Serving as a detailed portrait of one of the most important, bustling and absurd industries cinema has ever known, this work consists of colorful essays and nine career-spanning interviews with Italian genre directors of the 1970s, such as Luigi Cozzi, Francesco Barilli, Lamberto Bava and more. The directors reflect on their careers, successes, failures and experiences directing films in the Italian westerns, sci-fi and horror genres. Following the anecdotes, gossip, controversies and first-hand accounts of the industry, the featured essays employ critical and historical analysis to fully unveil the fresco of Italian genre cinema, as well as its impact on the evolution of cinema across the world.

In the fading atmosphere of the New Hollywood era, William Friedkin - the wunderkind director with an Academy Award for his cop drama, The French Connection (1971) who then scored an even bigger success with The Exorcist (1973) - began work on what would prove to be the most controversial film of his career: Cruising (1980). In the process he established a template for a sub-genre, the serial killer thriller, that would thrive long after his film had left theatres, having caused widespread offence among the very audience he'd hoped to appeal to, via a campaign mobilised by the counter-culture press. As such, Cruising can be read as a bitter farewell to the seventies and its cinema and industry. This Devil's Advocate dives deep into the phenomenon that is Cruising, examining its creative context and its protagonists, as well as examining its ongoing popularity as it turns 40 in 2020.

In the fading atmosphere of the New Hollywood era, William Friedkin - the wunderkind director with an Academy Award for his cop drama, The French Connection (1971) who then scored an even bigger success with The Exorcist (1973) - began work on what would prove to be the most controversial film of his career: Cruising (1980). In the process he established a template for a sub-genre, the serial killer thriller, that would thrive long after his film had left theatres, having caused widespread offence among the very audience he'd hoped to appeal to, via a campaign mobilised by the counter-culture press. As such, Cruising can be read as a bitter farewell to the seventies and its cinema and industry. This Devil's Advocate dives deep into the phenomenon that is Cruising, examining its creative context and its protagonists, as well as examining its ongoing popularity as it turns 40 in 2020.