.

Both Paisley and Krelboin in both films are shy, quiet, constantly hounded by their boss, and later paid great attention to by the opposite sex for creating something unique. Both characters are also investigated by police detectives and chased through warehouses at the end of the film.

It's interesting to note that director Corman completed this film in only two days, which was a record for him at the time. He quickly utilized sets from another film that were soon to be torn down. Budget estimates for the film range from $22,000 to $100,000 according to Danny Peary's book – Cult Movies (Gramercy Books – Random House 1981). The film was later remade in 1986 as a big budget musical starring comedian Steve Martin in the role of a dentist named Orin Scrivello. This 1986 version also has a strong cult following of fans. Happy viewing!

The Beast of Yucca Flats -- the evolution of a cult film

The Beast of Yucca Flats 1961, 54 minutes, B and W. Anthony Cardoza, Executive Producer, written and directed by Coleman Francis. Starring Tor Johnson as Dr. Joseph Javorsky. Cast includes Francis, Larry Aten, Bing Stafford and Conrad Brooks. Schlock-meter rating, 3 stars out of 10. ... However, years later and several viewings later, this film has grown on me -- I'll give it five stars.

By Doug Gibson

The Beast of Yucca Flats is actually playing Thursday, Oct. 25 in Salt Lake City. Courtesy of the Utah Education Network, it will screen as a Halloween feature at the City Library, Chapman Branch, 577 S. 900 West. Film is free and popcorn, contest contest and games are planned. That's significant and we need to give this ultra-cheap, kitschy 55-minute film its due -- it has persevered. It's gone from simple schlock to unique so-bad-it's-good cult film status. Heck, it even survived a MST3K riff. Here, for the record, is my several-year-old review after my first viewing.

Few films are as inept as The Beast of Yucca Flats. After watching it, I'm convinced that a talented group of ninth graders with a few thousand dollars and a long weekend could do a better job than Tor Johnson, Coleman Francis and company. (Nah, I take that back several years later) The plot? A woman is murdered. A defecting Russian scientist (Tor Johnson) is attacked in a desolate part of Nevada by communist agents. An atom bomb explodes. Tor is turned into a mutant beast who wants only to kill. Tor kills, then chases a hapless family through the Yucca Flats. Finally, two inept cops kill Tor. (Yeah, the plot is the same)

Be forewarned: The preceding plot summary is far more exciting than this dog of a film. (NOT TRUE ON RETROSPECT) There is virtually no action, (wrong) and when Tor is on the chase, his big, aging blubbery body inspires far more pity than fear. (Today I change pity to fascination; Tor looks ill and is very obese, but give him credit for lumbering around a very hot desert outdoor set) Francis shot the film without dialog, which was dubbed badly into the finished film. The viewer rarely sees lips move when actors speak. (This adds to a unique, other word-type surrealism to the film. No one seems to be looking at each other, even when they speak. In fact, for all his grunts, Tor the beast appears to be the best listener) Also, the self-pretentious Francis adds ridiculous, over-the-top narration, spoken like a man on LSD. My favorite meaningless phrase is "Flag on the Moon." (NOT TRUE ANYMORE: the bizarre narration adds to the film's outlandish plot and conspiracy. In this film, everyone looks disgruntled and depressed or lazy. I love the scene where one of the desert cops is roused from looks like a bout of morning sex with the missus or mistress. As he leaves, to narration, the broad in the bed gives him a look of utter disgust and cynicism. It somehow seems very appropriate for the bizarro world director Francis has unleashed.)

It merits three stars only because The Beast is Tor Johnson, whose always fun to watch bellow. Those who dare watch it should see the MST3K version. At least there's a few laughs. (Doug Gibson speaking: I must admit, adding to this a few years later after originally writing the review, the film has grown on me. It is bad, but unique and strangely watchable; a real cult film. I give it an extra star!) (and now I've added an extra star. (Also, I neglected in the original review to mention the nude scene prologue, which makes no sense. A young woman gets out of the shower. Sits down a very depressing cot-bed, and is squeeze-strangled to death by a fat, meaty hand that look like Tor's. But why, the good Dr. Javorsky has yet to be nuked? Ah, the intentional nonsensical plot of a cult cheapie!

