Video Watchdog
Entry updated 3 June 2022. Tagged: Publication.
US saddle-stapled Digest-size Cinema magazine. Published and edited by Donna and Tim Lucas. Summer 1990-2016. A bimonthly schedule was generally adhered to.
The heart of Video Watchdog as a Media Magazine was from the first its extended reviews of film and Television releases in video or, subsequently, DVD and other formats; existing films or television in their original format were covered, along with reissues and remasterings; new releases were not usually commented upon until some time after they have become available. Coverage ranged from vintage Horror and sf movies to later and modern-day Splatter Movies as well as general exploitation films in the adventure, crime and war genres. Increasingly, over the years, this ongoing service was augmented by retrospective essays on individual films – for instance, an eleven-page tribute to Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1963) in #178 (Spring 2015) – and film-makers, including such figures as Paul Verhoeven in #80 (February 2002), John Frankenheimer in #87 (September 2002) and Roger Corman in #164 (September/October 2011). Various actors were also interviewed or critiqued.
Long-time contributors to the journal include Ramsey Campbell, Michael Lennick (1952-2014), who appeared regularly from #1 until his death, Kim Newman, David J Schow (1955- ) and Douglas E Winter (1950- ). The company also issued books on various film and television items over the years. Collectors should note that at least two "Special Editions" in similar format to the parent magazine appeared in the mid-1990s. Video Watchdog went bankrupt and ceased publication in 2016. [GSt/JC]
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