Birth of the American Horror Film

AvGary D. Rhodes

Inbunden, Engelska, 2018

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Beskrivning

Explains how the American horror movie came into existenceAlthough early cinema has long been a key area of research in film studies, the origin and development of the horror film has been a neglected subject for what is arguably one of the world's most popular film genres. Using thousands of primary sources and long-unseen illustrations, 'The Birth of the American Horror Film' examines a history that begins in colonial Salem, taking an interdisciplinary approach to explore the influence of horror-themed literature, theatre and visual culture in America, and how that context established an amorphous structural foundation for films produced between 1895 and 1915. Exhaustively researched, bridging scholarship on Horror Studies and Early Cinema, 'The Birth of the American Horror Film' is the first major study dedicated to this vital but often overlooked subject.Key featuresThe first scholarly book dedicated to the birth of the American horror filmBridges scholarship on Horror Studies and Early CinemaExamines pre-cinema (literature, theatre and visual culture), as well as major works in early horror-themed cinemaSuitable for use on courses focusing on Film History, Genre and Horror

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2018-01-01
Mått:172 x 244 x 40 mm
Vikt:638 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:432
Förlag:Edinburgh University Press
ISBN:9781474430852

Utforska kategorier

Film inom Kultur

Mer om författaren

Gary D. Rhodes is Professor of Media, Oklahoma Baptist University. He is the author of Emerald Illusions: The Irish in Early American Cinema (2012), The Perils of Moviegoing in America (2012), and The Birth of the American Horror Film (2018). He is a founding editor of Horror Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Rhodes is also the writer-director of the documentary films Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula (1997) and Banned in Oklahoma (2004).

Recensioner i media

In a remarkable work of historical research, Gary Rhodes provides what must certainly be the definitive study of the origins of the horror film genre. First, he traces the manifestations of “horror-themed” material well back into the 18th century, considering literature, theater, graphic arts, freak shows, lurid news stories—anything likely to raise a thrill of horror. He then turns to early cinema—the peep shows, the nickelodeons—covering its development from 1895 to 1915. Most popular of the horror figures were witches, ghosts, and devils, but almost all future familiar frights were represented—vampires, werewolves, mummies, monsters, mad scientists, mesmerists, somnambulists, aliens, sinister “others.” The only horror missing from the period was the zombie. Rhodes also enumerates the films based on the works of Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and—especially—Edgar Allan Poe. The sheer volume of films produced is astonishing. Most are lost, of course, but Rhodes does a magnificent job of resurrecting them, using advertising copy, publicity stills, trade magazines, and film criticism to recuperate plots and some notion of style.

Innehållsförteckning

AcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: LiteratureChapter 2: TheatreChapter 3: Visual CultureChapter 4: Moving PicturesChapter 5: DevilsChapter 6: WitchesChapter 7: GhostsChapter 8: Supernatural CreaturesChapter 9: Death, Murder, and ExecutionChapter 10: Evolution and DevolutionChapter 11: The Other(s)Chapter 12: The Powers of the MindChapter 13: Mad ScientistsChapter 14: American Literature OnscreenChapter 15: Exhibition and Reception