Magazine Review: The Dark Side Magazine – Issue 147

The Dark Side Magazine – issue 147
Editor: Allan Bryce

Ghoulish Publishing

It’s always a pleasure to see The Dark Side’s gaudy painted covers on the shelves, and it’s an even greater pleasure to discover the magazine is continuing to go from strength to strength in terms of content. This latest issue features another slew of features on mainly classic titles and filmmakers, but that’s no bad thing.

New releases are still covered in the reviews and articles, but the main meat of the magazine, the stuff a large portion of the readership wants, is the material on older films, and that’s where the writers really excel. Outstanding pieces this issue include superb interviews with Rutger Hauer, Simon Yam, City Of The Living Dead’s Carlo DeMejo and even a chat with The Blair Witch Project director Daniel Myrick on the film and its surrounding hype.

Along with the usual wealth of reviews, there’s a great feature review on zombie-themed board games. The DVD reviews section is, as ever, a joy to behold. Offering detailed and refreshingly blunt reviews of new DVD/Blu-Ray releases of films both classic and contemporary, the staff always demonstrate a wealth of knowledge and affection for the genre. Reviews of the lacklustre remakes of The Thing (yeah, ‘prequel’, ‘reboot’, whatever – it was crap) and Straw Dogs are particularly on the ball.

The Dark Side continues to offer high quality content with a strong set of opinions, and while some may see its bias towards the classics as somewhat curmudgeonly, but I say it’s an important and valid contribution to the industry that The Dark Side continues to promote the merits of the past.

The current state of the horror scene in the UK is in flux, lacking identity and vision, and as such it’s important for new fans and filmmakers to understand where the genre came from and what made it great in the first place. The Dark Side is pretty much the last bastion of this in this country, and while it’s not perfect, it’s absolutely essential reading for horror fans old and new around the world.

Book Review: The Dark Side Magazine – Issue 147