The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Most of this graphically gory screen carnage was offered to the public as ‘"escapism‘"‘, comâ€" ing at the end of a week that in the ‘"real world" saw the atâ€" tempted assassination of Pope John Paul, another slaying of a black youth in Atlanta, a second Irish hungerâ€"striker‘s death and subsequent political and pseudoâ€" religious violence, an accused mass murderer‘s claim of divine instigation and a pair of sevenâ€" and nineâ€"yearâ€"old New York boys charged with drowning their two fourâ€"yearâ€"old cousins. Of course, feeding minorities to lions, beheadings and witchburnâ€" ings all have been, at various times in history, also touted as ‘"entertainment‘"‘ for the miseryâ€" laden masses. This latest batch of celluloid balm for troubled times includes Happy Birthday To Me, a totally reprehensible madeâ€"inâ€"Canada picture, The Howling, a ludiâ€" crously campy werewolf film; The Hand, a gross and stupid horror flick pretentiously masâ€" querading as a psychological thriller, and The Fan, a genâ€" uinely frightening and superbly crafted movie that unfortunately touches on a tooâ€"closeâ€"toâ€"life issue with suspiciously exploitaâ€" tive purpose. Repugnant is the most fitting word to describe both the content and the promotion of Happy Birthday To Me. ‘‘*Six of the most bizarre murders you will ever see," is the advertising bait used to lure audiences into theatres or driveâ€" ins where this movie is showing. (Why this explicit statement of impending violence succeeds in drawing lineâ€"up crowds, I leave to psychologists to debate.) The picture begins with a drawnâ€"out and meticulously deâ€" tailed sequence of a young girl being viciously strangled and ultimately having her throat slit, and it ends with a grisly display of decomposing and freshly murâ€" dered corpses. Neither of these sequences, nor anything that happens inbetween â€" the most gruesome aspects of which the audience has been prepared for through the advertising â€" is justifiable as social comment, instruction in selfâ€"defence or The Hand, which stars Michael Caine as a notâ€"particularly likeâ€" able cartoonist whose drawing hand is ripped off when the car he is riding in sideswipes a truck, is, ultimately, equally as ridiculous. Its explicit violence â€" mostly strangulations seemingly by the disattached hand â€" consequently becomes mere exploitation. It makes me particularly angry that even the fraction of a cent of my taxes contributed â€" through the financial support of the Canadian Film Development Corp. â€" to the making of this contemptible picture. As for The Howling, it is both so silly and inept as not to be worthy of any serious condemnation for its violent content, including those silverâ€"bullet killings. (That‘s part of the supernatural lore surrounding werewolves.) I can‘t imagine anyone today over the age of five actually taking this movie seriously enough to find it in the least scary. For a time, the movie makes a pretence of offering an intelliâ€" gent, emotionally chillingand highly subjective study of develâ€" oping insanity, but throws out the whole premise with a final hackâ€" neyed and laughable murder. The movie tells the story of a middleâ€"aged actress, superbly played by Lauren Bacall, whose failure to personally acknowlâ€" edge letters from a young male fan results in his committing acts of violence to attract her attenâ€" tion. Soon, these acts of violence are being directed towards her. On the other hand, The Fan is serious â€" terrifyingly so â€" in its depiction of what, since the film began production, has become a tragic reality. _ Previews for The Fan pointed out that the picture was in progress prior to John Lennon‘s murder, and, of course, during the film‘s making nothing was publicly known about the kind of fan mail being received by acâ€" tress Jodie Foster. 4 _FOR ART SERIES Christopher Stone undorgoes a startiing transformation in this frightening scene from The Howling a contemporary tale of primeval fear. TVOntario executives say they are delighted with the announcement by Canadian Pacific that it will provide funds for a new series designed to fill the need for a highâ€"calibre production focusing on Canadian art. Liona Boyd is first lady of the guitar Classical guitarist Liona Boyd will be perâ€" forming at the Centre in the Square this Friâ€" day, May 22 at 8 p.m. Boyd has the unique ability to adapt to a ‘popâ€"oriented‘ audiâ€" ence, extending her apâ€" peal to more than just the classical field. This versatility is evident in a countryâ€"style recordâ€" ing she made,with Chet Atkins, The First Nashville Guitar Quarâ€" tet. In addition to solo and orchestral conâ€" certs, she has toured extensively with Gorâ€" don Lightfoot. Now reâ€" cording for the Columâ€" bia Masterworks label, she has just completed an album with the Enâ€" glish Chamber Orchesâ€" TV Ontario gets corporate support tra and composer Anâ€" drew Davis. Winner of Canada‘s Juno Award for Instruâ€" mental Artist of the Year, Boyd learned her expertise under the tuâ€" telage of most of the world‘s guitar masters including J ulian Bream and Alexandre Lagoya. As well, she has been chosen one of the top three classical guitarists in the world by the International Guitar Player Poll. Boyd is a frequent performer on radio and television and has also starred in her own CBCâ€"TV Super Special. She has appeared on many nationallyâ€" televised shows includâ€" ing Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas and the Today Show . WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, MA Y 20, 1981 â€" PAGE "I‘m very pleased about Canadian Pacific‘s support," says Gene Lawrence, general manager of Educational Services, English. "It‘s doubtful if we could have considered a series of this magnitude and quality without it." According to Diana Orris, director of Revenue Development, Canadian Pacific‘s commitment represents a new trend toward corporate support of TVOntario‘s educational programming. "Caâ€" nadian Pacific‘s financial support is the largest received by TVOntario to date and the first that will allow a series to have a single underwriter. We sincerely hope other corporations will follow the path established by Canadian Pacific.‘" The new series of 13, 30â€"minute programs will examine Canadian art, and through art, Canaâ€" dian culture. Canadian Pacific‘s underwriting extends to the creation of support materials for the series, including a fully illustrated bo â€" and an educator‘s guide. "I‘m excited about the basic design of he series," says Lawrence. ‘"We are still in the research phase and have not made our final decisions about which artists will be featured. In order to find theâ€"mosaic of Canadian culture, we are determined to make the series representative of Canadian art from coast to coast and across the years." It is anticipated that the series will be completed in 1982. TVOntario will supplement Canadian Pacific‘s funding of the production budâ€" get. â€" o _ o Canadian Pacific agreed to support the LWC- tion as part of its centennial celebration, ~to provide the people of Canadaâ€"particularly the youngâ€"with a culturalâ€"history of Canada, through the works of the country‘s artists. TVOntario expects to broadcast the series during the 1982â€"83 season and CP will make it available to educators across the country. It is also expected that cable companies and other broadcasters will be interested in using the series. 17