Fangoria was always one of two dirty magazines for me as a kid. The first was Cosmo – you know, before I discovered it wasn’t filled with naked ladies, but just the cleave-heavy one on the front. Fangoria, on the other hand, never blueballed. I knew if I saw some dude with an axe in his head, the pages inside would deliver the post-axe carnage money shot of ruptured brain and eyeballs popping out. As a kid, I just looked at it for the pictures and the disturbing feeling I got. Apparently, there was all kinds of other stuff in those pages- like interviews, set visits, updates, etc.
How times have changed. Not content to write about the films of others, Fangoria has launched its own lil’ film shingle and has set out on a $100 million quest to get it financed in an effort to churn out a handful of films a year. Fangoria Films joins Fangoria’s Sirius Radio Broadcast, comic label, awards show and broadband TV venture in its media expansion to dominate all things horror.
Fangoria has tapped Brian Witten as president. Mr. Witten has a slate of producer credits under his belt, including Spawn, Dark City, Final Destination and the upcoming Friday the 13th redux. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Witten will use his skills at winning friends and influencing people to work with studios and independent horror makers in bringing three or four films a year to the Fangoria label.
With the resurgance of hardcore horror, Fangoria’s move is just a little more icing on the bloody birthday cake horror fans have been enjoying for the last couple years. Especially with a quote (from Fangoria editor Tony Timpone) like this: "We want to be the Disney of horror."
No word yet on inevitable plans for Fangoria: The Theme Park, but the very fact Timpone uses that analogy makes me laugh in a good way.