Joy Fielding - The Transformation

[dem bones]

Joy Fielding - The Transformation (W. H. Allen, 1977: originally Playboy Press, 1976)

Gino d'Achille

Blurb:


A novel of sex. success and satanism set against the glittering background of Hollywood.

It begins with star-struck women disenchanted with Hollywood . . . it ends in an orgy of destruction and death...

Three completely different women are thrown together by circumstance and find themselves involved in a bizarre murder:
Louise was young and innocent when she arrived in Hollywood hoping to become an actress. Then she married superstar Jonathan Fellows and her life was transformed.
Dini was always on the fringes of success. Her scene was pornographic movies, orgies and blackmail. But more than anything else she wanted desperately to become a star.
Bambi was a spoiled, mixed-up kid afraid of love but dangerously involved with a man obsessed by the world of black magic.

It's the Playboy paperback edition cuts straight to the chase. "Sex, Success and Satanism. A novel by Joy Fielding with all the impact of Helter Skelter." You have been warned.

Prologue.

A Beverley Hills mansion, home to Karen Kendall. the world famous movie star. It is the morning after the party before, this one to celebrate the final day's shooting of The Devil's Playground. The cleaner walks in on an abattoir. How did it come to this?

Part 1: Louise

Louise Kendall, orphan, 20, two years out of convent school. Louise takes a flight to Hollywood to take the next step on her quest for screen stardom. The in-flight movie is a rare treat - the premier showing of Inside the Darkness, courtesy of it's male lead, Jonathan Fellows, who - oh my God! - is sat in first class! IN THE FLESH! Fellows is recently divorced from Maureen Kyle, 40, "undisputed Queen of the silver screen." He is also estranged from his step-daughter, Bambi Sinclair (Maureen's gift from husband #2, who died in a car crash. Jonathan was #4). She's threatened him with the law should he ever try get in contact.

Cut to Sunset Strip. After a hard morning's stalking of Bambi from head shop to boutique to head shop to boutique to home, the mystery man transfers his attentions to another potential disciple, this one a homeless hippie, recently thrown out by her father on account of a drop-out's dress sense and the scruffy company she keeps. The Man invites her to come live with him on the beach. Entranced by that tall, handsome body and enigmatic personality - he has a degree in quasi-mystical mumbo jumbo: "Death is life. Love is Death," etc. - the girl happily agrees. They decide her name is Moon.

Prior to taking her home, The Man decides they should make love in the sand, insisting that she call him "Father" for the duration. Moon is happy to oblige. Turns out his house is a dilapidated shack, and Moon is not the first waif to find her way here. There are eight of them, six girls, two boys, sat in pitch darkness, smoking weed. His people. He explains that they are all him and he is them - If Moon loves him, she loves them, too. By way of welcome, they engage in an orgy. This is without question the best day ever!

Afterward.

"Your family. They are all corrupt. To show them that we love them. to bring them back to themselves, we are sometimes forced to kill them, although they never really die. There is no such thing as death. Death is only another word for love - and for life. They understand by killing them, we are only saying how much we love them. They know they die only to be born again. You can't truly love your parents, Moon, until you are prepared to kill them. They must die violently, brutally, terribly, before they can understand how much you love them."

Of course! This is where she's gone wrong with Dad! She's not shown how much she loves him! And now He has show her the way. "You are my God."

Back on the plane, Louise has also undergone a change of name. Inexplicably - or so it seems to her - Jonathan Fellows has taken an interest, and then some. Fellows has offered to rent her an apartment, introduce her to influential industry types, pull a few strings ... if she'll only do him a little favour in return. We fear the worst, but turns out his motives are relatively honourable. He's worried for Bambi, wants Louise to move in to the same block, keep an eye on her. Oh, and if she wants to get ahead, she'll need to change her name. Kendall's fine, but 'Louise' don't cut it. Henceforth she's 'Karen.'

That same day, Karen Kendall moves into a two story block on the corner of Sunset and Doheny. Neighbours include Bambi Sinclair and her friend, Dina West, a 21-year-old porn actress.

Meanwhile at the commune, The God among Men despatches four of his people - Samson, Lulu, Arrow and newcomer Moon - to break into a phony rich pigs' mansions, steal him some bread (the edible variety: he's hungry), rearrange their furniture, and leave the sign. Moon excels herself. Mission accomplished, she takes a marker pen, scrawls a message of love across the female resident's stomach before taking a dump on the downstairs carpet.

