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I am not a horror movie fanatic. I enjoy them and I look forward to seeing a few of them, but my over-sensitized mentality takes quite a bit to shock while my natural sarcastic side urges me to quip, mock, and make other ‘witty’ comments on the movie as it plays. I blame hours of watching B, C, and D movies, including many episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, for this inclination. Thus, I am a movie fan, just not a fanatic. I do enjoy learning what happened behind the scenes on a set, the often turbulent process a movie takes to actually getting filmed and released, and the other details that surround such endeavors.

If you are of a similar mindset, then you would most likely enjoy Diabolique. Diabolique is a bi-monthly publication for the horror connoisseur and seems to cover everything from vintage horror, to recently released films, to works in progress. The layout was well done and the writers certainly seemed well informed and knowledgeable on the subject matter. As I expected, there was a plethora of screen shots and other peeks into what goes on on the other side of the camera. The front cover was quite inviting and reminiscent of the old 1950’s and 60’s horror movies which seemed to be the focus of this issue. Spread across the name of the magazine were horror icons in all their glory.

In the edition I received there film reviews, articles on classic horror and foreign horror, details on a couple of ground breaking directors, and other material. The article on how horror entertainment is changing with the times, and how the author feels the industry needs to continue to evolve was informative and included the trials and tribulations a new director or producer may face. The review on “Black Sunday” filled me with enough curiosity that I am actually going to try and find it, either dubbed or not as it was originally an Italian work. Perhaps the article I enjoyed the most was “the New French Extremity”. It, naturally, focused on French horror and mentions the general decline of American horror due to it’s trend to be bland enough for mass appeal. Unfortunately, the directors it mentions seem to be succumbing to the purgatory of Hollywood remakes. After having seen their work, “High Tension”, it is my hope they break from the remake trend and go back to their roots.

Diabolique was an intriguing look into the history of horror while also keeping readers abreast of current events. It is available both as an electronic product and as a print item. I was glad to see the print option as the chance to physically hold works such as this seems to be slowly dying off. At 9.95 it is not a cheap magazine, but it certainly seemed worth the price for the amount of work that goes into each publication. Although I enjoyed the magazine and found it quite insightful, I would not recommend it to younger readers, and by young I mean younger than teens. While the actual articles are not offensive the images displayed from the classic horror films might be rather revealing. As with modern horror, nudity and gore was prevalent so some discretion would be advised.

Review by Sean “Nix” McConkey

Tags | modern-horror, zombies