Magazine Review: SFX Special Edition - Vampires the Ultimate Undead Celebration

SFX Vampires - Front

“Any money left after buying this magazine?” Well, considering that this tasty offering will set you back almost £8, it’s a fair question. It’s asked on a page of this magazine which gives examples of the sort of vampire merchandise you may be interested in. A vampire Willow figure, perhaps? Or what about a Bela Lugosi Dracula figure? I believe the price of the usual monthly SFX magazine is £3.99.  Perhaps the doubled price for this special is because of the plethora of free gifts that accompany this publication.

SFX Vampires - Back

SFX Vampires Magazine

Being Human Coasters

Classic Vampire Tales

Vampire Lovers Poster

In all fairness, this is an attractive package. The sturdy card envelope contains the magazine, a book and some poster art - all good. The stuff that I could have done without are four rather cheap-looking coasters featuring portrait art of the characters from Being Human, and a coffin which you can assemble from pop-out cardboard, “If one of your Star Wars figures is looking a bit worse for wear why not put him or her in their very own little coffin?” the magazine asks. But, really, why would you? The free book is a collection of short stories about vampires and is a little over 100 pages in length. Amongst the writers in this collection are HP Lovecraft, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker. As I mentioned earlier, there is also some poster art. It’s double-sided, too. One side features artwork from Hammer’s Vampire Lovers which I like very much. The other side has artwork for True Blood.


Of course, the real meat in this package is the magazine. It runs to 132 pages so there’s plenty to get your teeth into. Let me first of all say that some of the contents relate to television shows and films that I have not seen (True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Being Human, Twilight), so I won’t be commenting too much on these articles.

For True Blood fans, the magazine has short interviews with Michelle Forbes, Mariana Klavens, Allan Hyde and novelist, Charlaine Harris. There’s also an episode-by-episode synopsis of season two in this section.

Toby Whithouse, the creator of Being Human, looks back at season two of the series. He also writes an episode-by-episode guide to the season. However, there are four pages of what look to me like filler given over to the locations used in the series.

The Vampire Diaries is a series that really doesn’t appeal to me: it sounds too Twilight-y for my taste, but there are a few pages of the magazine devoted to this show.

A short opinion piece contains one or two controversial viewpoints. The writer signs him or herself as ‘The Slayer’. The main thrust of the argument in this piece is that the use of religion in vampire drama, particularly modern-day stuff, is outmoded. However, the argument is presented in such a way that it may upset some people to whom religion is an important part of their lives. “Religion isn’t true. It’s all made up,” says the Slayer. The writer goes on to concede that, of course, vampires are not real either, but then he says: “but then no straight dramatic representation is real, although they must be able to exist in the real world without supernatural solutions. You wouldn’t end your story about a bank robbery by having the police come along and turn the pound notes into wine. A good modern-day writer should be able to exhibit imagination and defeat the vampires in some other way rather than in a “religious” manner." The problem I have with this argument is that vampires are supernatural beings. It should come as no surprise, then, that killing them would take unconventional means. I do agree that brandishing such things as crosses and holy water seems a little far-fetched as vampire repellents nowadays: not all the undead are likely to be ex-Christians, after all.

The magazine’s cover picture features the long-toothed ladies from the Doctor Who story Vampires of Venice. There’s a background story on this with contributions from the ubiquitous Toby Whithouse who wrote the episode. Fans of classic Who may be interested in the short interview with Terence Dicks who talks about another vampiric story from the Tom Baker era.

Brigitte Lahaie naked under a black cloak and wielding a scythe. Dangerous, but alluring! This delicious image can be found in French director Jean Rollin’s excellent 1979 film, Fascination. Rollin’s vampire films are listed in the magazine with reviews for each. Unfortunately, none of these reviews carry by-lines. My own favourite Rollin vampire films are Fascination and Lips of Blood (1975). His films are visually wonderful and often laced with sexual and dreamlike imagery, but are often let down by some dodgy dialogue. As an example of what his films look like, here’s the trailer for Rollin’s 1971 caper, Requiem for a Vampire.



I still haven’t seen Let the Right One In yet. I really must put that right soon. The magazine has an interview with Matt Reaves, the director of the American remake which is due for release later this year. Reaves says that his version isn’t so much a remake, but another film version of John Lindqvist’s novel. The new version is called Let Me In. It will be interesting to see how it is received given that the first version is often cited as a modern vampire classic.

