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An in-depth examination of one of the most popular yet disreputable film genres
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Offers a history of horror and an overview of horror film censorship
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Looks at renowned directors, including Wes Craven, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, Sam Raimi and Hideo Nakata
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Explores horror films from all over the world, including cult directors Coffin Joe, Jean Rollin and Michele Soavi
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For horror aficionados and students studying media or film
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A flash of lightning. A rumble of thunder. The sinister silhouette of an indistinct figure. A bestial howl echoes across the misty moors. A skeletal hand reaches, slowly, deliberately around your door. Meanwhile there are unholy stirrings in the graveyard and disappearances from the local morgue. A scream pierces the chill air as a madman cackles, the blood dripping from his old rusty axe...
Horror is one of cinema’s most disreputable genres. Frequently dismissed or reviled by critics, the horror film nevertheless provides a way of confronting our fears in a safe environment. Often subject to more cuts at the hands of the censor than a serial killer’s razor, the horror film is also a benchmark, a sign of what’s considered acceptable for the public to view and what the state will allow its citizens to see. But for the most part horror films are about entertainment, consistently profitable, eminently enjoyable. So what makes this genre so detested and why do people pay to be scared?
The Kamera Book of Horror Films will take you on a journey into the realm of fear. From horror cinema’s beginnings in the late 19th century to the latest splatter films, from the chills of the ghost film to the terror of the living dead there’s more than enough to keep you awake at night. There’s a whole world of terror to explore – Spanish werewolves, Chinese vampires, Italian zombies, demons from Britain, killers in America, evil spirits in Japan. This book offers a guide to key films, directors and movements. Amongst the many discussed are the popular Dracula, Frankenstein, Scream, Halloween, The Sixth Sense, Ringu and Evil Dead, and the more unusual The Living Dead Girl, Rouge, Les Yeux sans Visage, Nang Nak and Black Cat.
So join us on a gruesome and terrifying journey into the world of horror but don’t dawdle, the last in line is always the first to get picked off…
Michelle Le Blanc talks about demon children in film on BBC Radio4's Woman's Hour >>
Colin Odell and Michelle Le Blanc are authors, broadcasters and film critics. They have co-authored books about Studio Ghibli, David Lynch, Tim Burton, Horror Films, John Carpenter, Jackie Chan and Vampire Films and contributed to The International Film Guide and Wallflower Press's Alter Image as well as a number of online and print journals. They are editors of online film salon www.kamera.co.uk.
| release date: |
20 December 2007 |
| price: |
£9.99 |
| ISBN13: |
9781842432181 |
| binding: |
pb with flaps |
| format: |
194 X 135mm |
| extent: |
192 |
| images: |
20+ colour & b&w |
| rights: |
world |
| BIC code: |
APFN |
REVIEWS
quite an achievement for what seems at first glance such a small work... if all Kamera Books are as impressive as this one then I suggest film buffs look out for each
read the full review >>
- Synergy Magazine
FULL REVIEW
Horror Films is a small but surprisingly comprehensive cross cultural introduction to Horror. It is nicely presented, includes a small selection of colour photographs and a free exclusive DVD of three short horror films - Virus, Savage and Chicken Soup.
The first section of Horror Films explores the psychology and experience of Horror and is informative as well as entertaining. It considers the simple question of why horror films work and what makes them such a powerful form of cinema. Odell and Le Blanc discuss the nature of fear and the way in which filmmakers manipulate our fears to create the experience we understand as Horror Cinema. They discuss some of the major patterns of horror cinema and how such films are constructed. They also discuss such related subjects as genre, censorship, violence and sex.
This is followed by an impressive overview of Horror Cinema in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia. The essays which comprise these sections are succinct yet comprehensive and offer a historical overview of horror within each region. It is clear the authors are exceptionally well versed in cinema as they not only provide a historical timeline for horror cinema in the various countries but offer select reviews of important titles. Each general section also includes chapters on specific countries with historical overviews and related reviews.
Horror Films is really quite an achievement for what seems at first glance such a small work. The reader will come away with a good understanding of why horror cinema works, how it works, historical backgrounds to horror cinema in countries ranging from Britain to Korea, Spain to Australia and will have some idea via capsule reviews of what films to begin watching if they so desire.
This is one of a series of titles from Kamera books and if all of them are as impressive as this one then I suggest film buffs look out for each.
Synergy Magazine
featuring an eye-catching collection of stills, Horror Films provides a down-to-earth primer that ticks all the required boxes
read the full review >>
- Howard Maxford, Film Review
FULL REVIEW
In this brisk overview of the horror genre, the authors offer a concise beginners' guide that takes in Italian, German and Asian horror cinema, as well as such key movies as Freaks, Frankenstein, Psycho, Onibaba, Carrie, Suspiria and The Ring. Committed fans will find little to occupy themselves here yet, for newcomers, it provides a reasonably informed and often humorous take on all the classics, and should hopefully lead to further reading and viewing, in which case it will be mission accomplished.
Featuring an eye-catching collection of stills, this does everything it sets out to achieve - in other words, it provides a down-to-earth primer that ticks all the required boxes.
Howard Maxford
Film Review
Kamera are doing a damn fine job of establishing a line of concise, useful genre readers... Good to have within arm's reach of dinner party discussion. [four stars]
read the full review >>
- Empire Magazine
FULL REVIEW
Like Wallflower's Short Cuts series, Kamera Books are doing a damn fine job of establishing a line of concise, useful genre readers. After a few introductory essays, the authors deliver a comprehensive list of the genre's essentials, chronologically within geographically-zoned chapters. Good to have within arm's reach of dinner party discussion.
Empire Magazine
ebooks
Horror Films is now available as an ebook in the following formats:
KAMERA BOOKS TITLES
Horror Films
Exclusive DVD features three horror shorts - Virus, Savage and Chicken Soup
![[ larger image ]](http://www.kamerabooks.co.uk/images/large/9781842432181large.jpg){kind=link}