Horror Cinema

by Jonathan Penner (Editor), Steven Jay Schneider, Paul Duncan (Editor)

Horror is both the most perennially popular and geographically diverse of all film genres; arguably, every country that makes movies makes horror movies of one kind or another. Depicting deep-rooted, even archetypal fears, while at the same time exploiting socially and culturally specific anxieties, cinematic horror is at once timeless and utterly of its time and place. This exciting visual history, which includes unique images from the David Del Valle archive, examines the genre in thematic, historical, and aesthetic terms, breaking it down into the following fundamental categories: Slashers & Serial Killers; Cannibals, Freaks & Hillbillys; Revenge of Nature & Environmental Horror; Sci-fi Horror; The Living Dead; Ghosts & Haunted Houses; Possession, Demons & Evil Tricksters; Voodoo, Cults & Satanists; Vampires & Werewolves; and The Monstrous-Feminine. Among the many films featured are classics such as Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alien, The Exorcist, Dracula, and The Wicker Man.

Genres: Horror, Nonfiction, Film, Reference, Pop Culture, Collections, Coffee Table Books

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Aric Cushing]

The visuals are nice as a table book for parties, and the accompanying text is just enough for quick viewing. This is not meant as a book for thorough analysis, but a fun, light reminiscence of those horror movies you grew up with. The pictures are well chosen, and the layout brings back all those old thrills. A fun Halloween night ride that can be flipped through before the trick or treaters reach your door.

[Trudi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a visual, gory feast -- lavishly illustrated -- for horror movie buffs everywhere. Since film is such a visual medium, it makes sense that it's the pictures that make this book worth a look, certainly not the text -- which falls waaaay short. The editors have not offered any new insights or revealed any long held secrets about these iconic films. Most of what the contributors have to say, has been said elsewhere (and better).

The films included are popular and mainstream, and mostly American, so if you're looking for foreign or more cultish selections, you will be disappointed. Sam Raimi's Evil Dead franchise is mentioned but briefly and only in passing with no movie stills ... an unforgivable omission in my books. Also, I don't know how any of these reference books get published without an index! Still ... this is a fun book and a scrumptious display of movie images from both old-style Hollywood to the sleek and inventive Asian horror.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a coffee table by Taschen so you can be sure of two things. First, it will be lavishly illustrated with amazing photos, and secondly, the writing will be generally unremarkable. No knock on authors Penner or Schneider, but their overview of the horror genre shows little complexity and feels like filler, albeit pleasant filler. Any die hard horror fan will scratch their heads at some of the arbitrary chapter groupings, and the particular films associated with them. There are some highlights, like the covering of the films "Ms. 45," "The Brood," and "The Wicker Man." At the end of the day it is of course a coffee table book, and Taschen does an expectedly primo job with the printing, layout, and photographs. This would make an amazing gift any budding middle/high school horror fan.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures and interesting text. Thoroughly enjoyed.

[Jeff McIntosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 2008, "Horror Cinema" is a review of horror in motion pictures, from Edison's silent version of "Frankenstein" to "Scream" and beyond. Chapters include Slashers and Serial killers, Ghosts and Haunted Houses, and the Living dead, to name a few.

Book is VERY still laden, with adroit description of both stills and movies.

Nothing particularly new...but interesting nonetheless.


Jeff Mc

[Ryan Splenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like equal parts analysis and still photographs, this book is for you. Unlike most books that include a ton of photographs, Penner uses them to thoroughly compliment many of the points he makes in each chapter. Another great strength of this book is that it breaks down each type of horror movie (ex. vampires and werewolves, aliens, monstrous feminine, etc.) with both a quick history of the films that make up that sub-genre and some overarching themes that keep popping up in those films. My only criticism is that some of the chapters are lacking in substance compared to the others. Overall, a great analytical and visual read within the horror cinema genre.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Works great as an broad overview of horror movie genre, accompanied with high quality images. Managed to top up my watchlist with plenty of films mentioned here, even thought I see myself somewhat well acquainted with horror flicks. Those looking for in depth knowledge and analyses, you should turn elsewhere.