My favourite part of this magazine is Alan Barnes’ fascinating article about the groovy Hammer flick, Dracula AD 1972. One of the article’s accompanying photographs has Christopher Lee with his hands on his hips and a sheepish look on his face, while sprawled at his feet are a couple of topless dolly birds. The caption explains that this was a publicity still from the film. A little naughty perhaps because the film itself contains no nudity. Barnes goes into the genesis of the film and if, like me, you’re a fan of this movie, the article makes for very interesting reading. Dracula AD 1972 was not well-received by the critics, but what do they know - they’re just a bunch of squares, man. I really dig this film.  Here’s its trailer.



Which actor is best known for playing Dracula? Most people will answer with one of two names: Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi. Steve O’Brien has an article in the magazine about the latter, and again, this is another fascinating read. Lugosi, of course, played the Count in Tod Browning’s classic 1931 version of Dracula. Sadly, his star waned quite quickly and the article contains a sidebar listing some of Lugosi’s less celebrated films. The subject of this article is such a compelling one that it’s a pity that more space could not have been devoted to it especially given some of the magazine’s filler material. Here, though, is the trailer for film that Bela Lugosi is probably best known for.



Lesbian vampires: two words that get the heart racing, eh? Steve O’Brien looks at the history of lesbian vampire films. Particular attention is given to film adaptations of Sheridan Le Fanu’s story Carmilla upon which Hammer’s Karnstein trilogy (Vampire Lovers (1970), Lust for a Vampire (1971) and Twins of Evil 1971)) is based. A nice array of photographs accompany the article including the gorgeous Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith in Vampire Lovers. Ingrid Pitt answers some questions about her Hammer appearances and there’s a little more Jean Rollin with more pictures from his films. Now, without further ado, the trailer for Vampire Lovers.



In autumn 2010, a new British film called Dead Cert is due for release. I’m not sure whether or not this film is a good idea. It’s basically about gangsters and vampires with a strip club backdrop. The article is interesting, though and I suppose we’ll hear more about the film as its release date nears. Here’s a taste.



Between them, this magazine’s article and the glowing review in DVD & Blu-Ray World, encouraged me to buy the two-DVD set of George Romero’s 1977 film Martin. I haven’t yet watched this film, but I’m really looking forward to doing so. Callum Wardell’s article about the film includes comments from its leading actor, John Amplas. These days, he is a drama teacher, but in the article he tells of how he became involved in this film and what he thought his role in it would do for his career. Here’s the trailer.



Overall, then, there’s plenty of good stuff in this magazine. The articles are graced by some splendid photographs and there are also a few very impressive examples of vampire artwork including a fabulous representation of Ingrid Pitt in Vampire Lovers by Rick Melton. Yes, it’s a very attractive looking publication. I’m more of a traditionalist when it comes to vampires. I like the stuff from the Hammer era, and I like the weird imagery and the sexiness that pierce Jean Rollin’s films. As for the newer stuff, well Twilight is, inevitably, represented in the magazine. I can’t honestly see myself watching that film; it just doesn’t appeal to me on any level. However, I have added True Blood and Being Human to my Lovefilm queue on the back of what I’ve read in the magazine.

The magazine does a good job of catering for fans of both newer and older vampire films and television shows, but it would have been interesting to have also had a bit more comment about literature and books. Perhaps an article about Bram Stoker would have been interesting. As for television shows, I’m a great fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but this magazine only gives us a look at the comic book that continued where the television show finished. There’s also very little on Angel. Films that I’d like to have seen a little more represented in the magazine are Jess Franco’s Female Vampire (1973) and Vampyros Lesbos (1971). Also scandalously missing is Jose Larraz’s Vampyres (1974) which is, as far as I’m concerned, one of the best British horror films of all time.

There’s a neat list at the end of the magazine that’s a kind of vampire film index. It purports to be an exhaustive list of every vampire film ever made excluding short films, porn and TV movies. Each film is listed with its year, director’s surname and a rating out of five. I’ve got to admit that every film I’ve been able to think of has been on the list.

Along with the good stuff, there is a certain amount of “filler” in this magazine. For example, five pages are wasted on quotes from back issues of SFX where the subject of vampires is under discussion. There’s a page of garlic products listed with SFX writers’ opinions on them and there’s a couple of pages devoted to film vampire fashion. Personally, I don’t think these eight pages added anything and I think they could have been put to better use.

For the most part, I’d recommend this magazine. As mentioned earlier, I think it’s a bit of an expensive buy. Having said that, I’ve just looked on eBay and, at the time of writing, there are a couple of these for sale with a buy it now asking price of £15. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that they’d sell at that price, but if you see one in the shops at the original price, it might be worth getting.