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What Else Is There?

Volume 1, Number 9

Rue Morgue

It�s going to be a summer filled with horror and violence. Well, yes, the news, but that�s not what I mean. I mean that the dominant theme for movies this summer is horror and violence.

Now if you are of a psychological turn of mind, this might be suggestive of � what? As it happens, I tune into an on-line list that does discuss that very kind of thing. It�s a peculiar list, filled with terms like �group fantasy� and �alters� and �killer mommies.� (Relax, that killer mommy isn�t what you think.)

The point is, and my list pals agree, movies to some degree reflect the psychological temper of the times, and the times are scary. This is also evident when flipping through the pages of the latest issue of Rue Morgue, a Canadian magazine published out of Toronto.

The Toronto connection comes in handy because this summer�s horror fest (Mel Gibson�s ode to bloodletting aside) kicks off with a film shot in Toronto. The major article that results is a �day in the life� approach to being a zombie extra for Dawn of the Dead.

Dawn stars Sarah Polley in her all-Canadian primness, but the article has virtually nothing to do with her. Polley had to learn lines and act and everything. The Rue Morgue editors, in contrast, just got to camp it up in decayed body, latex drag and do a lot of �aaarrghing�.

It�s a breezy, fun article, and that goes for the rest of the magazine, too. Rue Morgue�s editors love horror; they don�t buy into the argument that pop culture depictions of violence drive impressionable teenage boys to acts of mass murder. The current issue, in fact, starts off with a poorly written editorial to that effect.

[I don�t buy the argument, either. Neither do my list friends who blame the bulk of our violence on rampant childhood (especially sexual) abuse.]

Although the zombie piece is fun, the money article is a long conversation with Mike Mignola, the creator of the highly popular comic book hero Hellboy. This is not coincidence as the film version of Hellboy will be in theatres shortly, too.

Most of the rest of the magazine is given over to short pieces written in aggressively low-brow language: reviews of dvd releases, of music from horror films past, of new or interesting books, of twisted if occasionally beautiful art. The current issue showcases the oddly compelling (don�t call the men in white coats) work of Mark Ryden. Of that art, the tag line of the article says it all: �Children. Innocence. Bunnies. Blood.� And you thought only Anyanka (and the occasional Monty Python fan) feared the dreaded bunny.

At first page flip, however, it�s hard to find these articles. They are all lost in the glare of the garish artwork that overwhelms everything, crowding into and over the text.

I suppose this is the magazine version of what appeals to a youth-oriented culture � loud, vulgar, in your face, and crassly commercial. The baby boomers, it turns out, aren�t the only ones interested in money. (As for the angst ridden Gen-Xers, thankfully they turned out to be a brief interregnum.)

Horror, like rap and whatever else is out there, is all about the money. This explains the large amount of advertising in the magazine, but think twice before you cringe at the thought of more ads. For the dedicated fan, the ad space is a good thing since the ads let you know what�s out there. For horror/violence film fanatics, here�s part of the summer line-up based on ads in the magazine: Dawn of the Dead; Ginger Snaps II; The Punisher; and Van Helsing.

Okay, so Rue Morgue is overrun with ads, but this is a good thing. It means that the mag�s generally garish, hard to read, occasionally vulgar, but nonetheless entertaining style will continue. Even if latex clad men going �aarrgh� proves to be a one-off.

As for my on-line list friends, and all you amateur psychologists out there, the list of spring and summer blockbuster violence is brain candy. What does it all mean? Well, some of it is just fun, like Dawn of the Dead. Really, how much deep significance can you attribute to a remake of a sequel? (Okay, my bad � quite a bit, it seems.) As for the rest of the offerings, I am noticing a vengeance streak here.

The Punisher is about the business of payback, never mind that the payback results from someone else�s payback for large violence done in the name of the law, and Van Helsing, at least judging by the artwork in the ad and the lethal looking circular saw type weapon in his hand, crossbow in the other, is a cross between Blade and � maybe Angel from Buffy?

The �good guys� (including Hellboy) are on the hunt, and the results will be bloody. Frankly, I think our collective psyche needs a drink.


Rue Morgue is published by Mars Media Inc.
Issue 38 sells for $7.95 CAD or USD and is on stands now.

 

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