Since this works as kind of general look into the genre - so that it's meant to help people find films they might be interested - I found it an weird choice that this book outright spoils few movies by thoroughly summarizing them. Albeit being classics, not everyone has watched Psycho or The Hills Have Eyes.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo breve saggio è perfetto sia per chi ama l'horror e desidera informarsi sulla storia del genere, sia (soprattutto) per chi desidera addentrarsi nel genere ma non sa da dove iniziare. Questo volume infatti analizza la maggior parte dei sottogeneri più importanti, e anche se ciascun capitolo dura mediamente una decina di pagine fa un ottimo lavoro nel mostrare il contesto storico-culturale che si nasconde dietro la nascita e l'evoluzione dell'horror in tutte le sue sfumature. A ciò si aggiunge l'ampia scelta di immagini esplicative e l'abbondanza di film citati, sia i grandi classici sia piccole perle nascoste (anche se per la maggior parte dei casi l'underground, soprattutto quello particolarmente estremo, viene ignorato). È una buona lettura per fare il punto della situazione sulla storia dell'horror, anche se è utile soprattutto ai principianti (per gli appassionati andrebbe accompagnato ad altri saggi più approfonditi, che penso adesso inizierò a cercare). Mi dispiace solo che risalendo a più di dieci anni fa non siano ovviamente disponibili analisi sui film horror usciti da allora, molti dei quali sono particolarmente interessanti e talvolta innovativi e che, se solo questo libro fosse uscito adesso, mi sarebbe piaciuto vedere citati. In ogni caso, un'opera completa e curata da consigliare agli amanti del genere.

[Erika Schoeps · Rating 4 out of 5]

An overview of the entirety of horror cinema as organized by subgenres.

Each chapter is titled by subgenre (i.e The Living Dead, Vampires and Werewolves) and then moves chronologically through every important (or supremely interesting but overlooked) movie in this genre. There's a focus on building a history and relevance as opposed to telling readers about exciting new movies in the genre.

The exciting aspect of this book is its liberal mindset in the reader's ability to interpret horror in a variety of ways. This book's authors will apply a critical lens to interpret an entire genre, and hint at the other critical lenses and viewpoints in which these same movies can be interpreted. This book created excitement in me for watching more horror and dissecting it in unconventional ways.

But even further than the critical nature of the words within, this is a honking large book with really alluring full page spreads. Iconic horror moments and movie stills are glossy and lovely to behold; in addition, they pull previously behind the scenes moments and images to the forefront. If you don't have the time to read it, just grab it and flip through the pictures.

[Nazareth Vega · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nunca he sido muy fan de las películas de miedo, porque no me gustaba experimentar esa sensación de estar perdiendo el control de todo en todo. Pero haciendo algo de memoria, fue una película de terror, de las primeras que vi en la gran pantalla. Sintiéndome morir en una butaca y con deseos enormes de que por fin se acabara el fin, entendí que el cine de terror, es un género diferente, muy alejado de los otros. Es por eso que comencé a leer este libro, además de un recuento de cientos de películas de terror, tiene también una narración que atrapa y aterra al mismo tiempo, las ilustraciones son preciosas y dan justo en el gancho. Si hay algo que no me gustó, es probablemente que me contaron el final de muchas películas que todavía no he visto, así que supongo es mi error.
Por lo demás, me encantó.

[Dominic Howarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gorgeous book has two parts, one more enjoyable than the other - the first 1/3, the team puts together themes and ideas that have scared us for generations, and they use these to weave the tale of monsters and mayhem from the beginning of film. The writing is witty and insightful and entertaining throughout. The rest of the book is a list of 100 best horror movies, but the writing is lackluster, mostly short, and full of more puns than I was interested in reading. But the first 1/3 and the pictures is worth the price alone.

[Ale... · Rating 2 out of 5]

The photos are ok, and I understand the desire to keep things simple for the new reader, but in the text there are errors about the movies description and history (italian edition).

Le foto sono ok, e posso comprendere il desiderio di semplificare e riassumere per il neofita, ma nel testo ci sono errori grossolani persino nella descrizione dei film o della storia del genere...

[Rahul Jain · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the print and the selection of photos is brilliant, the writing often seems incomplete. The chapter division is inconsistent (often excluding films that don't fall in the defined structure), and the book ends on an incomplete note, without offering any form of summary on horror films or our wish to watch horror films.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pictures, solid synopses of some of cinema’s best horror films and a breakdown of horror movies by categories such as, The Living Dead, Slashers and Serial Killers, Ghosts and Haunted Houses, and Voodoo, Cults, & Satanists, just to mention a few, are all part of this beautiful coffee table book.

[Michael John Paul McManus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe that the version of this book I've just finished was an updated version as it has over 600 pages and not 191. It is a hard back version with the Creature from the Black Lagoon on the front cover. It's had the same chapters but has a section of the authors top 50 horror films. A very good read with great photos in colour and black and white. Easy to read and very informative.

