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The 1970s represented an unusually productive and innovative
period for the horror film, and John Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978)
is the film that capped that golden age -- and some say ruined it,
by ushering in the era of the slasher film. Considered a paradigm
of low-budget ingenuity, its story of a seemingly unremarkable
middle-American town becoming the site of violence on October 31
struck a chord within audiences. The film became a surprise hit
that gave rise to a lucrative franchise, and it remains a perennial
favourite. Much of its success stems from the simple but strong
constructions of its three central characters: brainy, introverted
teenager Laurie Strode, a late bloomer compared to her more
outgoing friends, Dr. Loomis, the driven, obsessive psychiatrist,
and Michael Myers, the inexplicable, ghostlike masked killer.
Film scholar Murray Leeder offers a bold and provocative study
of Carpenter's film, which hopes to expose qualities that are
sometime effaced by its sequels and remakes. It explores
"Halloween" as an unexpected ghost film, and examines such subjects
as its construction of the teenager, and the relationship of
"Halloween" the film to Halloween the holiday, and Michael Myers's
brand of "pure evil." It is a fascinating read for scholars and
fans alike.
Finalist, 2021 Bram Stoker Awards (Superior Achievement in
Non-Fiction) The first collection of essays to address Satan's
ubiquitous and popular appearances in film Lucifer and cinema have
been intertwined since the origins of the medium. As humankind's
greatest antagonist and the incarnation of pure evil, the cinematic
devil embodies our own culturally specific anxieties and desires,
reflecting moviegoers' collective conceptions of good and evil,
right and wrong, sin and salvation. Giving the Devil His Due is the
first book of its kind to examine the history and significance of
Satan onscreen. This collection explores how the devil is not just
one monster among many, nor is he the "prince of darkness" merely
because he has repeatedly flickered across cinema screens in
darkened rooms since the origins of the medium. Satan is instead a
force active in our lives. Films featuring the devil, therefore,
are not just flights of fancy but narratives, sometimes
reinforcing, sometimes calling into question, a familiar belief
system. From the inception of motion pictures in the 1890s and
continuing into the twenty-first century, these essays examine what
cinematic representations tell us about the art of filmmaking, the
desires of the film-going public, what the cultural moments of the
films reflect, and the reciprocal influence they exert. Loosely
organized chronologically by film, though some chapters address
more than one film, this collection studies such classic movies as
Faust, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, Angel Heart, The Witch, and The
Last Temptation of Christ, as well as the appearance of the Devil
in Disney animation. Guiding the contributions to this volume is
the overarching idea that cinematic representations of Satan
reflect not only the hypnotic powers of cinema to explore and
depict the fantastic but also shifting social anxieties and desires
that concern human morality and our place in the universe.
Contributors: Simon Bacon, Katherine A. Fowkes, Regina Hansen,
David Hauka, Russ Hunter, Barry C. Knowlton, Eloise R. Knowlton,
Murray Leeder, Catherine O'Brien, R. Barton Palmer, Carl H.
Sederholm, David Sterritt, J. P. Telotte, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock
Finalist, 2021 Bram Stoker Awards (Superior Achievement in
Non-Fiction) The first collection of essays to address Satan's
ubiquitous and popular appearances in film Lucifer and cinema have
been intertwined since the origins of the medium. As humankind's
greatest antagonist and the incarnation of pure evil, the cinematic
devil embodies our own culturally specific anxieties and desires,
reflecting moviegoers' collective conceptions of good and evil,
right and wrong, sin and salvation. Giving the Devil His Due is the
first book of its kind to examine the history and significance of
Satan onscreen. This collection explores how the devil is not just
one monster among many, nor is he the "prince of darkness" merely
because he has repeatedly flickered across cinema screens in
darkened rooms since the origins of the medium. Satan is instead a
force active in our lives. Films featuring the devil, therefore,
are not just flights of fancy but narratives, sometimes
reinforcing, sometimes calling into question, a familiar belief
system. From the inception of motion pictures in the 1890s and
continuing into the twenty-first century, these essays examine what
cinematic representations tell us about the art of filmmaking, the
desires of the film-going public, what the cultural moments of the
films reflect, and the reciprocal influence they exert. Loosely
organized chronologically by film, though some chapters address
more than one film, this collection studies such classic movies as
Faust, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, Angel Heart, The Witch, and The
Last Temptation of Christ, as well as the appearance of the Devil
in Disney animation. Guiding the contributions to this volume is
the overarching idea that cinematic representations of Satan
reflect not only the hypnotic powers of cinema to explore and
depict the fantastic but also shifting social anxieties and desires
that concern human morality and our place in the universe.
