Back in the day, the only way to watch your favorite monster movie after it had left theaters was to invest in an 8mm projector and buy 50 or 200 feet of an extremely abridged version which were available from Castle Films advertised in the back of most Warren pubs. Of course, there were 16mm versions that were typically longer in length (and some with sound) but the cost was way out of reach for the average Monster Kid. You might also be just lucky enough to catch a re-run on one of the late night horror shows on TV.
Consciously or not, James Warren sought to remedy that with his short-but-sweet run of FAMOUS FILMS, magazines in the fumetti style, with photos and dialogue balloons that allowed the reader to vicariously relive the movie. Hey, it was better than nothing!
FAMOUS FILMS: CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN AND HORROR OF DRACULA (it was titled the other way around in the indicia) was indicated as issue #2 on the Bruce Jones cover, but it was actually the third and final of the series that began with THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH and THE MOLE PEOPLE. The issue date is date is April 1965
The stories are skillfully planned and executed by Russ Jones and Joe Orlando. Jones also did the cover and long-time Warren work horse Ben Oda crafted the lettering. Also of note are the double-page spread ads for the new Warren 'zines, MONSTER WORLD and CREEPY.
I have The Mole People version of this and love it. I recently found the final installment of a series they did in paperback for Star Trek which was in this style. I was trying to remember just yesterday what it was like before computers and the internet made collecting and connecting with other fans so easy. It was a different world indeed.
ReplyDeleteAnd how -- everything was by mail . . . when the Post Office was faster and more reliable!
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