P. 80 of 286. To be really really continued.

[dem bones]

Part two: Bambi

"We're here from the Devil, to bring you peace and love."

Karen accompanies Bambi to the premier of Dini's latest skin flick, Pink Lady, at the Pussycat Theatre on Santa Monica Boulevard. Walking home, Bambi picks up a copy of the late edition. There's been an appalling double murder in Beverley Hills. Fifty-something's Tony and Rosie Scarlotti were bound, sexually abused and mutilated. The killer/ killers finger-painted messages of love and peace on the wall in their victims' blood.

We now learn that the Manson of the piece is Tony Allen, former movie star who quit Hollywood at the height of his fame, relocating to the wilds of Africa for eight years. The word is he's back in LA and leading a hermit existence. At time of his what proved his last movie, Cruise Ship Caribbean , Tony and Maureen Kyle, Queen of Hollywood, mother of Bambi, etc, were lovers - until Jonathan Fellows swept her into his bed. Tony turned his back on his fame, but not before vowing revenge on the pair. Neither have seen him since.

Flashback to Tony's 'Missionaries,' Lulu, Samson, Arrow, Moon and psychotic beach-bum Sebastian, setting out for 147 North Rodeo Drive to do his will. "Destroy the pigs, cut their throats." Moon (whom the Scarlotti's recognise as their errant daughter, Sheila) isn't much moved by their suffering. Death doesn't exist and, as Tony has reassured her, once their spirits pass into the world of love beyond, they'll no longer be pigs. She's doing Mom and Dad a massive favour.

Moon's next mission is to befriend Bambi, Tony making no secret he has big plans for her. Moon hits lucky. Bambi's restaurant date with Ma goes the way of its predecessors, and the girl storms out before the dinner she didn't want has even been served. The poor little rich girl is at her lowest ebb. Her life's going nowhere. Perhaps she ought to meet the Guru this hippie chick has been raving about. He might even be wonderful as she says he is. What harm can it do?

Joy Fielding has apparently since disowned Transformation - and Trance - neither are referred to on her site. Approaching halfway (p. 132 of 286) it is proving an uneasy read. More-so than William Harrington's Columbo: The Helter Skelter Murders, that's for sure.

Hey baby, what's your sign?

[dem bones]

“If your children ever find out how lame you really are, they’ll murder you in your sleep.” – OUR CLOSING MESSAGE TO TOURISTS AT THE HOLLYWOOD WHISKEY A-GO-GO, December 1965.
- From liner notes of the Mothers of Invention's Freak Out, 1966.

Part three: Dini

A mere five months after arriving in LA, Karen, albeit with much help from her string-pulling mentor, lands her first minor film role. She's victim #2 of a maniacal rapist in big-budget slasher flick, Trapped. Dini is seething jealous. There she is, giving her everything for a break, and this lucky bitch has everything fall into her lap. Dini plans to teach her "friend" a lesson.

Bambi, meanwhile, is spending much of her time with Moon's "Guru," with whom she has already fallen in love. Neither Dini nor Karen get to see much of her these days.

Dini's mind drifts back to her appalling Texan childhood. By the age of twelve she was charging her three odious stepbrothers a dollar a time to see what she had under her dress. Then certain of their pals got in on the act. Brutal Step-father raped her on a fourteenth birthday. Small wonder that, far as she's concerned, displaying her intimate parts to all comers ain't no big deal. But what happens when the public lose interest? Her surrogate career as (be generous) country & western "cabaret singer" is going nowhere. Why won't Karen give her a hand up? Why won't Bambi introduce her to superstar Mom? Why won't her friend, Jimmy and Susie Como - the new Sonny and Cher - spare her five minutes of their prime time Saturday night slot? Selfish bastards, all of them!

Dini colludes with Larry Saunders, proto-Jock super-stud Ice Hockey star, to set Karen up for an almighty fall. Initially her evil scheme backfires. Larry, despite himself, falls for Karen, the first girl ever to refuse his advances. Says she's saving it for the most special occasion, and he grudgingly respects her for it. The romance between the handsome sports legend and the glamorous future starlet is by now the talk of every self-respecting gossip mag. We are genuinely worried for Karen - until we realise she's a far cry from the naive waif we took her for. Miss Kendall is driven as the next wannabe screen legend. She has to be. Larry's not so bad, and dating him is good for publicity, but she'll sleep with whoever it takes to achieve her goal.

