Nightwalkers: Gothic Horror Movies

by Bruce Lanier Wright

For 20 years, beginning in the late '50s, moviemakers created a new generation of screen terrors. Nightwalkers discusses, in depth, more than a hundred of these classic horror movies with wit, affection, and a wealth of interesting and amusing detail.

Hardcover

First published October 1, 1995

Reviews

[Danielle Trussoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those who like to stream movies will find Bruce Lanier Wright’s NIGHTWALKERS: Gothic Horror Movies an essential guide. Originally published in 1995, and just reissued in paperback, Wright has curated a list of Gothic movies, rated each one, and situated them in the larger horror canon. He is interested in the enormously popular features produced by Britain’s Hammer Studios, particularly “The Curse of Frankenstein” (1957) and “The Mummy” (1959), which both star Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, “the twin kings of the Hammer repertory.”

For Wright, Gothic is about mystery and awe, and he laments the rise of the modern horror film as “Grand Guignol” entertainment, so named after the “theater that offered prototypical gore thrills to Parisian audiences.” Wright argues that the Gothic offers “unambiguous representations of good and evil” and expresses the “spiritual dissatisfaction with contemporary life … and a slightly perverse nostalgia for a time when mankind knew less and dreamed more.”

[Jason Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite books on Hammer. I wish this book would be re-released.

[Bill Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done!