Hot on the heels of our last review of a new ‘zine (Organ), we’ve gotten another one- Evilspeak! Organ was put out by the folks at the metal label Hell’s Headbangers, and Evilspeak is put out by the folks at metal label Razorback.
Evilspeak is a horror/ gore film ‘zine that may call back to the days of the ’80s and early ’90s ‘zine scene, but it mostly reminds me of a far older influence- Famous Monsters of Filmland. All it’s missing are the bad puns and film stills. Most ‘zines are usually critical of the movies that they include- they write reviews and criticisms and cover current films coming out, actors in up-and-coming films, and news about the newest stuff they want you to discover. Sometimes they might have a retro article or write about an undiscovered gem or re-issue, but it’s mostly about the here and now. Famous Monsters, on the other hand, always wanted to share their love of old, classic, and under-appreciated films and actors. They were rarely ever critical, but generally just talked fondly of monsters and films long gone (at least until some of the later issues). The current version of Famous Monsters of Filmland on the stands is not really like this, but more like a modern movie magazine, however there are some throwback ‘zines in the same style such as Scary Monsters that are trying to carry on the tradition started by the classic Famous Monsters. Evilspeak takes the Famous Monsters template and loads it with horror and gore films from the ’70s and ’80s (which Famous Monsters shied away from) such as Tourist Trap, Humanoids From the Deep, and the magazines namesake, plus adds in articles on drive-ins, Gore Shriek comics, Filipino horror films, a nice longer one on creature features of the late ’70s and early ’80s such as The Boogens and Without Warning (which has just been re-released by Scream Factory) written by Stevo of IMPETIGO (who somehow forgot the mutant bear flick Prophecy, which terrified the hell out of me when I was a little kid), and the late horror hero Chas Balun (who of course did the one of the best horror/ gore ‘zines of all time Deep Red, among many other things). It also has interviews with Heather Langencamp and Amber Wyss of A Nightmare On Elm Street and director (and actor) Ulli Lommel, who’s been stuck doing terrible quickie serial killer films recently but who has done some better films in the past such as The Boogey Man, The Devomsville Terror, and The Blank Generation.
This magazine shows the love well, and the articles are not dry or boringly written like in some books (who try to sound scholarly, but are just tedious). There is room for improvement, but this is a very good first issue. Check it out.
