Rue Morgue #76 Review Score: 10/10 | Date Posted: March 25th 2008 In: Media Reviews Maybe it was their annual month-long hiatus, maybe it was the killer writing, maybe it was the journalistic concepts and the flashy graphic design… hell, maybe it was just me… but I loved this issue. I would highly recommend not skipping over the editor-in-chief’s Note form the Underground (pg. 6), while she talks about the whole idea of homage vs. thievery Jovanka Vuckovic expertly displays what makes a writer good. While she has her own ideas and opinions, she conveys those very things clearly, with style, and without making the reader feel like their own opinions on the matter are wrong or invalid. Truth be told, this one-page column might’ve been my favorite piece this month. However, let’s not take anything away from the incredible articles that follow, starting with the 2-page Dreadlines, where we get a little peek into the scripts for the upcoming John Carpenter and Dario Argento flicks thanks to Sean Plummer, and a look at the outrageous gay-horror efforts of Canadian avant-garde filmmaker Bruce LaBruce, brought to us via Stuart Andrews who proves that sometimes the shorter articles are the better vessels in which to deliver the goods. Following this we really get into the guts and the glory, starting with the leading article Up from the Underground by Mitch Davis, which is a look at the new indie horror sensation Mulberry Street featuring a fun interview with director Jim Mickle. Kier-La Jenisse contributes a one-pager on The Living and The Dead, Dave Alexander hits it with his Man in the Street article and Brad Abraham tackles Jack Ketchum’s Bad Seed – meanwhile all eight films from the After Dark Horrorfest 8 Films to Die for are viewed and reviewed – in what all amounts to an exciting full-color 9-page dedication to indie horror films. As a whole, I personally can’t say I’ve come across anything else (in the form of media that is) that has rejuvenated my inspiration and adoration for the horror genre to this level in quite some time. And I’ll gladly reiterate that it was really the writing that did all the concepts justice. To read Mitch Davis open up his interview with “First off, why rats?” or Dave Alexadner’s classic opening statement, “They say the sky’s the limit when you’re writing a script, so let your imagination run wild, which, if you’re making an indie film, is total bullshit,” brought a new giddiness to me. Just a kid in a candy shop, I was. And I haven’t even gotten to the next set of articles… (By the way, my apologies to Brad Abraham as I only glanced at his article – I’m a huge Jack Ketchum fan and I selfishly didn’t want to spoil anything for myself). Slyly maneuvering this dedication to indie horror to a dedication of classic Canadian slasher-horror was a moment of brilliance. To me, this is exactly the type of one-two punch I’ve been waiting for from Rue Morgue, and they pulled it off with some serious flair. James Burrell focuses on the Prom Night franchise with original director Paul Lynch in the highly entertaining Massacre at Hamilton High and Death by Disco articles (pgs. 26-28) while John Bowden interludes with a review of the series’ sequels. This is then followed up by some lovely Lovecraftian artwork just before Last Chance Lance throws us an article titled Rolling with the Reaper, which is everything you ever wanted to know and more on the history of motorcycle side-car hearses -- with Lance’s sardonic wit slapping us in the face like a two-page brochure from a slick used car salesman. Hilarious. I also have to mention Monica S. Kuebler’s article Primal Fears wherein she discusses the fantastic literary work of Brian Keene with the man himself – as well as a little of his personal life. (And although BK is one of my favorite authors, the irony this issue –referring back to the Note from the Underground page- would be that his break-through work The Rising had more than a couple of things in common with the works of George Romero). With all this compounded entertainment, amusement, inspiration, and notable work going on here this month, it’s actually hard… very hard... not to notice the double-shot of deficient reviews located in the Reissues section, and here would be my only negative critique for March’s issue – I can’t comprehend why after so much great material we end up with two reviews by Mark Hasan that would seemingly be more at home on an IMDb message board than in the pages of Rue Morgue. Now, I’m not a fan of the two films he reviewed, in fact, I’ve never seen them at all. But Hasan, as a reviewer, appears far more interested in quickly rehashing a film’s plot and assailing that with sarcastic one-liners, rather than offering any tangible insight. Of course for a proper example of insight, you need only to refer back to page 6. Vince D’Amato www.CreepySixFilms.Com

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