Contributors: Simon Bacon, Katherine A. Fowkes, Regina Hansen,
David Hauka, Russ Hunter, Barry C. Knowlton, Eloise R. Knowlton,
Murray Leeder, Catherine O'Brien, R. Barton Palmer, Carl H.
Sederholm, David Sterritt, J. P. Telotte, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock
This study sees the nineteenth century supernatural as a
significant context for cinema's first years. The book takes up the
familiar notion of cinema as a "ghostly," "spectral" or "haunted"
medium and asks what made such association possible. Examining the
history of the projected image and supernatural displays, psychical
research and telepathy, spirit photography and X-rays, the
skeletons of the danse macabre and the ghostly spaces of the mind,
it uncovers many lost and fascinating connections. The Modern
Supernatural and the Beginnings of Cinema locates film's spectral
affinities within a history stretching back to the beginning of
screen practice and forward to the digital era. In addition to
examining the use of supernatural themes by pioneering filmmakers
like Georges Melies and George Albert Smith, it also engages with
the representations of cinema's ghostly past in Guy Maddin's recent
online project Seances (2016). It is ideal for those interested in
the history of cinema, the study of the supernatural and the
pre-history of the horror film.
Often described as 'the Master of Gimmicks', William Castle is best
known for the outrageous publicity stunts that characterised his
genre films in the 1950s and '60s, including offers for an
insurance policy against death by fright, vibrating seats, a
skeleton that flew over the audience, and a 'punishment poll' to
determine a film's conclusion. But far from being 'the world's
craziest filmmaker', Castle was also a dependable studio director
who made more than 50 films between 1944 and 1974, and who produced
films for Orson Welles and Roman Polanski. ReFocus: The Films of
William Castle assembles fourteen essays on the full sweep of
Castle's career, including his horror films, westerns, film noirs
and more. With an influence felt on directors like Joe Dante,
Robert Zemeckis and John Waters, this volume reappraises Castle's
legacy as an innovator as much as a showman.
Throughout the history of cinema, horror has proven to be a genre
of consistent popularity, which adapts to different cultural
contexts while retaining a recognizable core. Horror Film: A
Critical Introduction, the newest in Bloomsbury's Film Genre
series, balances the discussions of horror's history, theory, and
aesthetics as no introductory book ever has. Featuring studies of
films both obscure and famous, Horror Film is international in its
scope and chronicles horror from its silent roots until today. As a
straightforward and convenient critical introduction to the history
and key academic approaches, this book is accessible to the
beginner but still of interest to the expert.
The first collection of essays devoted to Hollywood director
William CastleOften described as 'the Master of Gimmicks', William
Castle is best known for the outrageous publicity stunts that
characterised his genre films in the 1950s and '60s, including
offers for an insurance policy against death by fright, vibrating
seats, a skeleton that flew over the audience, and a 'punishment
poll' to determine a film's conclusion. But far from being 'the
world's craziest filmmaker', Castle was also a dependable studio
director who made more than 50 films between 1944 and 1974, and who
produced films for Orson Welles and Roman Polanski. 'ReFocus: The
Films of William Castle' assembles fourteen essays on the full
sweep of Castle's career, including his horror films, westerns,
film noirs and more. With an influence felt on directors like Joe
Dante, Robert Zemeckis and John Waters, this volume reappraises
Castle's legacy as an innovator as much as a
showman.ContributorsHugh S. Manon (Clark University)Zachary Rearick
(Georgia State University)Anthony Thomas McKenna (Shanghai Jiao
Tong University)Murray Leeder (University of Calgary)Beth Kattelman
(Ohio State University)Eliot Bessette (University of California,
Berkeley)Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (University of Melbourne)
Steffen Hantke (Sogang University)Michael Brodski (University of
Mainz) Caroline Langhorst (University of Mainz)Michael Petitti
(University of Southern California)Peter Marra (Wayne State
University)Kate J. Russell (University of Toronto)
In 1896, Maxim Gorky declared cinema "the Kingdom of Shadows." In
its silent, ashen-grey world, he saw a land of spectral, and ever
since then cinema has had a special relationship with the haunted
and the ghostly. Cinematic Ghosts is the first collection devoted
to this subject, including fourteen new essays, dedicated to
exploring the many permutations of the movies' phantoms. Cinematic
Ghosts contains essays revisiting some classic ghost films within
the genres of horror (The Haunting, 1963), romance (Portrait of
Jennie, 1948), comedy (Beetlejuice, 1988) and the art film (Uncle
Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, 2010), as well as essays
dealing with a number of films from around the world, from Sweden
to China. Cinematic Ghosts traces the archetype of the cinematic
ghost from the silent era until today, offering analyses from a
range of historical, aesthetic and theoretical dimensions.
