Synergy Magazine

Scarlet Issue 2

The Film Magazine

PO Box 29092

Cleona PA 17042

USA

Once again Scarlet stands head and shoulders above many other genre magazines on the market; beautifully produced and illustrated, it is packed with insightful and above all intelligent articles. It is a superb read from cover to cover. Rather than being focused (read obsessed) on one genre such as horror, gore or Science Fiction Scarlet covers all manner of cinematic subjects with an eye on significant themes, concepts and ideas. It also offers some of the best coverage of earlier films I have seen with a near encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of cinema.

Scarlet opens with some letters and then offers an excellent study of music in horror films called “The Music of the Night”, this issue it is focused on the music of the composer Max Steiner. We are then treated to a range of reviews of books and DVDs, as part of the DVD review section there is a solid “Poe on DVD” article which comprehensively covers the known (and lesser known) DVDs on Edgar Allan Poe. The coverage within the general reviews section is excellent from modern to classic; re-releases to new titles, there are lots of older films which I have not found reviewed anywhere else.

The articles in this issue focus on The Mummy and are really quite superb, tracing the Mummy genre from the earliest films right through to the most recent release. There are in-depth discussions of key films such as The Mummy (1932) and lots of rare stills and images.

This is followed by a very cool interview with Jimmy Baird who was a well known juvenile star appearing in such films as The Return of Dracula and To Hell and Back.

The Mummy theme is continued with articles on unusual Mummy themed films (illustrated with some great humour) and Mummy special effects and make-up.

If this is not enough, we are treated to feature length articles on invisibility in film and Psycho. Scarlet Issue 2 is illustrated throughout with rare stills, photographs, art and illustrations. It really is an absolute gem and a magazine no film buff can be without.

This review will appear in Volume 2:1 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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