CONGRATULATIONS, ARTEMIS II CREW: INTEGRITY & DILIGENCE PERSONIFIED!

 

CLASSIC MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES #37: HANLEY, HENCHMEN, BAVA & MORE

Classic Monsters of the Movies #37 serves a creepy cauldron of madness that's designed to bring fans utmost, ghoulish gladness, with 84 pages of pure, glossy terror. 

As one can infer from Daniel Horne's eye-catching cover, the spotlight falls on Christopher Lee's ravishing, Scars of Dracula costar, Jenny Hanley. To accompany such, there's a detailed article on Hammer's Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, the studio's revered adaptation of Jewel of Seven Stars, starring the vivacious Valerie Leon. (Ah, speak of a fearsome, Bram Stoker-inspired double feature!)

To spice up the devilish brew even more, readers receive a rundown of horror-dom's best and most memorable servants and henchman (as seen in The Black Cat 1934 and The Cat and the Canary 1939), as well as a retrospective on that beloved, outsider classic, Edward Scissorhands, not to mention an analysis of Mario Bava's atmospheric creations, headlined by Boris Karloff's hosted curation, Black Sabbath, and that influential, Alien precursor, Planet of the Vampires. 

Classic Monsters' continuation of cinema's haunted houses and gloomy abodes rounds out the eerie ingredients, with scary sojourns to The Others, The Conjuring and Nosferatu 1922. 

Nige Burton, Jamie Jones, John Logan and Dave Huckvale lend their remarkable, writing/research skills to clinch this issue as an encyclopedic winner, with a succession of rare and captivating stills that fans will cheer and adore.  

Classic Monsters of the Movies #37's brooding blend can't be beat. To suckle its sinister splendor, visit

https://www.classic-monsters.com/shop/product/classic-monsters-magazine-issue-37/

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: A HARD DAY'S GODZILLA

 

I SAW FACES OF DEATH (2026)

Faces of Death (2026, though completed in 2023/24) springs from the Mondo Cane-derived franchise of decades past, which became a forbidding hit on the VHS-rental circuit. This new submission isn't just a compilation of alleged, real-life deaths, but a make-believe account, wherein a fiend recreates the original anthology's horrific contents. 

In this regard, the setup places the "redux" in league with How to Make a Monster (1958); Wes Craven's New Nightmare; Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2; Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead; Mimesis: Nosferatu; The Bates Haunting; and that rousing spectacular, Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust. It uses what came before, by taking it as a pop-cultural phenomenon, while remaining fictional in its own right. Twisty, eh? 

Directed by Daniel (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) Goldhaber, who cowrote with his Cam partner, Isa Mazzei, the revision follows a web-content moderator/crusader, Margot Romero, played by Barbie (Euphoria/Nope) Ferriera, who discovers a channel where portions of the 1978 curation are recreated (albeit indirectly and always with prominent people) and promoted as veritable snuff, but are the segments genuine or just simulated spurts of sadistic fancy? To confirm, our protagonist (accompanied along the way by supporting characters played by Jermaine Fowler, Aaron Holliday, Charlie xcx and Josie Totah) comes upon the mannequin-margined, Bruiser/Eyes Without a Face-masked antagonist, Arthur Spevek, portrayed by Dacre (Stranger Things/Elvis 2022) Montgomery, with matters thereafter spiraling toward the potential (if not probable) point of no return. 

Based on its cunning realignment, Goldhaber/Mazzei's approach owes a ton to the Saw and Hostel franchises, as well as Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Trilogy and its grisly offshoots. In other words, it (like its titular inspirations) feels like borderline "torture porn," but then much of the splatter/slasher genre could be dismissed as such, and over the decades, the timid have been quick to decry it.  

Though I've no objection to Grand Guignol cinema, I kept the Faces of Death franchise at bay. The fact that its entries are said to consist of confirmed, death footage bothers me, even if various segments have been verified as faux. Though unsettling in its depictions, this new entry is easier to accept because it pushes a pure, melodramatic wraparound, using the video-snuff novelty to build what is, in essence, a Copycat/Barbarian/Silence of the Lambs/Longlegs, who-done-it or make that a what-drove-him. (In truth, it's in full, speculative step with any general, Jack the Ripper analysis.) Does that designate the neo Faces of Death as top-drawer? Not really, but its morbid gimmick does resonate, regardless of its objectionable foundation, thus holding the means to enthrall more than repel. Unless one's super-squeamish, I say it's worth a shot ... er, a stab or a slash or ... (Faces of Death is in limited, theatrical release with streaming available on Shudder.) 

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: ELVIS VS GODZILLA

 

DR. ALAN MANDELL: IF THEY TREAT YOU LIKE THIS

 

Dr. Alan Mandell, of motivational.com gives quality advice on health, both the mental and physical. 

In a profound short inserted below, he speaks of walking away from sour thoughts and those who prompt them, so that one may achieve better outcomes and greater self-reflections. I often reference those obnoxious know-it-alls who tend to belittle and never uplift, planting those gaslighting seeds that only ever spawn self-destructive weeds. Mandell's excellent, to-the-point piece reflects my perceptive to the behavioral tee! 

Give it a view. It might do you good. I know it's helped entrench my stance; for that, I'm most grateful.😏

FOR THE FUN OF IT: