CONTRIBUTOR: Damon Jones

All articles/submissions end with the initials DJO.

“Reared on Channel 4's twilight screenings of Chinese ghost stories, Jackie Chan's clowning kung fu and the rubbery titan that is Godzilla; I was ensnared by world cinema at an impressionable age! Thrusting a VHS into the slot, thwapping ‘record’ at 1am, and prowling the airwaves became an obsessive ritual. Trawling for foreign video in a sea of static; captain, high priest and full membership of an esoteric cult of…one. My parents resisted indoctrination, preferring the home comforts of Inspector Morse to the playful nihilism of Takeshi Kitano's Sonatine. But I persevered. A long, long time ago, before the age of internet, a cursory synopsis in the day's paper was one's only primer. Expectations were low, occasionally confounded, but irregularly delighted by the excavation of true oddities. Hopping vampires, flying spectres, deathly concubines - familiar, yet uncanny characters, mythical exports framed by a beguilingly different cultural lens. Cinema, yes - but not quite as I'd known it before. Curiosity led me deeper into the aesthetically alien world of Asian cinema, and a passionate affair with the Hong Kong ‘New Wave’ spearheaded by John Woo, Tsui Hark et al began. Enrolling on a university film course was the next step. This proved a compelling (and compulsory!) eye opener - introducing me to French New Wave, European modernism and even the tortuous antagonisms of ‘art’ film. Equipped with some critical nous and a voracious appetite for the exotic, I currently undertake armchair excursions to seek out the same elixirs I did when I was 12. The sensual, the bizarre, the strange and the uncommon, lesser spotted "what the hell was that?!" moment are my quarry. And, armed with my trusty remote control - I shall seek them out…”

Date Of Birth: 07/10/1978
Favourite Films: Branded To Kill, The 10th Victim, Jigoku, The Blade, A Page Of Madness
Favourite Genres: Giallo, Horror, Martial Arts, Action, Nouvelle Vague.

“Music and cinema are engaged in a permanent tug of lust for my affections; and often intertwine. I'm a wannabe DJ, and avid collector of ‘60s/70s music, with a particular penchant for soundtracks, psychedelia and off-the wall sonic oddness. Ennio Morricone (all hail!), Bernard Herrmann and Lalo Schifrin loom large from my pantheon of composer-greats. Other habitual pleasures include talking to cats in a high pitched voice, pasty addiction and the masochistic self-denial that is looking for decent records in a charity shop.”