Editor’s note and full disclosure: Actor/writer/producer Jason Williams brought me on board a couple of years ago to co-write these memoirs. While not an official “Fanboy Planet” book, I am involved in its production.
In the early 70s, science fiction films had become serious business if not serious box office. After 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes, major Hollywood studios made sure their sci fi movies either had a social message or altered consciousness. It took one movie to change all that – and not the one you’re thinking of.
A group of rebel filmmakers banded together in Hollywood to turn out something light, frothy, and based on Flash Gordon. But it wasn’t George Lucas’ Star Wars – it was Flesh Gordon. An erotic spoof that changed two film industries, this forgotten gem made $5 million from a $500k budget in 1974, showing Hollywood that science fiction could be fun again. It also launched the careers of artists who would revolutionize Hollywood special effects, including Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London), Dennis Muren (Star Wars) and Greg Jein (Close Encounters of the Third Kind).
Actor Jason Williams was right in the middle of it, an All-American kid from Orange County who went from college football to fighting the perils of Planet Porno and beyond. In his new memoir I Fought the Sex Ray, Jason talks about wearing spandex to orgies, fighting the dreaded Penisaurus, and making sure you never let your cape catch on fire. His journey took him to the heart of Hollywood glamour and the seediest edges of America as he went on to make both gritty crime films and more erotic spoofs.
Written with Derek McCaw, I Fought the Sex Ray is a rollicking Hollywood memoir that captures life on the Sunset Strip as well as trips to the Playboy Mansion. Jason wants to create a special first edition for his fans, and launches his Kickstarter campaign today. Backers can choose between a hardcover or softcover edition, which will include a signed replica of the movie poster.