Say a quick "hi!" to Jodi and Ron, discussing their wedding arrangements having just made out in the sand. He thought she'd agreed to something low-key in December. She's now talking a three-hundred guest extravaganza next June! As they argue the toss, Tony's disciples intervene to settle the matter. Ron is hacked down where he stands, Jodi dragged back to the shack and chained down on an altar. Then the hippies go to work. If Tony had not assured her otherwise, Bambi could even believe the girl is really suffering, that her black-clad friends are going at her with real whips and knives, like they're performing a proper human sacrifice or something. Why is this Jodi creature screaming and carrying on so? Some people really don't appreciate how loved they are.

In the aftermath of the bloodshed, the scales drop from Bambi's eyes. Tony's been lying to her all along. What they did to that poor girl and her fiance has nothing to do with "love." She quits. Tony allows her to leave, his work done, Bambi successfully poisoned against the pigs' entire corrupt world. She'll soon realise he speaks true, come back for lack of anywhere else to go. He overlooks the girl's one remaining option. That she end her one-sided feud with the stepfather she once adored.

Jimmy and Susie Como host a party at their Laurel Canyon home. Enticed by Dini, Saunders spikes Karen's drinks. Drugged and helpless, she is gang-banged in the exclusive after-party orgy. Dini commits the joyous occasion to film. Now we'll see if Karen's so reluctant to share her contacts with more deserving causes!

Karen heads over to Jonathan Fellows' mansion to seek his help.

As does Bambi.

A deeply unpleasant story is about to turn nastier.

P. 216. One last push should do it.

Justin Fanatic is less than complimentary about Transformation in Sleazy Reader #8, but can't say I share his distain. It's an ugly novel for sure, quite the most distasteful I've read in ages - and it's held my attention from the first page. Exceptional cover art to the contrary, I'm not sure I'd want to pay the exorbitant prices asked for the Playboy paperback - otherwise, personal verdict is it's worth reading if the opportunity arises.

TBC

[dem bones]

Finished this over a week ago - best add notes before I lose them again.

Part four: Karen

Two years on from boarding a plane to LA, Karen Kendall is an internationally famous, Oscar-nominated screen queen, and the third wife of Jonathan Fellows, the mentor and father figure she now despises. Bambi, alas, has not been seen since storming out of her step-father's mansion, although some months afterward, a hacked and headless corpse was exhumed from a shallow grave near Will Rogers State Park, Hollywood's 27th 'ritual killing' in 24 months. Advanced decomposition prevented positive identification but that the young was dressed in Karen's clothes seemed significant. All too aware that a blind drunk and grieving Jonathan was pining for his ex-wife, Karen conned him into a pop up wedding ceremony in Vegas. He detests her for taking advantage of him in bereavement. The paparazzi, salivating that their marriage is in trouble, are probing Karen's alleged affair with married composer, Henry Viscount. It's all brilliant publicity!

And so to The Devil's Playground, a $ multi-million extravaganza, directed by Jonathan Fellows, starring current wife Karen Kendall opposite ex-wife, Maureen "the most beautiful woman alive" Kyle, and Maureen's former lover, Tony Allen, lured from retirement on the promise of a reunion with old "friends." Karen has magnanimously insisted that Dini be given the break she craves, the porn starlet's career having stalled in the wake of the 'sex orgy tape' scandal. Far from destroying her budding career, Karen's popularity rose off the back of the revelations, while the careers of her treacherous "co-stars" flat-lined. Larry Saunders was suspended from pro-hockey, quietly farmed out to a minor team once the ban was lifted. Jimmy and Susie Como suffered a spectacular fall from grace which saw their Saturday Night slot abruptly cancelled as ratings went over a cliff. Dini will ever be despised as the supposed 'friend' who tried to blackmail America's current sweetheart.

And now the launch party, which is where we came in. All surviving main players are present and hating one another. Tony has taken the liberty of inviting a few friends along. It's going to be one hell of a night.

One truly nasty novel, tasteless for sure, but undeniably absorbing and no lack of "horror." Wonder if Valancourt have considered it adding it to their Paperbacks from Hell catalogue? They possibly should.

