Ant Timpson { Filmhead }

THE ORIGINAL CHUNK BLOWER : Chas Balun 1948-2009

The man who steered countless horror fans towards the joys of Italian cannibal flicks (especially Cannibal Holocaust) and underground filmmakers like Nathan Schiff has died. Chas Balun, the author of seminal fanzine DEEP RED as well as one-offs like THE CONNOISSEUR’S GUIDE TO THE CONTEMPORARY HORROR FILM & HORROR HOLOCAUST finally lost his long battle with cancer. He was 61yrs young.

I remember buying the very slim beautifully printed and illustrated (by him) book THE CONNOISSEUR’S GUIDE TO THE CONTEMPORARY HORROR FILM from the NY mail order company FantaCo and being impressed with it as a youngster. Balun eventually began the pro-zine DEEP RED which was inspiration to a lot of horror fans, especially when he started profiling all the horror zines around the globe. Suddenly this network of movie zines sprung up everywhere and it inspired me to started writing VIOLENT LEISURE in 1988. Through DEEP RED I met up with the Crimson Celluloid guys (Brett and Dave) in Australia and they supplied movie prints for the very first festival I helped Charley Gray put on. It was the Bad Taste Film Festival. So I have Balun to thank for linking us together.

His writing for DEEP RED was full of hyperbole and enthusiasm for everything from Fulci through to unheralded US indies. He was a champion of the little guy and in some ways he shot his load too early. If he had come onto the scene when the internet exploded, I honestly think he might have been behind an AICN or a CHUD.

Balun was also the source for the bootleg vhs of the GUINEA PIG shocker (Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985) that ended up being screened at a party Charlie Sheen was at. Sheen freaked out and called the FBI and suddenly Japanese torture porn was all the rage around the tape trading scene.

Balun had some fierce wars with Film Threat's Chris Gore over the years, I remember the writer Greg Goodsell telling me once about Balun confronting Gore at some convention (Gore apparently narced on Chas to FBI) and it culminated in some physical connection and ended with Balun threatening to tear Gore's head off. The guy was no weedy horror fan. He may have been a hippy in the late 60s but the guy was built like a steroid Grizzly Adams.

Balun went on to form good relationships with the company Rotten Cotten and Fangoria. He actually wrote a lot for Fangoria and especially GORE ZONE. I also remember he won or came second.. in the Draw the Thing for Fangoria competition way back in the day.

The guy was multi-talented and passionate. His style of writing was fun at the beginning but as I discovered more genre writing (Sleazoid Express etc) I kind of stopped reading Balun and eventually lost track of what he was up to.

So its sad to hear that he went out after battling and losing to fucking cancer. I was happy to hear his long time wife Pat Petric was there with him all the way. I think they may have beaten Robbins and Sarandon and thats nice to know.

Rest in Pieces (how many websites will say that I wonder)
Mr Chunk Blower.

NB - Here's a much better obit to Chas Balun by acclaimed artist and movie nut Steve Bissette Obit

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