Film Freak

by Christopher Fowler

It’s the late 1970s, and Christopher Fowler is a film freak, obsessively watching lousy films in run-down fleapit cinemas. Longing to put his dreams on the screen and become a famous screenwriter, he heads for Wardour Street, the nation’s equivalent of Hollywood, with an armful of scripts.

But he’s made a spectacular mistake. He arrives just as the industry falls to its knees, knocked down by the first appearance of video and the destruction of the old movie palaces. The only films being made are smutty low budget farces and TV spinoffs. He thought he’d be asked to make another ‘Bullitt’, but finds himself writing short films for boilers.

Somehow, against the odds, he finds success – although in a very different form from the one he expected.
Ghastly, hilarious and finally moving, Film Freak is a trawl through the arse-end of the British film industry that turns into a search for friendship and happiness.


Ghastly, hilarious and finally moving, Film Freak is a trawl through the arse-end of the British film industry that turns into a search for friendship and happiness.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Autobiography, Biography, Memoir

333 pages, Hardcover

First published April 11, 2013

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Christopher Fowler was an English writer known for his Bryant & May mystery series, featuring two Golden Age-style detectives navigating modern London. Over his career, he authored fifty novels and short story collections, along with screenplays, video games, graphic novels, and audio plays. His psychological thriller Little Boy Found was published under the pseudonym L.K. Fox.
Fowler's accolades include multiple British Fantasy Awards, the Last Laugh Award, the CWA Dagger in the Library, and the inaugural Green Carnation Award. He was inducted into the Detection Club in 2021. Beyond crime fiction, his works ranged from horror (Hell Train, Nyctophobia) to memoir (Paperboy, Film Freak). His column Invisible Ink explored forgotten authors, later compiled into The Book of Forgotten Authors.
Fowler lived between London and Barcelona with his husband, Peter Chapman.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok this is a tricky one - I have the upmost admiration for Christopher Fowler- not only has he written some of the most interesting and original books I have read in a long time (I still love re-reading breath) but he has also lived and survived some of the most tumultuous times in what can only be seen as the most outlandish and bizarre lines of work I have ever known. Not only has he calmly and entertainingly written about these episodes which I think I would have needed therapy for but also been able to come out the other side with his dignity and all his senses. For this alone I struggle to write comments about this book which dont ooze admiration and respect for the man (nuts I think just have) but there is also the fact that so many of the films, locations and personalities I actually recognise - and he was there in the midst of it all.

Ok seriously if you enjoy 80s cinema from a British and more specifically London point of view this is a interesting and realistic view on it all. If you enjoy Christopher Fowlers works and wonder how a mind comes up with such work - well this gives a pretty good idea why.
The man never stops fascinating me and entertaining me and I hope there are more of his exploits written about

[Otherwyrld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part autobiography, part history of British cinema, Film Freak in the end doesn't really work precisely because it tries to combine two different stories and sacrifices too much detail to really satisfy the readers curiosity about either. For all that, it has some interesting things to say about both, and in the end I was glad enough to read it.

The author shows us his life as he tries to make it in the British film industry which just happens to be on its last legs at the point he gets involved with it. We meet a lot of larger than life characters, including a lot of film stars (though I could have done without the copious footnotes describing who each of them are, as most of those thus described really need no such introduction). There is the occasional tendency to name drop a list of character actors, though mainly in the context of describing the kind of films they were involved in rather than as personal acquaintances, though the stories of casually inviting famous film stars to the pub for a quick drink are pretty amusing.

The real meat of the story is in the authors descriptions of British society and the way it would be reflected (or sometimes blithely ignored) in the films that were being produced at the time. The story is roughly chronological, and show a rapidly changing and often disintegrating society. There are some interesting essays on various aspects of cinema interspersed throughout the book.

The other main highlight is in the authors relationship with his business partner Jim, and the pathos of his decline and death is very moving (though spoiled a little by having two irrelevant footnotes on the final page). Despite all the setbacks (dreadful times at the Cannes Film Festival, three miserable years in Hollywood, etc.) the author seems to have been very lucky to have made it through more or less intact, and these days probably relatively well-off.

I couldn't quite offer this 4 stars, but 3 1/2 stars would probably be closer.

