Tuesday, October 31st, 2006 | Author: Casey Criswell

Pull up a chair boils & ghouls, and Uncle Casey’s going to tell you a little story.

Many a time, before I started this here blog, I’ve been asked by friends and acquaintances, “How can you watch this crap?” Many, if not all shared such a fond love for all things cheesy and horror as did I and my wife. Often times I tried to explain my love of B-Z grade film, but it seemed it I always seemed to miss the point.

So, one day I said the hell with it, and that’s when Cinema Fromage came to be. Having the idea many moons ago for a website dedicated to crappy horror flicks, Cinema Fromage was the name in mind I always had, as it seemed to to drive the point home. Directly translated (in my mind at least) Cinema Fromage stands for ‘Movie Cheese’, and well, that’s what I’m all about.

Now where exactly did this love stem from? Myself, I would call it peer pressure. Growing up, my own father was enamored with all things gory and cheesy, which resulted in myself at a tender young age consuming many a gooey monster flick, and sometimes worse. In our home town we had a mom and pop appliances shop that just happened to have a video store as well. Seeing as VCR’s were new technology back then, my dad saved and saved to purchase his first VCR. The beauty to buying a VCR at said Mom and Pop shop, was that as an added incentive, they would give you unlimited rentals for free, for a full two months. What a bargain! So after dad’s purchase, when I was head to his place to stay for the weekend, off we would go to rent some flicks.

So naturally, when you had a single man in his late 30′s, with 12 year old in tow, with a plethora of cinematic trash at your disposal, one can become quite overwhelmed on just what to watch on any given weekend. Never one to over look such an offer as ‘unlimited’, Dad and I would stroll out of Mom and Pop’s with a stack of 10 to 12 tapes in hand. Normally, one would think that with a 12 year old at hand, you’d need to have some kid flicks in that stack. But not my dad, oh no. He being a master of sweet talk and coercion, I soon would be convinced that I wanted to see films such as Q The Winged Serpent or Basket Case, not something lame like The Bad News Bears. Even at 12, I knew ‘monsters rule!’

So after weekends spent rotting my brain on the horror masterpieces of yesteryear, I began to grow older, yet my tastes stayed relatively the same. One day, in junior high I met a friend named Chris. Chris and I hit it off fairly quickly, and it was soon discovered they we liked much of the same things. Horror flicks, Fango magazine, D&D and those ever coveted magazines pilfered from his dad’s closet. (If you could say one thing about my dad, he knew how to hide his stash.) As we grew into high school and beyond, we had both grown apart, and eventually back together again. Back to that in a minute.

In the years of Chris and I grown apart, I had traveled on to college, and it was there that I met my lovely wife. Yes, the very same lovely bride as showcased here.

When first we met, way back when in a little German restaurant in Terre Haute, we spent the evening doing what typically happens when boy and girl first meet, and no, I don’t mean the kissy kissy. (I was a shy boy!) However, we did talk late into the evening with the usual ‘What kind of movies do you like?’ ‘What kind of stuff are you into?’ type of conversation. When the movie talk came around, in the mighty words of Herman’s Hermit’s, ‘Something tells me I’m into something good’.

As the night wore on, I soon discovered this lovely looking lass, (looking alluringly ‘alternative’ that night I must say) held an unnatural crush on Robert England, thought A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th were highlights of Hollywood, and that I really needed to be watching The X-Files. Soon after that fateful night, I asked her on our first date to see Needful Things, and the rest as they say, is history.

Over the past 14 years, my wife has helped to derange my sense of taste even more, as she helps to ferret out such oddball nuggets of horror that we MUST see. Without her, I may have lost interest myself at some point long ago. It’s also her fault that you all are here reading this stuff today, as she was the only one that would listen to my long winded diatribes on why Wrong Turn was a smelly turd, or why Buddy was the end all be all for cinematic action stars. Thanks to her, I was encouraged to put these long winded ramblings online. (Although it was probably to keep me from rambling on endlessly to her!)

******

So here lies Chapter 1 in the history of Cinema Fromage. There are many factors that come in to play on what shapes a man, such as myself to come to love such celluloid trash. Some would say I have bad taste, some what say I have great taste, my wife, she says I’m just weird. But hey, that’s what makes me loveable!

Maybe one of these days, in the near future, I will continue with the history of Cinema Fromage. There are quite a few tales left to tell, such as hung-over Cheesy Movie Sundays, the Video Place in Plymouth, IN and more tales on the story of Chris and Casey that help to shape what you see here today.

If the story by some whim has caught your attention thus far, feel free to comment and let us know! With enough encouragement, I may be compelled to continue on with this tale of debauchery!

Category: Other Musings
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No Responses

  1. 1
    Troy 

    Exxxxcellent! I think backstory really adds to anything’s enjoyment. Well done.

  2. 2
    slash 

    …and on the eighth day, He said, “Movie Cheese is good.”

  3. 3
    Simran 

    Lovely story, interesting pic. But I have to say that this is the second refernce to Gilligan’s Island I’ve come across today. Weird}}}}}}}}}}

  4. 4
    firegrl 

    Awww…it’s a love story. I think I’m going to projectile vomit in a poor special effects kind-of way that looks like I’m spewing pea soup through a hose at my neck

  5. 5
    Rick 

    Very nice! Made me all nostolgic for the good ol’ days! Keep it up!

  6. 6
    Corey 

    Isn’t it a little early in the season for a clip show?

    (Nice story, chief.)

  7. 7
    Peggy 

    I love a good love story. I’m glad your wife finally got you to blog!

  8. 8
    Gillian 

    My father introduced me to old SF books and magazines in the same way. Very character forming :) .

  9. 9
    Marilyn 

    Yes, please continue with the history of Cinema Fromage! Very interesting. It’s always wonderful to read about what inspires people, especially when they have such a passion for the subject that they write about.

  10. What a cute couple!