UNDER THE RADAR: FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND

Greetings from the 10-foot pole department: today I'm here to write about The Monster Magazine That Refuses to Die. The question I have is: is it finally time to lay it to rest?

A year ago I posted a news item on a topic I was guardedly optimistic about -- the return of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND print magazine. The property was purchased by metal band Slipknot's lead vocalist, Corey Taylor. Obviously a huge fan, he announced the coming of his version of the legendary -- and now a little long-in-the-tooth -- monster magazine that us Monster Kids grew up on. And for anyone who is crazy enough about FM to buy the rights to it, I say more power to him.

Well, about a year-and-a-half after it was originally announced, pre-orders for the first issue were being taken on the website. I got a little excited about it . . . until I saw the price -- 25 bucks! What's more, there were no no digital editions for us cheapskates.

At the start, I signed up for the FM newsletter hoping to receive some more exciting updates, but alas, more than a year later, I haven't received a single one (and yes, I've checked my Spam box). I did visit the website now and then but didn't see anything about the first issue being published.

Well, that changed when I just recently decided to tap the "Products" button on the main menu and -- voila! -- there were already two issues published and a third on the way! Why there isn't a "Magazine" tab beats the hell outta me.

I had similar feelings when FANGORIA was resurrected; at a $20 price-point I was turned off, even after thumbing through a copy or two that I came across on the newsstand at my local B&N. Interestingly, their mag is also hidden behind the "Shop" button on their website.

To be fair, I've been only bagging on the exorbitant cost and  have yet to see the contents of the new incarnation of FM. But I have to say, with the sparse blurbs (see below) and what's in the text boxes on the covers, I'm gonna have a hard time springing for one of these.

Color me cynical, but if the new FM lasts for more than 10 issues or so, I will be quite surprised. I just don't see it as being unique and exceptional enough to capture the reading audience of today. And, good lord! The price!

Cover art by Terry Wolfinger. Featuring articles about Sid Haig, King Kong, The Exorcist, An Interview with Tim Burton, AND MORE!!

Issue #2 features cover art from Terry Wolfinger. Articles about Phantasm, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Lon Chaney, 13 Questions with David Dastmalchian, AND MORE!! 

Issue #3 features cover art from Cecil Porter. Articles about Hammer Films, The Black Hole, Cannon Films and Masters Of The Universe, including never before seen concept art from the sequel that never happened, AND MORE!! 

THE WEIRD, WEIRD ART OF MATT FOX

THE CHILLINGLY WEIRD ART OF MATT FOX

By Roger Hill

TwoMorrows Publishing

June 2023

Hardcover

ISBN: 978-1-60549-120-2

128 pages

$29.95

Among the largely unknown and underrated artists from the Golden Age of pulp magazines and early comic books is Matthew "Matt" Fox (1906-1998). While his unique style may be recognizable to some, few know who the enigmatic man behind the work really was.

During his career, his preferred media was lithography, color woodcuts, oil and watercolor painting and etchings in the fields of illustration, advertising art, pulp magazines and comic books. Like many other illustrators of that period, Alex Raymond was a major source of his inspiration.

Prior to World War II he worked for Fiction House on the PLANET STORIES pulp title. His first illustrations for WEIRD TALES were in 1943 and after that he worked exclusively for the magazine for the next eight years. He landed his first cover assignment for the November 1944 issue, depicting a scene from August Derleth's "The Dweller in Darkness". In total, he would complete 12 covers (one went unpublished when the magazine finally folded) and 40 illustrations.

Weird Tales - July 1950

His first comic book story and cover was in 1952 for Youthful's CHILLING TALES and he would later produce a substantial amount of work for Atlas Comics, many times inking Larry Lieber's (brother of Stan Lee) pencils.

