Kirjahaku

From the grindhouse oddities to major studio releases, this work details 46 horror films released during the genre's golden era. Each entry includes cast and credits, a plot synopsis, in-depth critical analysis, contemporary reviews, time of release, brief biographies of the principal cast and crew, and a production history. Apart from the 46 main entries, 71 additional "borderline horrors" are examined and critiqued in an appendix.

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.

People hunting people for sport--an idea both shocking and fascinating. In 1924 Richard Connell published a short story that introduced this concept to the world, where it has remained ever since--as evidenced by the many big- and small-screen adaptations and inspirations. Since its publication, Connell's award-winning "The Most Dangerous Game" has been continuously anthologized and studied in classrooms throughout America. Raising questions about the nature of violence and cruelty, and the ethics of hunting for sport, the thrilling story spawned a new cinematic subgenre, beginning with RKO's 1932 production of The Most Dangerous Game, and continuing right up to today. This book examines in-depth all the cinematic adaptations of the iconic short story. Each film chapter has a synopsis, a "How Dangerous Is It?" critique, an overall analysis, a production history, and credits. Five additional chapters address direct to video, television, game shows, and almost "dangerous" productions. Photographs, extensive notes, bibliography and index are included.

About 2,500 genre films are entered under more than 100 subject headings, ranging from abominable snowmen through dreamkillers, rats, and time travel, to zombies, with a brief essay on each topic: development, highlights, and trends. Each film entry shows year of release, distribution company, country of origin, director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, cast credits, plot synopsis and critical commentary.

In the mid-1950s, to combat declining theater attendance, film distributors began releasing pre-packaged genre double-bills--including many horror and science fiction double features. Though many of these films were low-budget and low-end, others, such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Horror of Dracula and The Fly, became bona fide classics. Beginning with Universal-International's 1955 pairing of Revenge of the Creature and Cult of the Cobra, 147 officially sanctioned horror and sci-fi double-bills were released over a 20-year period. This book presents these double features year-by-year, and includes production details, historical notes, and critical commentary for each film.

Skiing in movies, like the sport itself, grew more prevalent beginning in the 1930s, when it was a pastime of the elite, with depictions reflecting changes in technique, fashion and social climate. World War II saw skiing featured in a dozen films dealing with that conflict. Fueled by postwar prosperity, the sport exploded in the 1950s--filmmakers followed suit, using scenes on snow-covered slopes for panoramic beauty and the thrill of the chase. Through the free-spirited 1960s and 1970s, the downhill lifestyle shussed into everything from spy thrillers to beach party romps. The extreme sports era of the 1980s and 1990s brought snowboarding to the big screen. This first ever critical history of skiing in film chronicles a century of alpine cinema, with production information and stories and quotes from directors, actors and stuntmen.

In 1932, The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff, introduced another icon to the classic monster pantheon, beginning a journey down the cinematic Nile that has yet to reach its end. Over the past century, movie mummies have met everyone from Abbott and Costello to Tom Cruise, not to mention a myriad of fellow monsters. Horrifying and mysterious, the mummy comes from a different time with uncommon knowledge and unique motivation, offering the lure of the exotic as well as the terrors of the dark. From obscure no-budgeters to Hollywood blockbusters, the mummy has featured in films from all over the globe, including Brazil, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, and even its fictional home country of Egypt--with each film bringing its own cultural sensibilities. Movie mummies have taken the form of teenagers, superheroes, dwarves, kung fu fighters, Satanists, cannibals and even mummies from outer space. Some can fly, some are sexy, some are scary and some are hilarious, and mummies quickly moved beyond horror cinema and into science fiction, comedy, romance, sexploitation and cartoons. From the Universal classics to the Aztec Mummy series, from Hammer's versions to Mexico's Guanajuato variations, this first-ever comprehensive guide to mummy movies offers in-depth production histories and critical analyses for every feature-length iteration of bandaged horror.

For over three decades, author Bryan Senn has researched, analyzed, and written about the cinema fantastique. His interviews and articles have appeared in a score of genre publications-everything from well-established prozines like Filmfax and Shivers to well-regarded fanzines like Midnight Marquee and Monsters from the Vault. Herein are three decades' worth of interviews, histories, tributes, reviews and overviews on the diverse world of horror and science fiction cinema (many expanded from their original form or new altogether). It's an eclectic exploration of horror movies that touches on everything from Universal Classics, the Fantastic Fifties and Hammer Horrors, to European gothics, Mexican wrestlers and Uruguayan lycanthropes. This cinematic smorgasbord offers up the good, the bad, and the ridiculously entertaining via entries ranging from short bites to comprehensive essays, spiced with in-depth career interviews and personal reminiscences. For those who can appreciate the gothic aesthetics of a Universal graveyard, or the enjoyable bombast of a Bela Lugosi Poverty Row performance, or the entertaining craziness of a masked wrestler battling a monster, Here There Be Monsters... About the Author Bryan Senn has written nine books and hundreds of magazine articles on the cinema macabre. His works include Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide (co-authored with John Johnson); Golden Horrors; Drums of Terror: Voodoo in the Cinema; A Year of Fear; Sixties Shockers (co-authored with Mark Clark); The Most Dangerous Cinema; The Werewolf Filmography; and Ski Films: A Comprehensive Guide. He recently moved to Montana to enjoy the wondrous beauty, fantastic skiing, and the freedom to indulge his cinematic passions-and continue writing about them.

For over three decades, author Bryan Senn has researched, analyzed, and written about the cinema fantastique. His interviews and articles have appeared in a score of genre publications-everything from well-established prozines like Filmfax and Shivers to well-regarded fanzines like Midnight Marquee and Monsters from the Vault. Herein are three decades' worth of interviews, histories, tributes, reviews and overviews on the diverse world of horror and science fiction cinema (many expanded from their original form or new altogether). It's an eclectic exploration of horror movies that touches on everything from Universal Classics, the Fantastic Fifties and Hammer Horrors, to European gothics, Mexican wrestlers and Uruguayan lycanthropes. This cinematic smorgasbord offers up the good, the bad, and the ridiculously entertaining via entries ranging from short bites to comprehensive essays, spiced with in-depth career interviews and personal reminiscences. For those who can appreciate the gothic aesthetics of a Universal graveyard, or the enjoyable bombast of a Bela Lugosi Poverty Row performance, or the entertaining craziness of a masked wrestler battling a monster, Here There Be Monsters... About the Author Bryan Senn has written nine books and hundreds of magazine articles on the cinema macabre. His works include Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide (co-authored with John Johnson); Golden Horrors; Drums of Terror: Voodoo in the Cinema; A Year of Fear; Sixties Shockers (co-authored with Mark Clark); The Most Dangerous Cinema; The Werewolf Filmography; and Ski Films: A Comprehensive Guide. He recently moved to Montana to enjoy the wondrous beauty, fantastic skiing, and the freedom to indulge his cinematic passions-and continue writing about them.

The purpose of this book is to chronicle, critique and explore every theatrically released, English-language voodoo movie to date. Admittedly, sometimes the stories behind a film's making prove more entertaining than the movie itself, but such are the hazards of the job. While some are good, many are bad and a few are downright ugly, most voodoo movies contain at least the promise (occasionally fulfilled, more often not) of a glimpse into an alternate world view and spirituality that can be both fascinating and unsettling. Films such White Zombie, I Walked With a Zombie, Macumba Love, I Eat Your Skin, Angel Heart and The Believers are included in this fascinating film history.