Magazine Review: Filmfax

I'm a fan of character actors and makers of exploitation movies. It amazes me, and I know it shouldn't, that so much thought and effort goes into making even a movie that reeks. See William Shatner's comments about all the effort that went into directing Star Trek V, despite the most colossal cliche of the original series as its core.

Filmfax is one of the best magazines I know to enable me to keep up with the past roots of science fiction and fantasy. There's just some great stuff in here. I've been through numerous magazines over the years, and Filmfax has good writing and solid research and interview material on one of my favorite subjects. With the folding of Psychotronic Video Magazine, it has become my favorite magazine (and I'm a magazine hog).

Over the years I've read articles on numerous movies and movie people in Filmfax, The Magazine of Unusual Film, Teleivison and Retro Pop Culture. I'm pleased that Filmfax left enough play in its self-definition to include not just science fiction and fantasy but Abbott and Costello, the Three Stooges, Steve McQueen, and Bettie Page.

Current Issue

A quick look at the current issue, Filmfax #115. The issue has 130pp, and lists 14 feature articles with three departments: Re: Edits (readers letters), Retro Sourcebook (new filmbooks and pop culture literature), and VideDiscFlix (new videos and DVDs)..

This issue features interviews with character actor and frequent TV and movie villain Nehemiah Persoff, Gabe Dell, Jr. of the Bowery Boys, Cal Bolder who was the creature in Jesse James Meets Frankenstein, sexy actress June Wilkinson, an interview about comedians Bob and Ray, an article on desert landmarks (off I-15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles) where Tarantula and It Came From Outer Space were shot (love this stuff), an interview with Russ Meyer actress Tura Satana, an interview about Night of the Lepus (killer bunny rabbits overrun a Western town), the art of Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds, an interview on Blacula, and artist and filmmaker Ed Emschwiller. And there's more.