MIKE RAVEN SPEAKS!

HAMMER HORROR (PART 1)
Vol. 1, No. 4
June, 1995
Publisher: Marvel Comics UK Ltd.
Editor: Marcus Hearn
Assistant Editor: Janet Mahnaz
Editorial Director: Paul Neary
Design: Peri Godbold
Consultant: Stephen Jones
Cover: Photo cover (Christopher Lee as Rasputin the Mad Monk)
Pages: 52 A4-size pages
Cover price: $5.25

"Sex is power!" declares Raquel Welch on the contents page of the 4th issue of Marvel's UK mag, HAMMER HORROR (June 1995). Marcus Hearn's editorial on the same page tells of Miss Welch's attempt at a stage role bombed so badly that the London dates were cancelled and as a result, deprive Hammer fans of seeing the magnificent "Loana the Fair One" of the Shell Tribe. Hearn goes on to say that Welch was "savaged" by the critics for her role in THE MILLIONAIRESS.

Now, I get downright ticked when somebody disses my #1 All-Time Glamour Girl, but even I can admit that her acting ability was uneven and many times tepid. It was also alarming to hear Hearn's accounts of Welch being dismissive about her role in ONE MILLION YEARS, B.C. She went so far as calling it a "turkey" when interviewed by THE GUARDIAN. She must have had a change of heart in later years, as she claimed that she "owed her career to Loana".

The surprise of this issue is an interview with the 6' 3" Austin Churton Fairman, known to horror fans as Mike Raven. Raven was a bit of a mysterious personality; he claimed to be a master of the occult and he was more interested in making movies than acting in them. He seemed to have rarely done both and as a result, has become obscure.

Other standouts are features on Hammer's RASPUTIN, THE MAD MONK, starring Christopher Lee, and THE SORCERERS, directed by "the James Dean of horror films", Michael Reeves. The two articles are presented much like Richard Klemensen does in his LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS magazine, which is to break the story down into the different aspects of the production (actors, script, shooting, etc.) and gives the reader a comprehensive view of the film and how it was made. Marvel's version of the method is considerably compact, however, compared to Klemensen's nearly book-length treatments.

Also worth mentioning is an article on director Don Sharp, who worked on "costume dramas" such as KISS OF THE VAMPIRE and DEVIL SHIP PIRATES for Hammer.