Jay McRoy – författare

The fifteen groundbreaking essays contained in this book address the concept of adaptation in relation to horror cinema. Adaptation is not only a key cultural practice and strategy for filmmakers, but it is also a theme of major importance within horror cinema as a hole. The history of the genre is full of adaptations that have drawn from fiction or folklore, or that have assumed the shape of remakes of pre-existing films. The horror genre itself also abounds with its own myriad transformations and transmutations.The essays within this volume engage with an impressive range of horror texts, from the earliest silent horror films by Thomas Edison and Jean Epstein through to important contemporary phenomena, such as the western appropriation of Japanese horror motifs. Classic works by Alfred Hitchcock, David Cronenberg and Abel Ferrara receive cutting-edge re-examination, as do unjustly neglected works by Mario Bava, Guillermo del Toro and Stan Brakhage.

A much-needed critical introduction to some of the most important Japanese horror films produced over the last fifty years, Japanese Horror Cinema provides an insightful examination of the tradition’s most significant trends and themes. The book examines the genre’s dominant aesthetic, cultural, political and technological underpinnings, and individual chapters address key topics such as: the debt Japanese horror films owe to various Japanese theatrical and literary traditions; the popular ‘avenging spirit’ motif; the impact of atomic warfare, rapid industrialisation and apocalyptic rhetoric on Japanese visual culture; the extents to which changes in the economic and social climate inform representations of monstrosity and gender; the influence of recent shifts in audience demographics; and the developing relations (and contestations) between Japanese and ‘Western’ (Anglo-American and European) horror film tropes and traditions. Extensive coverage of the central thematic concerns and stylistic traits of Japanese horror cinema makes this volume an indispensable text for a myriad of film and cultural studies courses.Features:* Includes a preface by Christopher Sharrett* Each chapter covers a fundamental aspect of Japanese horror cinema and is written by an expert in the field* Case studies include internationally renowned films such as Nakata Hideo’s Ringu, Ishii Takashi’s Freeze Me and Fukasaku Kinji’s Battle Royale* Appendices feature an interview with maverick filmmaker Miike Takashi and a filmography of Japanese horror films currently available in the UK and US.

Explores Gothic and horror film from early cinema to the presentOffers essays exploring Gothic film in the widest possible range of contextsExtends the field of Gothic film by spanning diverse historical periods, international contexts and (sub)genresStructured into 3 sections on History, Traditions and AdaptationsProvides major new appraisals of key works alongside neglected topicsThis anthology explores the resilience and ubiquity of the Gothic in cinema from its earliest days to its most contemporary iterations. Fifteen newly commissioned chapters by prominent scholars in the field of Gothic and cinema studies examine the myriad ways that filmmakers mobilise Gothic conceits across multiple film genres and in conjunction with several significant film styles. In the process, the book contributes exciting new readings of canonical works of Gothic cinema as well as important new critical examinations of emerging horror subgenres.

This anthology explores the resilience and ubiquity of the Gothic in cinema from its earliest days to its most contemporary iterations. Fifteen newly commissioned chapters by prominent scholars in the field of Gothic and cinema studies examine the myriad ways that filmmakers mobilise Gothic conceits across multiple film genres and in conjunction with several significant film styles. In the process, the book contributes exciting new readings of canonical works of Gothic cinema as well as important new critical examinations of emerging horror subgenres.