HORROR "SIN-EMA" (PART 1)

FOCUS ON (SIN AND THE CINEMA)
Vol. 1 No. 4
Fall 1964
Selbee Associates, Inc.
Editor: J. King
Associate Editor: L. Crane
Art Director: E. Stanton
Cover: Photo cover
Pages: 70
Cover price: $1.25

The 1960's are remembered for many things including flower children, the innovations of rock and folk music, civil unrest, and the Vietnam War. Also prevalent during the decade was the emergence of mass social sexual awareness that was accompanied by the proclamations of "Free Love", "Free Sex" -- you know -- like, why don't we do it in the road?

This phenomenon was no more visible than in films and magazines. Sexual expression was played out in countless movies, from the artful to the ridiculous, and publications such as PLAYBOY, which became the leading men's magazine -- not so much for the articles (which usually were pretty good), but for who the next Playmate of the Month would be and how much would she be showing (in case you're wondering, the first PMOM to show more than the hair on her head was Liv Lindeland, Miss January 1971, although Marguerite Empey/Diane Webber did show some in Russ Meyer's underwater shot seen in February 1956).

Somewhere in between came this magazine, FOCUS ON, which focused on sin and the "sin-ema" in the issue shown here today. It's an odd amalgam of movie reviews, topics on sex and other ways and excuses to show nude photos under the pretense of "serious analysis". 

The weirdest addition to the magazine are numerous stills from. . . monster movies! Some of them are included in articles that discuss such things as violence and perversity, and a handful reside in an article all by themselves -- and all out of place in a 'zine like this -- imaginatively titled, "Horror Films".

I have decided instead of picking out the monsters from the pages I'd go ahead and present the entire issue, just so you can see how these images are used in context in what is really just another a soft-core nudie mag.

Lots of photos of glamour stars such as Sophia Loren, Bridget Bardot, Mamie Van Doren, and Anita Ekberg are seen throughout. Horror movies with stills include JACK THE RIPPER, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, PEEPING TOM, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN and many others.

Another observation is the name E. Stanton as art director. It's not too much of a stretch to surmise that this is the underground cartoonist and fetish artist, Eric Stanton. You can see a handful of his illustrations throughout, such as found on pages 18, 21, and 41.

Man, can you dig it?