Any true lover of movies will want to add this deluxe hardback edition to their library. Written by a dedicated group of film aficionados and assembled with consummate care by George Turner, one of Hollywood's foremost historians, this book offers twenty-five in-depth historical articles, some expanded from the pages of American Cinematographer, others researched and written especially for this book. Boasting hundreds of rare photos printed in high-quality duotone, films covered include: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, All Quiet on the Western Front, Dracula (English and Spanish versions), Rope, Tarzan, Frankenstein, The Lost Patrol, Laura, and many other classic and historic titles. Large cloth-bound edition.

This eclectic overview of horror cinema offers up a collection of horror films for practically any occasion and literally every day of the year. For example, the author recommends commemorating United Nations Day (October 24) with a screening of The Colossus of New York, whose startling climax takes place at the U.N. Building. Each day-by-day entry includes the movie title, production year, plot summary and critique, along with a brief explanation of how the film fits into the history of that particular day and interesting anecdotes on the film's production.

Monster in the Closet is a history of the horrors film that explores the genre's relationship to the social and cultural history of homosexuality in America. Drawing on a wide variety of films and primary source materials including censorship files, critical reviews, promotional materials, fanzines, men's magazines, and popular news weeklies, the book examines the historical figure of the movie monster in relation to various medical, psychological, religious and social models of homosexuality. While recent work within gay and lesbian studies has explored how the genetic tropes of the horror film intersect with popular culture's understanding of queerness, this is the first book to examine how the concept of the monster queer has evolved from era to era. From the gay and lesbian sensibilities encoded into the form and content of the classical Hollywood horror film, to recent films which play upon AIDS-related fears. Monster in the Closet examines how the horror film started and continues, to demonize (or quite literally "monsterize") queer sexuality, and what the pleasures and "costs" of such representations might be both for individual spectators and culture at large.

After Dracula tells of films set in London music halls and Yorkshire coal mines, South Sea Islands and Hungarian modernist houses of horror, with narrators that survey the outskirts of contemporary Paris and travel back in time to ancient Egypt. Alison Peirse argues that Dracula (1931) has been canonised to the detriment of other innovative and original 1930s horror films in Europe and America. By casting out the deified vampire, she reveals a cycle of films made over the 1930s that straddle both the pre- and post-regulatory era of the Hays Production Code an stringent censorship from the British Board of Film Censors. These films are indepenedent and studio productions, literary adaptations, folktales and original screenplays, and include Werewolf of London, The Man Who Changed His Mind, Island of Lost Souls and Vampyr. The book considers the horror genre's international evolution during this period, engaging with a number of European horror films that have hitherto received cursory attention. It focuses on the interplay between Continental, British and transatlantic contexts, and particularly on the intriguing, the obscure and the underrated.

In this volume, Stephen Prince has collected essays reviewing the history of the horror film and the psychological reasons for its persistent appeal, as well as discussions of the developmental responses of young adult viewers and children to the genre. The book focuses on recent postmodern examples such as The Blair Witch Project. In a daring move, the volume also examines Holocaust films in relation to horror. Part One features essays on the silent and classical Hollywood eras. Part Two covers the postWorld War II era and discusses the historical, aesthetic, and psychological characteristics of contemporary horror films. In contrast to horror during the classical Hollywood period, contemporary horror features more graphic and prolonged visualizations of disturbing and horrific imagery, as well as other distinguishing characteristics. Princes introduction provides an overview of the genre, contextualizing the readings that follow. Stephen Prince is professor of communications at Virginia Tech. He has written many film books, including Classical Film Violence: Designing and Regulating Brutality in Hollywood Cinema, 19301968, and has edited Screening Violence, also in the Depth of Field Series.