[Ylva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coffee table book about horror cinema, mostly american and some british with a faint sprinkling of japanese, australian and a few other countries.

Lots of big pictures, interesting text. If you're looking for deep analysis of horror cinema look elsewhere. If you want an overview of mostly english language movies from the mid 00's and earlier this works just fine.

[cyberwebbz]

Horror = destruction and fear and evil and outside and inside and insides > outsides and demons and ghosts and witches and evil beasties of all kinds. Pretty fun book! I liked reading about stuff and then being like wow, thats fun. And learning about new movies!

[Jayden · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing felt quite pretentious at times.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. goes over hundred of movies with great pictures and inside stories. great coffee table book to have

[Seth Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re already a huge horror fan, you’ve probably heard of 90% of the films mentioned. I did find a few new recommendations, and I learned a few things about old favorites.

[Shalah Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book while seeing some art exhibits at the Museum of Moving Images in New York City. I have an extensive horror collection of movies, and appreciate a good scare, unfortunately so does my son. This book takes you into the the minds of the Film producers, Film Director's, the writers and more. It is broken into categories such as Slashers &a Serial Killers, Cannibals, Freaks $ Hillbillies, Monsters, Science-Fiction horror and much more.
You get pictures of the magic in action.

[Brian Moloney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the text, which really doesn't tell you anything new if you have an interest in the matter, the book gets 4 stars from me due to the quality and layout of the accompanying pictures. It's split into 10 chapters by subject matter ("slashers and serial killers", "the living dead" etc.) giving a brief history of each sub genre and page after page of pictures. A few stand out for me, such as a full page reproduction of a publicity still from Silence of the Lambs, a full page head shot of Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a 2 page spread of the iconic arrival by the street lamp from The Exorcist. Not much more to be said really, if you like the aesthetics of horror movies or the history of cinema, yeah, I'd recommend it. There's worse ways to pass a few hours. If you're not a fan then there's not much here for you.

[Susannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book about the horror genre by Taschen. Treating horror seriously as a genre, this book contains essays that explore horror's enduring and universal appeal as one of the most consistently viewed genres. There are also essays on different types of horror film genre, and what aspects of society they represent. The essays are interspersed between beautiful images from some of horror's most notable film entries. A great read for fans of horror cinema.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horror Cinema highlights all things horror related in films. There are lots of pictures and screen shots from horror films old and new. Horror Cinema is organized and categorized according to monster such as vampires, living dead, montrous-feminine and even slashers/serial killers. I could go through this book for hours and hours on end it was so enjoyable.

[Morbus Iff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Purdy pictures, but text utterly ignorable. A waste.

[Azem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully produced book. I love horror films and this book is a great way to find out about films to check out.

[Hernán · Rating 4 out of 5]

The images of the book are excellent (large print, best resolution). While reading, I had issues with the Spanish translation of the movie titles. I would have preferred the original titles instead.

[Phinehas · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating is based only on the photos. If it was only the text I would have given it two stars.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good but was a bit disappointed with the fact there's more pictures than words. Which is fine but the chapters were short as a result. Still a fine sample of the many subgenres of horror.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed by this book. Although the writer is clearly knowledgeable in his subject, he has produced a volume with only the bare bones of a text that is so superficial, it reads like it was whipped up in a couple of weeks. I realise it's not meant to be an academic treatise, and it's more about the pictures than the text, but some films are given far too much explanation about their narrative analogies and production, with several pages of description and photos, while others are given one picture and a bare mention, and there are still others shown in a promotional photo or production still but not even referenced in the text. While the author cites a lot of movies, he still manages to omit quite a few landmark films, especially if they are not American or British, or were made after 2000. There is a very incomplete "chronology" at the end that lists only a few of the movies mentioned, and even introduces some that have not been referenced at all in the main text - so it's hardly the summary that you would expect from a professionally-produced book. This dog's breakfast is accompanied by a pathetic "filmography" that only lists a dozen of the hundreds of films mentioned throughout the book. I get the feeling that it was only ever intended as a coffee table amusement that the publisher did not expect to be read from cover to cover. Despite its pretensions to analyse its subject and use horror films as a metaphor for society, the book does not present as even a half-serious study of horror cinema, trying instead to shock the reader with the more monstrous images and gore of the genre. I really wasn't shocked or impressed.