Cinefantastique is an Americanhorror,fantasy, andscience fictionfilm magazine.
 Cover of the Winter 1977 issue (Vol. 6 No. 3) ofCinefantastique | |
| Editor | Frederick S. Clarke |
|---|---|
| Categories | Film |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| Founded | 1967 (First incarnation), 2009 (Second incarnation) |
| Final issue | 2006 (First incarnation) |
| Company | Fourth Castle Micromedia |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Forest Park, Illinois |
| Language | English |
| Website | cinefantastiqueonline |
| ISSN | 0145-6032 |
History
editThe magazine originally started as amimeographedfanzine in 1967, then relaunched as aglossy,offset printed quarterly in 1970 bypublisher/editor Frederick S. Clarke.[1] Intended as a serious critical/review journal of thegenres, the magazine immediately set itself apart from competitors likeFamous Monsters of Filmland andThe Monster Times due to itsslick paper stock and use of full color interiorfilm stills.Cinefantastique's articles and reviews emphasized an intelligent, near-scholarly approach, a then-unusual slant for such a genre-specific magazine. Advertisements were few, consisting mostly of other titles and materials by the publisher.
The magazine quickly came to be known for its lengthy, information-filled "retrospective" articles devoted to the fullproduction details of such classic films as 1951'sThe Day the Earth Stood Still,George Pal'sWar of the Worlds,The Incredible Shrinking Man, andPlanet of the Apes. Based on the popularity of these articles,Cinefantastique began producing huge double-issues centering on comprehensive "Making-Of" looks at such movies as Disney's20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,Forbidden Planet,Star Wars,Close Encounters of the Third Kind,Blade Runner, andThe Thing. The magazine also devoted multiple yearly issues toStar Trek films andStar Trek: The Next Generation,Star Trek: Deep Space Nine andStar Trek: Voyager. Many of the articles have since become accepted as the definitive source of production information regarding these and other genre titles.
The magazine was responsible for introducing the work of several writers who have continued to produce important work in the film field, including Don Shay,Bill Warren,Tim Lucas,Mick Garris,Stephen Rebello, Steven Rubin, Dan Scapperotti, Dale Winogura,Jeffrey Frentzen, Paul M. Sammon (who authored theBlade Runner double issue and later turned it into an extensive book calledFuture Noir), Dan Fiebiger, andAlan Jones.
On October 17, 2000, due to complications from long-timeclinical depression, Clarke committedsuicide at the age of 51.[1][2] Editorship was briefly assumed by long-time contributor Dan Persons, until rights to the continuing publication ofCinefantastique were acquired byMark A. Altman's Mindfire Entertainment, who formally renamed the magazineCFQ.
In November 2006,CFQ editor Jeff Bond announced that the magazine would be "going on hiatus into 2007", promising that in the near future it would return "on an irregular basis for in-depth spotlights & special issues". The magazine was succeeded byGeek Monthly, with Bond at the helm.
Cinefantastique relaunched as awebzine in August 2007, calledCinefantastique Online, under the supervision of the magazine's former West Coast Editor, Steve Biodrowski.
In 2009,Cinefantastique was purchased by and became a wholly owned trademark of Fourth Castle Micromedia, a New York–based company owned by genre marketing veteran Joe Sena. Fourth Castle is known for their EMCE Toys brand, whose first lines of "Retro Cloth" 8" action figures were reproductions of classicMEGOtoys.
Fourth Castle produced a one-shot,Cinefantastique Presents The Ultimate Guide To Zombies in 2012. The magazine was slated for relaunch in 2015 (but never did), and Biodrowski continued to runCinefantastique Online while Dan Persons producedpodcasts for the publication[3] until mid-2020, the date of the last new article atCinefantastique Online.
References
edit- ^ab"Frederick S. Clarke, 51, of Cinefantastique".The New York Times. November 9, 2000. RetrievedSeptember 4, 2016.
- ^Jones, Alan (November 20, 2000)."Frederick Clarke".The Guardian. RetrievedMay 1, 2017.
- ^Biodrowski, Steve (April 29, 2010)."Godzillathon in San Francisco".Cinefantastique Online. Archived fromthe original on March 6, 2016. RetrievedMarch 7, 2012.