The Mammoth Book of Slasher Movies: An A–Z Guide to More Than 60 Years of Blood and Guts

by Peter Normanton (Editor)

From classic Hollywood masterpieces like M (1931) to the recent “torture porn” craze with flicks like the Saw franchise, this collection gives a master’s overview of the genre.

Genres: Horror, Film, Nonfiction

512 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Jordan West · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite being pretty much a lifelong horror aficionado, I've never heard much interest in or time for the slasher sub-genre, with the notable exception of films like the original Halloween, a handful of gialli, etc. Luckily, this book would be better titled 'Mammoth Book of Splatter Movies' or perhaps 'Extreme Horror Cinema', and while far from comprehensive, contains write-ups of a number of unique titles such as Zulawski's Possession and Pete Walker's Frightmare.

[Etienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good «encyclopedia» of those particular horror movies! It has some info (director, budget, release year, amount of gore, etc.) for each movie and an average of one page description of it. It also have various index to search movie categorized differently and it has a couple a pages explaining the context of the book and of this movie genre. Not perfect, it lacks some important movies, having the poster (at least the UK one since the book is from there) would have been great and you can probably find similar list for free on Internet. But for the books and movies lovers like me, this is a nice add up to your collection and it also allow me to discover or rediscover some movies. A decent job!

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suppose you can't really expect too much from a simple guide book to slasher films.

Here are my issues with it:

1. It's not really about slasher films. It's about gory films in general.
2. It doesn't really contain any information that anyone with a more than mild interest in the topic wouldn't already know.
3. It's not very well written.

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hefty, information-packed paperback that's left me with a list of over 80 films to track down that I'd either never heard of or knew only the title to, this was a great buy (especially from the bargain bin) but it's also been a major source of frustration.

Some entries are littered with massive spoilers while others give just the right amount of information. The sheer inconsistency is as maddening as the 'thanks for that, pal' feeling.

In some ways it's a very odd selection of films too. Plenty simply don't belong on the list and the book's dismissive, incomplete treatment of any and all sequels is ust baffling. Take the Friday the 13th series. Some of the sequels are far, far better than the original film but are only briefly mentioned at the end of the first film's entry.

Strange, frustrating but ultimately still definitely recommended for the dubiously enjoyable homework task it's set me.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a personal collection of reviews and synopses of the best slasher and horror films from 1916 to almost the present day. I now have a long list of films that I would like to see! Along with the reviews, there is a lot of other information including a cast list and certification details. A lot of the films included in the book were banned as video nasties in the 1980s but have since been recertified and are now available uncut. The book also gives a gore rating for each film but an overall rating would also have been useful. This book contains details of over 250 films, so is well worth getting if you have an interest in horror films.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. It was an encyclopedia so there's that. I think they were a bit liberal on the idea of a slasher movie but hey, more entries.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mammoth Book of Slasher Movies is your guide to slasher movies from the 1960s to 2012 when this book was published. It covers the big name slashers like Freddy, Micheal and Jason alongside much smaller movies and ones from other countries. The movies are listed in alphabetical order with a spotlight on important directors and an index at the back.
I like the format of the book, which lists the movie title, the writer, director, producer, the budget vs what the movie made (if that information is available) and who the stars were followed by a brief summary and some information about the movie. For movies in a franchise or series, such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, only the first movie is listed. There were a lot of movies that I hadn't heard of.
There were some movies, such as the Romero zombie movies, that I don't really consider slashers. I think horror fans are always discussing and debating this genre though. I would recommend it to any fans of horror movies and especially slashers.

[Horror DNA · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mammoth Book of Slasher Movies: An A-Z Guide to More Than 60 Years of Blood and Guts is the latest edition in Running Press’ “Mammoth” series of movie guides. Like other collections, this book presents an alphabetical listing of some of the high-water marks of the horror genre throughout the majority of the 20th century. It also includes short biographies for many of the directors responsible for the films discussed and a general look back at the historical context of the times in which these movies were created.

You can read ZigZag's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[Pucho · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title of this work is completely misleading the reader into believing, that the book is going to be solely about "Slasher" (Horror) films until they read the back cover (and the 19th page) and find out it's about "Slasher & Splatter" movies. . .This title is full of misspellings and typographical errors (it is just poorly written!)

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly really, really interesting. 🖤🔪

[Robert Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reference guide to horror films.

[Shannon St Clair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly really, really interesting. 🖤🔪

[Bisa Bili · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect toilet read :)

[David Maguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, witty, insightful - albeit misleading. With a title like 'The MAMMOTH book of SLASHER MOVIES' I was expecting, well, a massive book about slasher movies. Instead, Normanton writes about 250 of his favourite horror films. For instance, did you know that 28 Days Later, Zombie Flesh Eaters, Alien, Cannibal Holocaust, Hostel, Hellraiser, and Quentin Tarantino's Deathproof were slasher films? Me neither. And the book did make me laugh out loud when one film review name-checked the wrong actor, Chuck Norris instead of Chuck Conners!

[Kyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, especially for fans of the genre. The focus is pretty narrow, but that's fine, and the reviews are useful and interesting.

[John Henery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I flipped through this book looking for something i hadn't seen... only found 2 movies but enjoyed the reviews of some of the classics that i enjoy.

[Pierre-Luc Pierre-Luc · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my slasher bible! I love it! I also discovered a few movies that I had no idea was existing!
Horror slasher dictionary! Voila!
I recommend it.

[Pearce · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't bother finishing this book. It sets itself up as an A-Z of slasher movies, but a ton of the movies listed are not slasher movies, e.g. the very first entry is 28 Days Later. The alphabeticalization is fundamentally broken, e.g. A Nightmare on Elm Street is under A rather than N and any movie starting with The is under T. It's riddled with errors, both in terms of factual information and plot synopses. The writing is terrible, and there's nothing in here you can't find elsewhere. A poor effort all around.