Fox worked a short period of time for Bhob Stewart (1937-2014), who was editor of 

CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Mr. Stewart later commented on his relationship with Fox:

"Fox came across as a straight-arrow, no nonsense sort of guy. I recall him looking very slim and fit. He was selling glow-in-the-dark posters, and he wanted to run an ad in the magazine. He unfurled his glowing poster, which depicted demons and banshees dancing in the pale moonlight. We took it into a dark corner of the room, and yes indeed, it did emit an eerie green glow. He had designed an ad for the posters with clever hand drawn effects. The style for his half-page ad fit in nicely with the type of art we ran in the magazine. I suggested he create one of our department headings and he said, 'Sure. I'll do those.' The Matt Fox ad ran on the bottom of the last interior page of issue #8 from October of 1966. His neatly rendered copy read, 'Weird and monster fans! Something new! Demons and Banshees! See astonishing monsters that will glow in the dark in weird green light! A lot of fun, shock and surprise!' That same issue also featured his heading for the Ghostal Mail department, which showed a variety of demons looking on as Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster peruse letters from readers. We later produced The 1967 Castle of Frankenstein Monster Annual Fear Book, which included the same Matt Fox ad as well as a new heading he illustrated for the fanzine review column. That second drawing was much larger, showing a demon chasing a terrified man across a cemetery where one of the tombstones says 'Rest In Peace Matt. Fox.' When he dropped off the second illustration, I casually asked, 'So how many orders did you get for the glow-in-the-dark posters?' he responded bitterly, 'None.' After that I never saw him again. He became the 'phantom' artist, whereabouts unknown!"

Very little is known about Fox's personal life, but Roger Hill has probably written as much as there is available about that and his career. In his book, The Chillingly Weird Art of Matt Fox (TwoMorrows, 2023) he has done an amazing job on piecing together Fox's life (a lucky break by Stan Lee put him in contact with Fox's sister, who still had some of his original work), as well as sharing numerous examples of unpublished art.

Chilling Tales #17 - October 1953.

The slender volume is a fairly quick read, but without Mr. Hill's efforts we would have had considerably less. As usual, TwoMorrows has done an excellent job with the book design and the art has been reproduced as per their extremely high standards. That it was printed as a hardcover scores even more points for quality. I give this my highest recommendation, as it is a treasure of rare material that we would have most likely never known about without the diligence and scholarship of Mr. Hill.

The book is sold out from the publisher, but they are selling digital copies HERE.

Below: Matt Fox's work for CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN as described in the above quote:

JOHNNY DEPP: THE DEVIL MADE HIM DO IT

“I’m not interested at all in witchcraft and demonology as a philosophy. The devil makes me laugh.”

- Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski's THE NINTH GATE has always held a strange fascination for me. While some would disagree, after viewing it multiple times since its release in 1999 I have come to consider it a minor classic. There is something about the story, the mood, the characters and especially the visuals that make it a compelling, and at times, near-mystical experience.

Johnny Depp as Dean Corso.

Much of the criticism is directed at the slow-moving plot, but when you look at Polanski's body of work, in particular CHINATOWN, you will come to the obvious conclusion that he is no Antoine Fuqua or Roland Emmerich in that regard. Besides that, I think NG as a conventional Hollywood action/thriller would have been a disaster. Instead, we have a sophisticated and intelligent film that doesn't take itself too seriously -- a tricky combination to master, but it works here. All one has to do is watch book-detective Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) unwittingly stumble through some of his scenes to catch my drift. Far from his Keith Richards-inspired Jack Sparrow, he nevertheless adds an ever-so-slight comedic touch whenever he gets in trouble -- and it's often.

The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows.

