Welcome to the Critical Condition web site. For those of you unfamiliar with Critical Condition, let me give a little background. Critical Condition (CritCon for short) was started as a small  bi-monthly newsletter in 1982 to alert my friends about the new horror films that were released to theaters. The early 80's were a boon to the horror business as many home-grown and foreign-made horror films were being released to theaters every month. Some were good (Lucio Fulci's THE BEYOND; Gary Sherman's DEAD & BURIED) but most were bad (Jim Henley's JUNIOR; Bruno Mattei's NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES and countless others). Being the horror maven that I am (and will always be), I started CritCon to separate the cream from the crap. The first CritCon newsletter was merely one typewritten xeroxed page that I passed out to my friends. By 1985 CritCon had mushroomed into a 20 page semi-pro magazine that had a circulation of about 1,000. The year 1985 was a turning point in the horror film business. It was the year that home video became wildly popular and forever changed the way we viewed movies. Cheap horror films were no longer being screened in theaters. Video distributors got wise and started releasing every cheap horror film they could get their hands on. I must have viewed over a thousand horror movies on video in 1985 alone! By 1987, I had burned-out writing about all the horror films that I had watched and ceased publishing CritCon with one final 100 page issue. By this time  there were plenty of other semi-pro magazines on the market that were covering the same market that I was. I took a much-needed rest from the writing game and began to read all these other magazines. For the next five years I kept a low profile but I was also becoming somewhat disillusioned. While some of these magazines flourished and were quite well done (Tim & Donna Lucas' VIDEO WATCHDOG, Mike Accomando's DREADFUL PLEASURES [now defunct]; Mike Weldon's PSYCHOTRONIC VIDEO [also now no longer publishing]), most were merely rants disguising themselves as film reviews. You would be lucky to get the name of the actor who starred in the films they were reviewing. Forget about getting the directing, producing or screenwriting credits because they were non-existant. They seemed more interested in raving about their political views or complaining about some insignificant pimple on their ass. By 1992, I'd had enough and decided to begin publishing Critical Condition on a semi-regular basis. I kept my own politics to a minimum (usually on the editorial page) and concentrated on the films and filmmakers themselves. Each issue of CritCon was jam-packed with reviews of films that you probably never heard of along with full cast and crew credits as well as original rare ad mats. CritCon accepted no advertising making it a complete read from the first page to the last. NOTE: After a long and hard look at the publishing business (or the "rip-off business" as I call it), I will no longer be publishing Critical Condition. It will now be completely web-based. I hope you enjoy this web site. If you do (or if you don't), drop me an e-mail and let me know what you think. Check back often to read the new reviews, news and informative emails.

Fred Adelman
Editor & Publisher

PS: For all of you that have emailed me asking if I sell the films I review, the answer is NO!!! (with certain exceptions). While most of the films I review are available from reliable distributors, some of the films have been out of circulation for years and will probably never get a legal DVD or VHS release again or in the distant future. If you do not see a link to a distributor at the end of my reviews, I could probably make you a copy of the film on DVD-R (which will play on most DVD players sold in the last couple of years). Unfortunately, I can only do this in the U.S., so if you live outside the good old U.S. of A., don't bother asking. Email me with your inquiries (I have over 5,000 films in my library) and I'll see what I can do for you. These films are to be distributed from one collector to another (Legal disclaimer). Don't expect crystal clarity as they are being copied from VHS to DVD-R and you may be able to get your hands on a film that you've been dying to see for many years. (Good news: I've completely turned all my VHS tapes to DVD-R, so you can probably get any film you want reviewed on this web site. Read the paragraph below before you send in your requests, though.) Good luck! To see my entire video and DVD list (Updated 09/15/07), click HERE. You must have Microsoft Excel 2000 or later to view the file.

PSS: For all of you out there who have emailed me with lists of dozens flms you would like me to send you (you know who you are Mr. Woodberry) and then rant and rave that I'm not fulfilling my "promise", let me say this to you: GET A LIFE!!! Do you think that I have the time to make copies of dozens of films, mail them out to you and get nothing in return? I'm not asking for money, only films to trade. I do trades with many fans with no trouble at all. I've made many friends this way (especially you, Will), but when you email me a list of over 40 films and ask me to dupe them for you because: A) You're too cheap to go out and buy the legal versions, or B) You're just plain lazy and arrogant, don't think that you will even get a response from me. One guy was flooding my inbox with email dropping the F-bomb on me for hours on end and he said he was 33 years old! I bet he still lives at his Mama's home masturbating to photos in National Geographic.

PLEASE HELP ANY WAY YOU CAN IN SUPPORTING THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA. THE BUNGLING GOVERNMENT CANNOT HELP IN THIS ALONE. PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY TO THE CHARITY OF YOUR CHOICE. THIS IS THE WORST NATURAL U.S. DISASTER IN RECENT HISTORY AND VERY MANY PEOPLE NEED YOUR HELP IN THE MONTHS AND YEARS TO COME. EVERYTHING ELSE IS MINISCULE WHEN COMPARED TO WHAT THESE POOR PEOPLE ARE GOING THROUGH. OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH THEM. PLEASE VISIT THE RED CROSS AT WWW.REDCROSS.ORG AND MAKE A DONATION OR VOLUNTEER.

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