[Stephen McQuiggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

At heart this is a simple love story, and not just for the movies but for Jim Sturgeon - mentor, friend, and brother in arms. It's Fowler's passion, bordering on obsession, that shines through; his trawls through countless fleapit cinemas and endless double-bills; his hunting out of iconic film locations and his earnest love of much derided B-movies; his withering contempt for the modern day plotless noisefest CGI blockbusters. It's hard to fathom how the English film industry ran out of a few dingy offices in Wardour Street, and how it managed to survive for as long as it did. The insider's view he gives of Cannes and the wasteland that is Hollywood is predictably depressing, but there are so many great little anecdotes peppered through the narrative it is hard not to smile.

[Chris Everson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second of Christopher Fowler's memoirs, and is also very enjoyable. Though I do wonder if that is the right word. It has humour and is glib at times, but it is also unbearably sad at times.

It follows Fowler as he bids to become a screenwriter in London. The problem is that it is the late 70s and the British film industry is dead on it's arse. I suspect it will appeal to people of a certain vintage more than others, but anyone who wants a glimpse into the capital's goings on in the 70s should give it a look. It is filled with footnotes, which for once are interesting and add something. There are top 10s, lists and they are great. I will print one of them, which I can verify is true, and which I find funny and sad at the same time.

Psychological term Now on the left, Psychological term then on the right.

ADD - Fidget
OCD - Little Miss Neat
Autistic - In a world of his own
Hyperactive - Class clown
Learning Disability - Slow on the uptake
Anger Management Issues - Stroppy
Eating Disorder - Likes his food
Tourette's Syndrome - Potty Mouth
Sex Addict - Popular
Clinically Obese - Big-boned
Lesbian - Tomboy
Hypertense - Chatterbox
Oppositianally Defiant - Bloody-minded
Gender Identity Dysfunction - Loves the dressing-up box
Dyslexic - Outdoorsy
Manic Depressive - Sulks if he doesn't get his own way
Bipolar - Moody
Conduct Disorder - Keen on sport
Anxiety Disorder - Lives on her nerves
Dissociative Disorder - Easily led
Social Anxiety - A bit shy
Borderline Psychotic - A natural leader
Panic Disorder - Excitable
Anorexic - Fussy eaterNarcissistic Personality Disorder - Well turned out

I can confirm that it WAS like that, and that's the thing about the book. It will make you smile and sad in equal measure. I loved the book. It gets 4 stars because I enjoyed Paperboy more.

And a final bit of trivia... Christopher Fowler came up with the tagline for 'Alien'... In Space No-one Can Hear You Scream. :-)

[Roberta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just because I love an author's fiction doesn't mean that I should read their non-fiction. Don't judge the book by its cover.

Two good quotes:

Page 82 "Charisma is a very peculiar quality that has no correlation with beauty and very little with brains. There are people who can turn heads in any restaurant and make bank managers beg or friendship."

Page 135 "Cleverness is not intelligence, but a curse that makes you disparage and dismiss those who can't keep up."

According to Christopher Fowler, we (his generation) missed the golden age of cinema by thaaaat much. He chronicles the fall. Films and film making since have become sad, grubby, and tawdry. As a matter of fact, everything has become sad, grubby, and tawdry.

This book is basically a list of all the movies Christopher Fowler saw (thousands) for work and for pleasure, in more or less chronological order, with some shorter lists of best and worst, with very short commentary, sometimes less than a sentence but sometimes much more, on specific films, people involved in the making of or his watching the film, or just his tangential personal remarks. There are a lot of anecdotes about his work at an advertising agency. Fowler visits his mother every nine days to do his laundry and often leaves before his laundry is dry because he tires of hearing his parents bicker. This could be riveting reading for some but I found it too sad.

[Stephen Bacon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Film Freak by Christopher Fowler is a wonderfully entertaining read. Part autobiography, part reflection on cinema, the book is a memoir by the late, great Fowler covering his childhood, teenage years and working life in both the entertainment industry and his literary career. It's peppered with amusing anecdotes and poignant observations on life. His relationship with business partner Jim Sturgeon is described with particular fondness, and Fowler illustrates his life's events with the deft brush of a skilled storyteller. I loved reading about their journey from copywriting to working in the film industry, and Fowler's prose is at times hilarious, other times heartbreaking and full of pathos, reminding us what a loss his recent passing is. Film Freak is an effortless read and one that comes just as easy to recommend.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because of Christopher Fowler's 'second' career as a novelist, writer of the interesting Bryant & May series. I think I must be working backwards as there's another volume of memoirs, Paperboy, about his younger childhood. This focused on his love of film and his involvement with the industry. I still can't quite get my head around what he actually did other than that come up with those catchy straplines.