Sitting on pins and needles, anxiously waiting to see what will happen next, horror audiences crave the fear and exhilaration generated by a terrifying story; their anticipation is palpable. But they also breathe a sigh of relief when the action is over, when they are able to close their books or leave the movie theater. Whether serious, kitschy, frightening, or ridiculous, horror not only arouses the senses but also raises profound questions about fear, safety, justice, and suffering. From literature and urban legends to film and television, horror's ability to thrill has made it an integral part of modern entertainment. Thomas Fahy and twelve other scholars reveal the underlying themes of the genre in The Philosophy of Horror. Examining the evolving role of horror, the contributing authors investigate works such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), horror films of the 1930s, Stephen King's novels, Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining (1980), and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). Also examined are works that have largely been ignored in philosophical circles, including Truman Capote's In Cold Blood (1965), Patrick Süskind's Perfume (1985), and James Purdy's Narrow Rooms (2005). The analysis also extends to contemporary forms of popular horror and "torture-horror" films of the last decade, including Saw (2004), Hostel (2005), The Devil's Rejects (2005), and The Hills Have Eyes (2006), as well as the ongoing popularity of horror on the small screen. The Philosophy of Horror celebrates the strange, compelling, and disturbing elements of horror, drawing on interpretive approaches such as feminist, postcolonial, Marxist, and psychoanalytic criticism. The book invites readers to consider horror's various manifestations and transformations since the late 1700s, probing its social, cultural, and political functions in today's media-hungry society.

Set in the American Southwest, "desert terror" films combine elements from horror, film noir and road movies to tell stories of isolation and violence. For more than half a century, these diverse and troubling films have eluded critical classification and analysis. Highlighting pioneering filmmakers and bizarre production stories, the author traces the genre's origins and development, from cult exploitation (The Hills Have Eyes, The Hitcher) to crowd-pleasing franchises (Tremors, From Dusk Till Dawn) to quirky auteurist fare (Natural Born Killers, Lost Highway) to more recent releases (Bone Tomahawk, Nocturnal Animals). Rare stills, promotional materials and a filmography are included.

Get ready to dive into the terrifying world of horror movies like never before! Critic Steve Hutchison takes you on a spine-chilling journey through 2000 horror movie reviews, ranked from the best to the worst. With each review including the year, synopsis, star rating, a list of genres, and a short, expert analysis, this comprehensive guide is the ultimate resource for horror fans everywhere. From classic cult favorites to modern masterpieces, Hutchison's reviews cover every corner of the genre, providing insight into what makes each film a must-see or a must-avoid. Whether you're a horror veteran or just starting out, this book is sure to have something that will make your blood run cold.

How did beloved movie dogs become man-killers like Cujo and his cinematic pack-mates? For the first time, here is the fascinating history of canines in horror movies and why our best friends were (and are still) painted as malevolent. Stretching back into Classical mythology, treacherous hounds are found only sporadically in art and literature until the appearance of cinema's first horror dog, Sherlock Holmes' Hound of the Baskervilles. The story intensifies through World War II's K-9 Corps to the 1970s animal horror films, which broke social taboos about the "good dog" on screen and deliberately vilified certain breeds--sometimes even fluffy lapdogs. With behind-the-scenes insights from writers, directors, actors, and dog trainers, here are the flickering hounds of silent films through talkies and Technicolor, to the latest computer-generated brutes--the supernatural, rabid, laboratory-made, alien, feral, and trained killers. "Cave Canem (Beware the Dog)"--or as one seminal film warned, "They're not pets anymore."

This book examines how American foreign policy and the commercial film industry's economic interests influenced the portrayal of international terrorism in Hollywood blockbuster films from the time of the Iran hostage crisis to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Part I provides a historical overview of modern international terrorism and how it relates to the United States, its news media, and its film industry. Part II covers depictions of terrorism during the Cold War under President Reagan, including films like Commando and Iron Eagle. Part III covers the Hollywood terrorist after the Cold War, including European terrorists in the Die Hard franchise, Passenger 57, Patriot Games, Blown Away, The Jackal and Ronin; fundamentalist Islamic terrorists in True Lies and Executive Decision; the return of the communist threat in Air Force One; and 9/11 foreshadowing in The Siege.