They Came from Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema

by Caelum Vatnsdal

Engagingly written, extensively researched, and lavishly illustrated with rare stills and poster art, Vatnsdal adjusts the focus on Canadian horror films, and unwinds the history of this neglected genre to learn "why we fear what we fear and how it came to be that way". With a forward by director/producer David DeCoteau. "They Came From Within is a revelatory and informative study of a previously underexpored area of horror history." - Fangoria Magazine

Genres: Horror, Film, Media Tie In

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Nick Spacek · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitely unique, but the frequent admissions of having never seen some of the movies he's discussing makes me wonder if vatnsdal's book could benefit from a revisit, now that many of these films are available via release companies like vinegar syndrome or severin, to say nothing of youtube and bittorrent.

it's a trifle repetitive and frequently lacks in-depth research, but it's a fun read and definitely one of a kind. anyone not from the great white north will benefit from the commentary within, but it seems like more of a toss-off than it could've been.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niche book for niche audience. Runs through the Canadian cinematic horror history with concise synopsis of the relevant movies and some analysis of how they fit into the broader cinematic era as well as a discussion of who was involved, the merits or pitfalls of each entry.

Through archive. Do recommend if Canadian horror is your jam.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, ton's of pictures.

[I.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid overview of a lot of movies that you’ll probably never have seen which’ll make you track down some gems and some stinkers. Wish I’d waited and bought the updated version of the book though.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a lot of problems with this book, though it did point me in the direction of some pretty great/ridiculous movies I'd never even heard of (Rituals? The Pit? The Uncanny? Death Weekend?). But mostly this book is written for a Canadian audience, not an international audience. It's full of in-jokes and cultural references directed towards fellow Canadians, which is fine but... It really shrinks the audience for the book. The writing here is often too jokey and discursive, and there's lots and lots of technical production details that could have been cut to make room for context. Should a book like this contain so much plot summary of the movies that it covers? I'm not sure.... I think some is necessary but... Also, there's little to no awareness of or discussion of issues like race, gender, sexuality or class in this author's thinking through of his own national cinema's horror canon. One of the things I was most curious about is how the book would tackle the whiteness of Canada's horror output, and the strains of queerness and misogyny that run through many of its films. You won't find any of that. In fact, this book has no thesis, no overarching argument or observation about the Canadian horror movie industry...

[Brad Middleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Canada may one day be counted as one of the great horror-film producing countries or it may not, but after forty-five years of malevolent masks, cannibals, creatures, ghosts, diabolists, maniacs and mutations, it cannot be denied that the country has a genuine horror movie history." So states author Caelum Vatnsdal in the closing comments of They Came From Within, which is an excellent overview of Canadian horror films from the 1960s-early 2000s.

Read the full review at my blog, http://www.bradmiddleton.ca/2013/07/t...

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, thorough archive of Canadian horror film history. It sent me straight to the video store. Unfortunately, most of these films are difficult to find.
Enjoyable for Cronenberg-philes and general horror fans alike!

[Cwl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Canadian horror is either pretty-terrible-to-moderately-okay or David Cronenberg, so read this book about it. The production/financing details are probably more interesting than movies like The Vindicator and Humongous, to be honest.