Monster! #10: Halloween 2014 Paperback – October 26, 2014

Issue #10 has streeted just in time for Halloween 2014 and it is a giant 100-page ad-free monstrosity (that's a good thing!). After a funny editorial by co-editor Tim Paxton about Halloween costumes and what MONSTER! stands for, he begins the issue with a review/insight piece on the non-Ramsay Bros. Indian monster film KHOONI PANJA (1991 a.k.a. "Bloody Hand"), which flopped at the Indian boxoffice, but still sounds interesting. A girl named Pinky is possessed by the corpse of the ex-wife (her hand reaches up from the dirt and grabs Pinky before she is able to struggle free) of the husband who murdered her in the graveyard where she caught him with his future bride (ah, a graveyard, how romantic!), vowing revenge on all those who have anything to do with her husband. Too bad that Pinky is about to become the sister-in-law of the murderous husband and his ex-wifey won't let a shallow grave keep her down. All kinds of supernatural things happen (Pinky's eyes glow when she is possessed), including the appearance of a monster that in Tim's words "reminds me of William Sach's THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN (1976)" and that's all I needed to hear for the film to pique my interest. You'll have to read the rest of the review for yourself. Tim then goes on to review a 2104 Indian monster film called CREATURE 3D, which also bombed at the box office and has some terrible CGI, but Tim makes me want to see it anyway. We then get four monster film reviews, including ANTHROPOPHAGUS (1980; a.k.a. THE GRIM REAPER), its supposed sequel ABSURD (1981; released here in the States as MONSTER HUNTER), CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964) and HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982; where the monsters are mostly implied rather than shown), all written by different reviewers. Noted author/researcher Troy Howarth then does a really nice article on the Cornish Horror films that Hammer Films made in the early-to-mid-60's (complete with some nice photos and comic art). Writer Louis Paul then takes us on a welcome journey back to the monster films and shows made expressly for television in the 70's, including such MFTV gems as THE NIGHT STALKER and THE NIGHT STRANGLER (1973), which led to the sadly short lived KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER TV series (1974-1975). It's a fun look back at a time when watching original movies for TV was an event because we didn't have 500 channels of reality TV to choose from. God, I miss those days! Steve Fenton then gives us his second part (continued from Issue #9) on the Killer Cat genre, this time avoiding the films that came from the West (like NIGHT OF 1000 CATS and THE CORPSE GRINDERS) and concentrating on those that came from the Far East. I guarantee than you haven't heard of many of them and this lengthy article goes all-out to make you want to track them down so you can watch them. Thankfully, Fenton offers an appendix of what companies has these available on disc and VHS (but a lot of them still remain unavailable to Western audiences). It's a great piece and a nice history of a genre hardly written about. Let's hope Steve does a Part 3 in the near future. There are plenty of American (EYE OF THE CAT - 1969), Canadian (THE UNCANNY - 1977) and Italian films (SEVEN DEATHS IN THE CAT'S EYES - 1973) that deal with killer kitties. Writer John Harrison does a nice retrospective piece on remembering Don Post masks (remember those ads in FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND?) and gives us a photo tour of his creations. Finally, author Steven R. Bissette does my favorite piece in this issue, which is surprising to me, because I was never a fan of comics. But he takes a look back at the horror comics of the early 60's, giving us a large history of what company put our what stories and the troubles with the by-then outdated Comics Code and then goes on in length to discuss the one comic story that I did read and it kept me up for weeks. It was titled "The Monster Of Dread End..." and concerned a giant snake-like creature with a giant claw instead of a head and how it chased a boy around town, Now I grew up around snakes in the wild and was never scared of them, but this story was the most violent thing my six year old mind had ever laid eyes upon (especially the ending) and it wasn't until the introduction of the no-holds barred comics zines CREEPY and EERIE (along with other non-Warren Publication horror comic zines) in the 70's that I would finally get that image out of my mind. I was never a big buyer of horror comics, but did pick up some due to their lurid covers, but nothing (besides the comic Bruce Jones wrote that Dario Argento would based his episode of MASTERS OF HORROR called "Jenifer" on in 2005) will ever get that final image out of my mind. Thanks, Steven R. Bissette, for bringing up old nightmares. And that is a compliment! The only thing I miss here is Tim Paxton's continuing series of the monster films of India's House Of Ramsay, but there is so much to read and learn from here, I can wait another issue to get my Ramsay fix. This issue is a steal at $5.95 so get to ordering it ASAP!

One of the best publications out there! If you are a fan of everything monster, from the well known to the obscure and/or foreign, this is for you.

Every edition from these guys is a WINNER. Must read for fans of Monster movies!!

Fantastic.

great mag just like the olden days!

Great

My wife bought me this zine, so I'm reviewing it on her account. Hands down, the standout feature for me this issue was Stephen R. Bissette's article on John Stanley's “The Monster of Dread End," which went above and beyond by covering the entire history of Dell's horror output leading up to its publication. Bissette also did a great job describing his own subjective viewpoint in first reading "Dread End." I could definitely relate, as it's the hardest-hitting 'monster' comic I've ever read--and being exposed to it as an impressionable kid was devastating. It's no exaggeration that literally every other horror comic pales by comparison. Loved seeing the Dread End monster model--if only it were available to purchase as a kit! Also very much enjoyed Troy Howarth's take on Hammer's Cornish horrors and John Harrison's nostalgic memories of Don Post's monster masks. In all, another memorable, must-have issue of MONSTER! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Fanzine sympa qui mérite l'attention des cinéphiles. Si vous aimez lez films d'une autre époque je vous conseille vivement sa lecture

Me ha sorprendido gratamente este fanzine. Muy bien trabajado y muy ciudado! A very good horror fanzine/prozine, well documented, with lots of pictures and loads of information ... and great prize! Give it a try, you won't regret it!