Saturday, September 29, 2012

Warren CLOSE ENCOUNTERS (1977) Official Magazine

During the late Seventies, Jim Warren's Warren Magazines (publishers of Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella and Famous Monsters of Filmland) put out a number of "Official" tie-in mags for a variety of genre films, from Star Wars and Alien to Moonraker and Meteor.

Here's the cover of their Close Encounters Of The Third Kind magazine, with a striking close-up of Carlo Rambaldi's featured animatronic alien.

As I've said before, these publications were basically full-issue, Famous Monsters-styled "filmbooks," featuring detailed plot summaries, actor profiles and behind-the-scenes articles, all written for 13 to 15 year-olds. And... then there were the pages of "Captain Company" mail order ads in the back....
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2012 at 7:06 AM

    Kind of a shame to spoil the ending by putting one of the aliens on the cover though.
    Oh, and Teri Garr is a good shout for Space Babe status. Had a bit of crush on her. Made a memorable appearance in Star Trek too

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  2. UnknownSeptember 30, 2012 at 8:43 AM

    Is it just me, or did old trailers and publications make it their mission to blow the movie's surprises? How many old trailers literally showed you the movie's pay-off?; how many publications (like this one!) showed you the mystery creature unveiled? I consider the Soylent Green trailer the gold award winner in this category, but you get the point..!

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    Replies
    1. Dave MSeptember 30, 2012 at 11:57 PM

      I never really thought these blew the suspense for me. Personally I think trailers in that period were better at getting me to see movies than those I see today. A lot of these zines picqued my interest in the show or movie. If memory serves me right most came out afterwards when the publisher knew they would sell. I don't remember this particular one but it is the type of thing I spent money on.

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  3. TimOctober 12, 2012 at 2:19 PM

    If I remember correctly, by the time this magazine hit the stands, Close Encounters was already well into release (popular movies stayed in theaters a lot longer back then), so putting the alien on the cover wasn't really spoiling anything. In fact, Rambaldi's creation, with its charming smile and message of goodwill, was so popular with audiences at the time that it appeared on many magazine covers. Btw, the "Official Dramatized Recording of Close Encounters of the Third Kind" LP released by Wonderland Records came with a copy of this mag.

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