Tuesday, January 18, 2011

UNDYING MONSTERS SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION


UNDYING MONSTERS
Limited Edition
Editor: David Davey
Publication Date: October, 2010
Publisher: David Davey
Color cover/ B&W interior
68 ppg. (including covers)
Cover price: $10.00
Pre-orders and subscriptions: http://www.undyingmonsters.com/contact-us.html

Unveiled as a limited edition last year at the Chiller Theatre Convention, I have high hopes for UNDYING MONSTERS. Not yet fully formed, the brand new monster movie print magazine has a promising beginning. Subtitled, “Where Old Monsters Never Die”, editor and publisher Dave Davey is at the helm and charts his thematic course with both feet planted firmly in the classic era. Despite familiar territory, UNDYING MONSTERS can almost be called wholly original. Any claims of derivation would have to be of a kind similar to that of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, especially with the FRANKENSTEIN 1970 Filmbook found in the issue.

Vintage monster movies covered in this issue are REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES, THE UNDEAD, and the aforementioned Frankenstein flick. Other notable articles are on Bela Lugosi’s Ygor character and EC Comics.

Film coverage is pretty much limited to a re-telling of the plot, and production and other information is sparse. However, the writing is engaging and if you want to experience the film without actually re-watching it, this is a good way to go.

What is most noteworthy about UNDYING MONSTERS is the profusion of photos accompanying each article. Boasting over 100 “never before seen photos”, they appear to be either very sharply reproduced screen caps or maybe a trove uncovered from an archival source. The usual film still developer’s marks are not in evidence, so I suspect it could be the former. In any event, the addition of abundant photos gives the overall sense that this magazine is intended to be more of a pictorial celebration of the monster movie legacy rather than a textual one. Fellow monster lovers, that is not a bad thing at all.

MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD has reported that the first “official” issue of UNDYING MONSTERS is due from Mr. Davey sometime in March. It will be interesting to see if the editorial premise holds. In any event, I am waiting in anticipation for another fine stroll down the lane where old monsters never die.





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