Moonchild: The Films of Kenneth Anger

Persistence of Vision #1

by Jack Hunter, Mikita Brottman (Introduction)

Cultural Writing. Gay/Lesbian Studies. Kenneth Anger: author of Hollywood Babylon, true disciple of Aleister Crowley, former mentor to both Bobby Beausoleil and Mick Jagger, amongst others-and certainly one of the most original and talented film-makers of the 20th Century. MOONCHILD presents revelatory texts on the occult, mind-altering, homo-erotic, synaesthetic and pop-culture tropes to be found within such classic underground films as Fireworks, Inaugeration of the Pleasure Dome, Scorpio Rising, Kustom Kar Kommandos, Invocation of My Demon Brother, and Lucifer Rising. MOONCHILD also contains a host of opulent film images, quotes from Kenneth Anger, and a detailed filmography, making it the definitive study of one of cinema's most charismatic yet elusive innovators. "Kenneth Anger is a unique film-maker, an artist of exceptional imagination"-Martin Scorsese.

Genres: Film, Queer

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2002

Reviews

[Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must-read.

[Alex V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was already familiar with and a fan of Kenneth Anger's sumptuous and difficult movies (Scorpio Rising, Invocation of my Demon Brother, Lucifer Rising) but I never quite understood the whole Crowley magick business entwined them until now. Film nerds with a goth/intellectual bent, rejoice.

My favorite part is the list of earlier unseen films, including this description of Prisoner of Mars (1942) made when the film-maker was fifteen years old.

Cast: Kenneth Anger (The Boy-Elect from Earth). Synopsis: Science-Fiction rendering of the Minotaur myth. A "chosen" adolescent of the future is rocketed to Mars where he awakens in a labyrinth littered with the bones of his predecessors.

Brilliantly illustrated, with stunning stills that remind one a little of his groundbreaking gossip book Hollywood Babylon, which I may have to go back and read, since this book connects it to his Crowley ritual business.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a classic like the Alice Hutchinson book on Anger, but nevertheless a good study on one of the great living filmmakers. Kenneth Anger is truly an original force in the cinema, and his personal history is both fascinating and an inside look of the gay/artistic world of the 40's through the 70's. Remarkable man, There should be at least 12 more books on Kenneth Anger!

[Reyanne]

weirdos just used to be weirder