Notes: Ed Wood actor Conrad Brooks has a small role; Cult figure Titus Moody helped with production; Coleman Francis directed three films spoofed by MST3K: Beast, Skydivers, and Red Zone Cuba; Francis' wife and sons were in the film. The non-MST3K version has a very brief nude scene. "Beast of Yucca Flats" is essentially a silent film, with narration and brief dialog, obviously recorded since you don't see the speaking actors' faces. The entire film can be seen on YouTube and is part of the UEN Sci-Fi Friday cycle of movies. (I'll add that this cheapie played the third or fourth bill of drive-ins and grindhouses for more than a decade -- I guess that nude scene paid off. I read somewhere that originally, the producers could not find a distributor so a movie house was rented in San Diego. Apparently, the film sold well here, and Tor was mobbed by fans.)

-- Doug Gibson

Welcome to Plan 9 Crunch

At Plan 9 Crunch Web zine, we promise readers one truth -- IT'S ALL ABOUT CULT FILMS!
This blog is run by Steve Stones and Doug Gibson. Steve's an art professor at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Our zine logo, at the top of the page, is his. It's called Plan 9 Crunch. Most of the artwork on the blog will be Steve's. He also has what may be the best collection of cult films in Utah, or the United States. Want a copy of Bela Lugosi in the silent The Deerslayer? Or Jack Hill's Spider Baby? Or Dwain Esper's Maniac? Or George Zucco's Mad Monster? Or Ray Dennis Steckler's Body Fever? Or Pam Grier in Coffy? Or David Hewitt's Mighty Gorga? Ed Wood's Sinister Urge? Or Andy Milligan's Guru the Mad Monk? Or ... you get the picture? Steve has about every cult film an afficianado has heard of, and a lot you may not have heard of.
Steve has the perfect definition of a true cult film: A cult film to me has to be like an ugly lost puppy that you want to take home and nurse back to health, even though you know it may not survive.
Doug is the assistant editorial page editor at the Standard-Examiner, a 60,000-plus circ daily in northern Utah. Doug writes a column for the Standard as well, and helps on the copy and design desk. He also teaches a class on journalism at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Doug has been a huge fan of Bela Lugosi all his life. As a teen he saw Plan 9 From Outer Space on Channel 13 in LA after midnight and from that point on was hooked on Ed Wood.
But enough about us. What about Plan 9 Crunch? As mentioned, in this film zine, we deal with cult, the effortless iconic. The first rule of cult is simple: It can't try to be a cult film. That's why Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is NOT a cult film and Milligan's Torture Dungeon is. No film can debut as a "cult." It has to earn that status. It has to have a certain uniqueness, a certain trait from the writer, or director, or actors, or all combined, that leaves a lasting impression on a healthy percentage of viewers. This certain uniqueness ages well, gets better with time and repeat viewings.
Most importantly, the creators of a great cult film are never aware that they are creating an iconic film, a cult classic. When Dudley Manlove's Eros was screaming "You see, you see, you stupid fools!" while warning Ed Wood's earthlings about THE SOLARONITE in Plan 9 From Outer Space, we're sure no one on that tiny Quality Studios set thought they'd created a punchline for the next century. Heck, Wood was likely just hoping Manlove could get it all in one take, and save a few dollars. In the back of his mind he was probably wondering how he was gonna make a grand or two from this film when it was finished.
In Plan 9 Crunch zine, we will look at cult genres, cult directors, cult screenwriters, cult producers, cult actors and the films. We are confident that we can keep Plan 9 Crunch going for decades. Our resources are limitless. Here's a very small sample of names: Ed Wood, Andy Milligan, Ray Dennis Steckler, David Hewitt, Jean Yarbrough, Edgar Ulmer, Al Adamson, Jack Hill, Russ Meyer, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Mario Bava, K. Gordon Murray, Roger Corman, William Beaudine, James Whale, Tod Browning, and those are just directors. What about Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, John Carradine, George Zucco, Lon Chaney, Lon Chaney Jr., Dwight Frye, Vincent Price, Evelyn Ankers, J. Carroll Naish, Angelito Rossitto, Glen Strange, William Kerwin, Susan Cassidy ... and countless more actors. There's so many more: Dwayne Esper, David Friedman, Harry Novak, Doris Wishman ... Or genres: the silents, including Nosferatu, Cat and the Canary, The Unknown and Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
Expect a series on the Monogram horror films of the 1940s, or how the Harry Potter novels compare with the films. Also, we promise more than just perfunctory reviews and biographies at Plan 9 Crunch. We will entertain our readers with lively, opinionated pieces on cult films and try hard to include information that readers can't find anywhere else.
This zine will be updated at least weekly. We will have a theme each month. We'll start with Ed Wood. All our entries will be archived, and there's a section for feedback. We hope we'll get a lot of feedback.