Jim Morton (American writer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jim Morton | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Subject | B-movies, Grindhouse, Exploitation films, East-German cinema |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Notable works | Incredibly Strange Films |
| Website | |
| jimmortonwriter | |
Jim Morton is an American writer based in San Francisco, California, known for his writings on American B-movies, grindhouse, exploitation films, and East German cinema.
In the early-1980s, Morton self-published a 'zine about B-movies called Trashola.[1][2][3] Following Trashola, Morton co-authored and guest-edited the 1985 RE/Search Publications book Incredibly Strange Films.[4][5][6][7]
Morton interviewed necrophile Karen Greenlee for Adam Parfrey's 1987 collection Apocalypse Culture.[8][9][10] Greenlee later reportedly regretted the interview, changed her identity, and relocated.[11] A year later, Morton co-edited the 1988 collection on obscure and bygone pop culture, Pop Void: A Journal of Popular Culture.[12][13]
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Morton contributed essays to several American and British film books, including Lost Highways: An Illustrated History of Road Movies,[14] Sex and Zen and a Bullet in the Head: The Essential Guide to Hong Kong's Mind-bending Films ,[15] and Land of a Thousand Balconies: Discoveries and Confessions of a B-Movie Archaeologist.[16] Morton also co-authored a 1996 book about American advertising, titled What a Character!: 20th Century American Advertising Icons.[17][18][19]
Morton speaks German, and has authored a survey of East-German cinema titled Movies Behind the Wall: The Story of East German Films and the Rise and Fall of the GDR.[20] He also maintains the East German Cinema Blog.[21] Morton translated Frank Wedekind’s German novella Mine Ha-ha into English.[22]
Morton has taught film classes for the San Francisco Free University.[23] He presented at San Francisco's Oddball Films' "Cinema Soiree Series,"[24] and was the guest speaker at the 2010 Revelation Film Festival in Perth, Australia.[25][26] In 2019 he was interviewed for a documentary film about Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey.[27][28]
Morton has also written for Film-to-Film and The Film Noir Foundation,[29] as well as for non-film-related publications such as Macworld, and Mother Jones. Morton's most recent book is a work of neo-noir fiction titled The Lying Ghost.[30] As of March 2026, he has begun posting film-related articles on Substack, under the title Pop Void at the Movies.