Yesterday we took a look at the Top 10 covers of Frederick S. Clarke’s incredibly influential Cinefantastique magazine. Clarke created an outlet for intelligent discussion of genre filmmaking with his first publication, his second publication was a bit more of lurid affair, visually at least. Femme Fatales premiered in 1992 with scream queen Brinke Stevens nude with the exception of a cape, fangs, and hands placed in just the rights spots. Inside however, the magazine offered interviews with B-movie actresses like Stevens, Debbie Rochon, Julie Strain and others. It also featured interview with icons like Elvira, Sybil Danning, and Pam Grier.

Editor Bill George described the magazine as the Swimsuit Edition of Cinefantastique, but in actuality it was much more. There was a noble attempt, contrary to the covers, to elevate the actresses it often featured. They had aspirations beyond low-budget filmmaking. Femme Fatales was sympathetic to their dreams and made sure to always ask questions that seemed to set them up for bigger projects (some of the articles were even authored by the featured actresses). This was likely lost on the pubescent teenagers snagging this magazine, but I caught their flow and dug the hell out of it.

The covers of Femme Fatales are just as notorious as those of Cinefantasique, though infinitely more daring. Just as we dug into the Top 10 Cinefantastique, we are moving on to the ladies with a look at the best (or is that breast) of the best. Some are animated, some are studio shots, but all of them are epic. There was no particular criteria outside of personal taste and the titles I tend to go back and look at in my own collection with great frequency. So buckle up, Bastards, and get ready to flip through this list:

DAILY GRINDHOUSE PRESENTS:

THE Top 10 FEMME FATALES MAGAZINE covers of all-time. Dig it!

10. FEATURED FEMME FATALE: BRINKE STEVENS

VOLUME 1 NO. 1

.09 FEATURED FEMME FATALE: JENNIFER O’DELL
VOLUME 9 NO. 6

.08 FEATURED FEMME FATALE: CARRIE FISHER
VOLUME 8 NO. 1

.07 FEATURED FEMME FATALE: MAMIE VAN DOREN
VOLUME 5 NO. 8

.06 FEATURED FEMME FATALE: ELVIRA

VOLUME 7 NO. 7

.05 FEATURED FEMME FATALE: YVONNE CRAIG
VOLUME 7 NO. 10

.04 FEATURED FEMME FATALES: THE BOND GIRLS
VOLUME 4 NO. 5

.03 FEATURED FEMME FATALES: HAMMER HEROINESG
VOLUME 6 NO. 1

.02 FEATURED FEMME FATALE: SYBIL DANNING
VOLUME 1 NO. 2

.01 FEATURED FEMME FATALE: TRACI LORDS
VOLUME 1 NO. 4

RUNNERS UP…

For more information on the history of Clarke and his classic magazines, click here.

FIGHT DIRTY,
G

@THEANGRYCHIBA

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Jon Abrams

Editor-In-Chief at Daily Grindhouse

Jon Abrams is a New York-based writer, cartoonist, and committed cinemaniac whose complete work and credits can be found at his site, Demon’s Resume. You can contact him on Twitter as @JonZilla___.

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Tags: batgirl, brinke stevens, debbie rochon, elvira, femme fatales, magazine cover, star wars, sybil danning, top 10. dg list