It was an enjoyable unsentimental elegy for the old days of film and cinema and a beautiful love story of his friendship and business partnership... as he says, 'bromance' doesn't cut it

[Jenny Simanis · Rating 2 out of 5]

really tried with this audiobook but just couldn't get into it. I think perhaps I'm just not the target audience and it's for serious film buffs because it just totally missed the mark for me, although there were some good stories in there

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting analysis of the film industry by a man who jointly owned and ran one of the UK's top film marketing companies.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love films. I love cinema.

Also, the absolute joy of finding a Fowler book I had not read.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume of Chris Fowler’s memoirs (after “Paperboy”), this follows him leaving home as a teenager and going to work in London from the 70s through to the early 2000s. Starting out in advertising, before setting up The Creative Partnership with his friend and colleague Jim Sturgeon, this ties in his timeline with the decline, minor rise and further decline of the British Film Industry, as Soho and London changes around him. It’s not a melancholic book - in fact, with plenty of one-liners and great use of footnotes, it’s actually very funny - but it is sobering to see how times have changed, from the nudie-cuties of the Seventies, through the Palace Pictures explosion of the 80s and 90s, to the sanitised Hollywood product we have today. Unflinching in his opinion on modern film (blockbusters especially) but conveying beautifully his love for trash cinema (and the need for it to be balanced with great films), this is a true love-letter to a London that was changing even as he discovered it and the films that had the temerity to be different (if, on occasion, a little sleazy). More than that, it’s a touching memoir of a great friendship, as Chris and Jim battle through the decades, building their company and respect for one another, whilst remaining very different people (and the final chapter brought a tear to my eye). My only niggle is that it meanders through the years - so a paragraph can start in the 70s and end in the 80s, with no dates listed so it’s only the film titles to give a clue - but that’s easily outweighed by the sheer enthusiasm he has for life, cinema and friends. A wonderful read and highly recommended.

[George Kingsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with the life lived by Christopher Fowler, the book combines my two great passions, film and nostalgia, Fowler's book chronicles the life of a film industry insider through thirty years of his life. He grows from a film obsessive to a marketing director to an established novelist, I really enjoyed reading about run-down, leaking aged cinemas on their last legs showing double bills to a an audience of 5.

Fowler gives us intelligent and amusing thoughts on films throughout the decade, he paints an accurate picture of English Cinema in the 70's and delivers a bitter retrospective of the LA lifestyle. I don't agree with all the opinions of the author (Tarantino and the Inbetweeners) but I love how enthusiastic he is with medium of cinema. Throughout decades in the industry, Fowler sees Hollywood as a cynical and ugly business.

This is a great book for film fans, this is a book about friendship, a love of the movies, and the creative boom of the 1970's. I think everyone studying media or film today should read this book!

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light, fun read if you're at least vaguely familiar with British film and television from the 1960s onward. Fowler writes light novels, which I've enjoyed, but this is more or a memoir of his professional career mostly as a publicist for British films and TV. He writes in an entertaining way and the book moves swiftly if a little randomly, sometimes virtually as stream-of-consciousness (paragraphs don't necessarily follow in a logical way). He writes about many, many obscure British movies and some that are well known but for reasons of his own barely mentions David Lean, one my favorite directors. I don't think Film Freak will work for people not familiar with London or British media, but if you are, you'll enjoy it.

[Anji · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely interesting look at the history of British cinema, iit's greay successes,t's demise and it's perisodic attempts to reinvent itself without great success. Also poignantly describes Christopher ' s relationship with his Mentor and best friend Jim, someone who I think is encapsulated in tribute in the characters of both John May and Arthur Bryant.

[Emma Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this memoir from someone involved in the British advertising, then film industry. It's funny, poignant and a great history of the 70s and 80s advertising and film worlds. It was well written and I found it a real page turner. Recommended to anyone with an interest in the advertising and film world.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've oscillated between a three and a four star review and I think the glass of wine has tipped me towards four. Interesting, well written as usual but too temporally and thematically fragmentary. Not as good as paperboy.

[Nathan Flamank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part autobiography - part tale of one man's love for the strange and wonderful that made up the British film industry. Written with Fowler's usual touch of humour this is an exceptional piece of autobiographical work. Highly recommended.

[Matthew Ogborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having worked in the film, advertising and publishing industries, I truly found this a fascinating look at a largely bygone age. Fowler's unique experience should appeal to lovers of B and genre movies, while his friendship with Jim Sturgeon is an equally engrossing story that unfolds throughout.

[Wayne's · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable look at the 1970s in the UK.

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super snapshot of film, London and a life: wonderfully written.