[helrunar]

Sounds compellingly unpleasant, indeed. Reminiscent in some ways of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, which screenwriter and critic Roger Ebert regarded as one of the finest films of its era.

cheers, H.

[bluetomb]

Jan 2, 2021 14:37:07 GMT helrunar said:

Sounds compellingly unpleasant, indeed. Reminiscent in some ways of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, which screenwriter and critic Roger Ebert regarded as one of the finest films of its era.

cheers, H.

I think Ebert is right on this one, though I have often had cause to gripe at his criticisms of genre films. He did co-write it and some other Meyer films of the time though. Was apparently dubious of the climax but Meyer overruled him.

[dem bones]

Joy Fielding - Trance (Hamlyn, 1979, originally Jove, 1978)

John Holmes

Blurb:


The only daughter of a rich American senator, 18-year-old Sandy Renford was brought up in comfort and security.
Then it happened...
During a holiday in Chile, Sandy was mistakenly pulled in by the dreaded secret police. Confronting brutal interrogation, rape and torture, she struggled to preserve her life — and her sanity.
Three years later Sandy still shuddered at the memory. She could never quite forget the torture chambers ... the atrocities committed upon her young body. But now she was back with her family, a privileged member of San Francisco's high society, one of the Beautiful People. She was safe.
Or was she?
All around her a sinister conspiracy was growing, almost too nightmarish to believe. One sunny morning Sandy drove off to the tennis courts ... and into oblivion. When she awoke, her mind began to scream.
It was happening again!

September, 1973. Sandy Renford, in defiance of her father, the senior senator of California, holidays in Tres Alamos, Chile. Her visit coincides with the military coup which sees the democratically elected Communist party deposed and thousands taken prisoner and murdered in detention centres. Sandy and Lisa-Anne Gerald, a girl she briefly met at a party, are snatched by the secret police and interrogated for information on 'Plan Zeta,' an alleged plot to assassinate high ranking military bosses, justices of the supreme court and businessmen supportive of the new Dictatorship. The torture scenes - involving a rodent and 'Uncle Sam' (will leave you to find out for yourself) — make for particularly upsetting reading.

Three years after her release, Sandy, now 21 and feted in the press as one of the Beautiful People, has left her parents' LA mansion to move into a small apartment with Christopher Mitchell, a post-grad student in psychology at UCLA. Considering her appalling Chilean experience, Sandy is remarkably well-adjusted most of the time, though it only takes a mouse to destroy her equilibrium. Warren Renford is expected to run against Jimmy Carter in the next Presidential election, and the media promote his family as a new Republican dynasty.

Sandy arranges to meet Chris at the tennis courts. He doesn't show up. There's a game in progress between two girls of her own age. She recognizes one as Lisa-Anne Gerald, the girl brutalised alongside her in a windowless grey cell at the Chilean national football stadium. And staring at her across the park, Johnny Hart, the creepy guy with the James Dean looks, who cleans her parents' swimming pool. When next she wakes up, Sandy is locked in a basement at the mercy of yet another sadist .....

Kelly, glamorous fourth wife of Los Angeles Globe editor, Geoffrey St. Clair, risks a bust-up with her husband when she takes on a dangerous undercover assignment off her own bat. Kelly senses there's a front-page story to be had from an investigation of Alfred Bates, spiritual leader of Souls Searching Inward, "the biggest conscious raising craze since est and the Moonies," whose members include post-breakdown Lisa-Anne Girald. Prior to enrolling on the Souls' induction course, Kelly interviews Marilyn Koffler, ex-cultist, who will never again see the outside of a mental institution. Marilyn hangs herself thet same evening - or, at least, that's the way her terrifying psychiatrist tells it.

All of which coincides with a series of seemingly random murders and assassinations across LA. Newsman Ralph McMillan, popular actor, Billy Rushmore, District Attorney Bill Parks, and Mrs Faye Warner, the mayor's wife, either gunned or hacked down by persons unknown ....

After 'enjoying' The Transformation so much, I was hoping for something equally horribly engrossing, and The Trance is most certainly that! As blurb reveals, Sandy is the victim of a multiple-participant conspiracy of, quite literally, mind-blowing proportions. Be warned, the going gets particularly vile during the torture set pieces and overall there is little approaching 'fun' to relieve the unrelenting nasty-mindedness, the intervention of a perma-stoned grommet being the welcome brief exception. Survive this novel, and you'll never again leave home without your surf board.