20 pages. B&W.
Mike Murphy / Avalon.
Edited by Mike Murphy.
"Dedicated to Hammer Films"
Cover (uncredited).
Contents:
.2 Hammer News
.3 Editorial by Mike Murphy. / Contents
.4 Screen Screams news feature by Mike Murphy?
.5 Dennis Wheatley & Hammers Film Adaptations by Mike Murphy?
11 Peter Cushing Interview with Peter Cushing, by Alan Titchmarsh (transcript).
12 Bray Film Studios text feature by Mike Murphy?
13 Hammer House of Horror Episode Guide by Mike Murphy?
16 James Bernard mini-biography and filmography.
19 Jacqueline Pearce mini-biography.
20 Curse of Frankenstein / Horror of Dracula poster repro.
The early nineties were exciting times for Hammer fans, and the lack of official official Hammer Horror publications was the prompt for a number of fanzines to step in to fill the gap. Dark Terrors may be slim, but there is a lot of information covered in its' pages. Promotional text for The World of Hammer television series, which appeared a couple of years after the publication of this issue, fills the inside front cover. Given the choice of colour paper, maybe shunting it further in might have been a better choice. Very light printing means that the text is rather difficult to read in places.
Dennis Wheatley adaptations have been covered a few times, with varying degrees of success, and while there are no great shocks in store for those familiar with the company's output, there is a genuine sense of affection - a minor criticism would be the format used in presenting the film credits, which take up far more room than they ought to. Photographs used as illustration reproduce well, although the posters haven't fared quite as well in being reduced so much.
Peter Cushing's interview with Alan Titchmarsh, from Pebble Mill (31 Oct 1991), is interesting to read, though doesn't offer any new insights into his work with Hammer. Anecdotes about his time with Star Wars are overly familiar now, and this is perhaps something that has to be seen rather than read. The snippet of news about Bray Studios being saved from massive alteration feels like it should be elaborated on, as there are lingering questions about how Sir Adam Thomson came to Bray from British Caledonian Airways.
Hammer House of Horror was never a favourite of mine. There were too many shortcuts in the series, and certain scenes felt rushed through. but the central ideas which each episode were founded on were solid. The beginning of a series of reviews in this issue dodges critical assessment of the merits and deficiencies present, preferring to devote space to information which, these days, can easily be found on imdb.com.
While Dark Terrors may be light on opinion, it is a fascinating insight into the lingering hold the company has on its' fans. Had Murphy been a little more ambitious this would have been much more entertaining - the dates and names are important, but something a little more unique, more personal, would have made this a much better title.
No comments:
Post a Comment