Ultimately, the film is about Satanism as practiced by society's elite and, despite the subject's spurious nature, the lengths they will go to for the promise of the money and power of the "real thing." Frank Langella plays Boris Balkan, the egotistical collector of all things Satanic with a sinister gusto, Lena Olin plays Liana Telfer, who will kill for the tome containing the "correct" spell to summon the Devil and looks as sexy as hell doing it, and Emmanuell Seigner (Polansiki's real-life wife) is the mysterious angel on Johnny's shoulder -- or is she? Based on "El Club Dumas" ("The Club Dumas" in English), the engrossing novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, NG takes some liberties, as most film adaptations do, but does not stray too far from the core plot and theme. Coincidentally, I highly recommend some of Pérez-Reverte other books, in particular, "The Flanders Panel", "The Fencing Master" and "Queen of the South" from which the successful TV crime series was based.

Emmanuell Seigner as The Mysterious Girl.

The object in question is known as The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, which has the familiar ring of another famous tome written about by H.P. Lovecraft, The Necronomicon. This one, however, is said to be written by the Devil himself. Balkan will spare no expense (or life) in his search for the authentic edition, written in the 17th Century by one Aristide Torchia. Balkan hires savvy antique book dealer Corso to investigate and track down the remaining copies to compare them and affirm that his is the authentic edition. The investigation leads Corso through a winding path from New York to several locations in Europe. Along the way, he meets a variety of interesting characters that account for some of the best scenes in the film. The climax is shot at the Cathar castle Château de Puivert where the mystery is solved, but doesn't turn out well for Balkan.

Frank Langella as Boris Balkan tries out the ritual.

As mentioned, the visuals play a large part of the mood and atmosphere of the film. This article from AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER (April 2000) discusses photographer Darius Khondji's approach and techniques for filming THE NINTH GATE.

THE NINTH GATE OFFICIAL TRAILER:

THE NINTH GATE FILM SCORE:

KARLOFF'S HAUNTED STRANGLER

The year is 1860. The place: Newgate Prison in England. Edward Styles, convicted killer of five woman, is executed in a public hanging. His body is interred, but not before an unseen hand places a scalpel in his coffin before it is nailed shut.

Twenty years later, novelist James Rankin (Boris Karloff) is investigating the case on the premise that it was a wrongful death and would have been dismissed if he would have had legal reprensentation. His search leads him to Styles' grave and he begins digging it up with the assumption that the murder weapon has been hidden in his coffin. He pries open the lid and, scratching around the remains, finds the scalpel. Rankin grasps it in triumph, proving his theory that it was a doctor by the name of Tennant who had been present when Styles was placed in the coffin and he instead, had committed the crimes. But as he does so, he goes through a physical change and becomes possessed with the killer's spirit. With scalpel in hand, he resumes the murder spree until he is caught and gunned down by police.

Originally titled, STRANGLEHOLD, , THE HAUNTED STRANGLER was released on May 11, 1958 and produced by Richard Gordon's Amalgamated Pictures, a film company that made a series of mostly crime films in England. The horror/thriller was directed by Robert Day and written by John Croydon (as John C. Cooper) and Jan Read based on a story by Read. The cast included Jean Kent (her only horror film), Elizabeth Allan (appeared in MARK OF THE VAMPIRE) and Anthony Dawson (appeared in Hammer's CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF and two Bond films). 

As usual, Karloff makes the most of his role as the obsessive novelist and social-reformer. Karloff managed his twisted face persona with little makeup; instead he did the same thing as when he was being made up as the Frankenstein monster over twenty years earlier -- he removed his false teeth! The rest of the cast does a good job with their characters in what is a fairly well-done crime drama.

The story does have some plot holes and errors, such as, why didn't Tennant just toss the murder weapon into the Thames? Also, an early scene with Karloff in the police evidence room shows a box labeled, "Jack the Ripper". Since the story takes place in 1880, it would some years before the Ripper's murder spree.

Karloff would work again with Robert day in CORRIDORS OF BLOOD that same year. Amalgamated produced two more science-fiction/horror films (FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, FIRST MAN INTO SPACE) before folding up their camera tripod and headed back across the pond.

One Sheet movie poster.

Production stills:

The film was on a double-bill with Fiend Without a Face.

Karloff's agreement to use his name and image
in promoting The Haunted Strangler.