10 Page Article in Darkside Magazine 262

I have a new article in Darkside Magazine issue 262 (though the issue was originally written at the end of 2023.

The article covers horror films that relate to real life paranormal phenomena such real life hauntings, UFO's, The Loch Ness Monster and The Bermuda Triangle.

The original article I submitted was an epic 10k in length so inevitably a few bits got chopped. A section on 'Snowbeast' (1977) was understandably cut as Darkside ran a piece on that in the previous issue. I have published it below for anyone who would like to know what I thought about 'Snowbeast'

The article uses the Usborne Books of Mysteries as a linking guide to the related subjects.

Films included are 'Amityville' (1979), 'The Entity' (1982), 'The Legend of Boggy Creek' (1972), 'The Loch Ness Horror' (1982), 'Communion' (1989), 'The Mothman Prophecies' (2002) and many others. 

The article mentions Dean Alito's pioneering found footage video 'The Mcpherson Tape' (1989) aka 'Alien Abduction'. You can read an interview I did a couple of years ago with Dean for The Big Picture about 'The Mcpherson Tape' and his other work here...

http://thebigpicturemagazine.com/dean-alioto-found-footage-pioneer/ 

You can order a copy of The Darkside here...

https://thedarksidemagazine.com/product/issue-262-lust-for-a-vampire/

Darkside is also available in WH Smiths and many other news/magazine shops.

The Entity (1982)

The Loch Ness Horror (1982)

The UFO Incident (1975)

The Legend of Boggy Creek (1975)

Snow Beast (1977) 

In ‘Snowbeast’ (1977) a Colorado ski resort is terrorised by a rogue Yeti which goes about mauling and killing various locals and tourists on the slopes. There are lots of good atmospheric scenes that utilise the frosty locations well and some creepy point of view shots where the creature stalks its human prey from afar before running toward them to attack; cue hysterical screams!  Despite being a ’made for TV’ outing, ‘Snowbeast’ manages to be a touch nastier than most TV movies of the period with some mild bloodletting and a creeping sense of threat present throughout.

Made in the post ‘Jaws’ (1975) climate, ‘Snowbeast’ applies the now familiar trope of local authorities attempting to play down the turbulent events in order to protect the local tourist trade. In this case it is resort owner Carrie Rill (Sylvia Sidney) who is determined that any abominable goings will not overshadow the resorts annual snow carnival.

A  cast of seventies TV regulars such as Bo Svenson, Yvette Mimieux and Clint Howard help to keep things from freezing over and Joseph Stefano’s  (‘Psycho’ (1960), ‘The Outer Limits’) script is pacey enough and delivers a few exciting scenes. In one key sequence, the ‘Snowbeast’ attacks the school gymnasium as Rill and the local youth orchestra rehearse for the snow carnival.  Panic-stricken pandemonium takes hold and everyone begins running around in a state of abject terror. When the young girl who is to be crowned ‘Snow Queen’ searches for her mother whose car is parked nearby, any elation she feels at being crowned  Snow Queen is soon extinguished when she discovers that her mother has been brutally slain by the creature.

 The dialogue in ‘Snowbeast’ is by and large, on the dull side, however it does feature some memorable lines in the scene where Tony Rill (Robert Logan) volunteers to identify a victim of the beast, " I must have seen her somewhere, maybe I’ll recognize her when I see her face.’’; to which the Sherriff (Howard) replies ‘’She doesn’t have one.’’

Director Herb Wallerstein does a decent enough job with the direction and ‘Snowbeast’ is on the whole a pretty entertaining flick. Wallerstein was a veteran of TV episode work with credits on ‘Mission Impossible’ and ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ amongst others but ‘Snowbeast’ is his only feature. He was tragically bludgeoned to death by his housekeeper in 1985.