A bold and original study, this is the first book to examine in detail a new genre which evolved since the 1980s in tandem with shifts in the culture of sexuality and the rise of video - the erotic thriller. The book traces the erotic thriller's exploitation of pornography and noir, discusses mainstream stars (such as Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone) alongside genre-branded direct-to-video stars, charts the work of key producers and directors, and reads home-viewing as a distinct form of spectatorial pleasure. It maps the history of 'suspense in suspenders' films, analysing hundreds of movies from blockbusters such as Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction and In the Cut to straight-to-video film titles such as Carnal Crimes, Sins of Desire and Night Eyes. The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema reads genre as laying bare the poetics of the cinematic marketplace. The erotic thriller plays out the sexual fantasies of contemporary America, which are marketed globally. Williams's witty and illuminating readings not only tell the story of this sensational genre, but contribute to the analysis of mainstream screen sex - and its censorship - at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Features * The first study of an important new film genre. * Of interest to general film-goers and fans of the genre, the book also fills a major gap in the academic market. * Includes interviews with important industry personnel such as Paul Verhoeven, William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, Gregory Dark, Katt Shea and Jag Mundhra.

A bold and original study, this is the first book to examine in detail a new genre which evolved since the 1980s in tandem with shifts in the culture of sexuality and the rise of video - the erotic thriller. The book traces the erotic thriller's exploitation of pornography and noir, discusses mainstream stars (such as Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone) alongside genre-branded direct-to-video stars, charts the work of key producers and directors, and reads home-viewing as a distinct form of spectatorial pleasure. It maps the history of 'suspense in suspenders' films, analysing hundreds of movies from blockbusters such as Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction and In the Cut to straight-to-video film titles such as Carnal Crimes, Sins of Desire and Night Eyes. The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema reads genre as laying bare the poetics of the cinematic marketplace. The erotic thriller plays out the sexual fantasies of contemporary America, which are marketed globally. Williams's witty and illuminating readings not only tell the story of this sensational genre, but contribute to the analysis of mainstream screen sex - and its censorship - at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Features * The first study of an important new film genre. * Of interest to general film-goers and fans of the genre, the book also fills a major gap in the academic market. * Includes interviews with important industry personnel such as Paul Verhoeven, William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, Gregory Dark, Katt Shea and Jag Mundhra.

The decade from 2000 to 2009 is framed, at one end, by the traumatic catastrophe of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and, at the other, by the election of the first African American president of the United States. In between, the United States and the world witnessed the rapid expansion of new media and the Internet, such natural disasters as Hurricane Katrina, political uprisings around the world, and a massive meltdown of world economies. Amid these crises and revolutions, American films responded in multiple ways, sometimes directly reflecting these turbulent times, and sometimes indirectly couching history in traditional genres and stories. In American Cinema of the 2000s, essays from ten top film scholars examine such popular series as the groundbreaking Matrix films and the gripping adventures of former CIA covert operative Jason Bourne; new, offbeat films like Juno; and the resurgence of documentaries like Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. Each essay demonstrates the complex ways in which American culture and American cinema are bound together in subtle and challenging ways.