In 1896, Maxim Gorky declared cinema "the Kingdom of Shadows." In
its silent, ashen-grey world, he saw a land of spectral, and ever
since then cinema has had a special relationship with the haunted
and the ghostly. Cinematic Ghosts is the first collection devoted
to this subject, including fourteen new essays, dedicated to
exploring the many permutations of the movies' phantoms. Cinematic
Ghosts contains essays revisiting some classic ghost films within
the genres of horror (The Haunting, 1963), romance (Portrait of
Jennie, 1948), comedy (Beetlejuice, 1988) and the art film (Uncle
Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, 2010), as well as essays
dealing with a number of films from around the world, from Sweden
to China. Cinematic Ghosts traces the archetype of the cinematic
ghost from the silent era until today, offering analyses from a
range of historical, aesthetic and theoretical dimensions.
Throughout the history of cinema, horror has proven to be a genre
of consistent popularity, which adapts to different cultural
contexts while retaining a recognizable core. Horror Film: A
Critical Introduction, the newest in Bloomsbury's Film Genre
series, balances the discussions of horror's history, theory, and
aesthetics as no introductory book ever has. Featuring studies of
films both obscure and famous, Horror Film is international in its
scope and chronicles horror from its silent roots until today. As a
straightforward and convenient critical introduction to the history
and key academic approaches, this book is accessible to the
beginner but still of interest to the expert.
H.P. Lovecraft, one of the twentieth century's most important
writers in the genre of horror fiction, famously referred to Edgar
Allan Poe as both his "model" and his "God of Fiction." While
scholars and readers of Poe's and Lovecraft's work have long
recognized the connection between these authors, this collection of
essays is the first in-depth study to explore the complex literary
relationship between Lovecraft and Poe from a variety of critical
perspectives. Of the thirteen essays included in this book, some
consider how Poe's work influenced Lovecraft in important ways.
Other essays explore how Lovecraft's fictional, critical, and
poetic reception of Poe irrevocably changed how Poe's work has been
understood by subsequent generations of readers and interpreters.
Addressing a variety of topics ranging from the psychology of
influence to racial and sexual politics, the essays in this book
also consider how Lovecraft's interpretations of Poe have informed
later adaptations of both writers' works in films by Roger Corman
and fiction by Stephen King, Thomas Ligotti, and Caitlin R.
Kiernan. This collection is an indispensable resource not only for
those who are interested in Poe's and Lovecraft's work
specifically, but also for readers who wish to learn more about the
modern history and evolution of Gothic, horror, and weird fiction.
H.P. Lovecraft, one of the twentieth century's most important
writers in the genre of horror fiction, famously referred to Edgar
Allan Poe as both his "model" and his "God of Fiction." While
scholars and readers of Poe's and Lovecraft's work have long
recognized the connection between these authors, this collection of
essays is the first in-depth study to explore the complex literary
relationship between Lovecraft and Poe from a variety of critical
perspectives. Of the thirteen essays included in this book, some
consider how Poe's work influenced Lovecraft in important ways.
Other essays explore how Lovecraft's fictional, critical, and
poetic reception of Poe irrevocably changed how Poe's work has been
understood by subsequent generations of readers and interpreters.
Addressing a variety of topics ranging from the psychology of
influence to racial and sexual politics, the essays in this book
also consider how Lovecraft's interpretations of Poe have informed
later adaptations of both writers' works in films by Roger Corman
and fiction by Stephen King, Thomas Ligotti, and Caitlin R.
Kiernan. This collection is an indispensable resource not only for
those who are interested in Poe's and Lovecraft's work
specifically, but also for readers who wish to learn more about the
modern history and evolution of Gothic, horror, and weird fiction.
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