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100 European Horror Films
From bloodsucking schoolgirls to flesh-eating zombies, and from psychopathic killers to beasts from hell, '100 European Horror Films' provides a lively and illuminating guide to a hundred key horror movies from the 1920s to the present day. Alongside films from countries particularly associated with horror production - notably Germany, Italy, and Spain and movies by key horror filmmakers such as Mario Bava, Dario Argento, and Lucio Fulci, '100 European Horror Films' also includes films from countries as diverse as Denmark, Belgium, and the Soviet Union, and filmmakers such as Bergman, Polanski and Claire Denis, more commonly associated with art cinema. The book features entries representing key horror subgenres such as the Italian 'giallo' thrillers of the late 60s and 70s, psychological thrillers, and zombie, cannibal, and vampire movies. Each entry includes a plot synopsis, major credits, and a commentary on the film's significance, together with its production and exhibition history. Films covered in the book include early classics such as Paul Wegener's 'The Golem,' Robert Wiene's 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,' and 'Murnau's Nosferatu'; 70s horror favorites such as 'Daughters of Darkness, The Beast,' and 'Suspiria'; and notable recent releases such as 'The Devil's Backbone, Malefique,' and 'The Vanishing.'
- GenresFilmHorrorNonfiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published July 16, 2007
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About the author
Steven Jay Schneider
37 books38 followersSteven Jay Schneider is a film critic, scholar, and producer with M.A. degrees in Philosophy from Harvard University and in Cinema Studies from New York University. He is the author and editor of numerous books on world cinema, most notably in the horror genre. They include Eurohorror, The Cinema of Wes Craven: An Auteur on Elm Street, Designing Fear: An Aesthetics of Cinematic Horror, Killing in Style: Artistic Murder in the Movies, Understanding Film Genres, and Traditions in World Cinema. He is also a consultant for film, television, and home video/DVD production companies, a curator for world horror film programs, and a staff member in development for Paramount Pictures. Among his recent titles are 501 Movie Stars and 501 Movie Directors, both available in North America from Barron's. Two additional titles from Barron's are scheduled for publication in Spring 09. They are 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die and 101 Sci-Fi Movies You Must See Before You Die.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 4, 2015
ah, intellectuals. I love them! their big brains are so endearing, so exciting. they can intellectualize anything and in this case they do great work when writing on European horror films - many of which are classics but many more of which are seedy, tawdry, gory, sadistic, and bloodthirsty b-movies. thank you, assembled intellectuals of 100 European Horror Films, for making me feel slightly less guilty and creepy about my long-lasting love for giallo and many other horror sub genres. you all have done an outstanding job and I give you my heartfelt thanks!
♥
But the miraculous alchemy of the film lies in the transfiguration of conventional Gothic paraphernalia (fog-shrouded labyrinthine streets; a haunted villa; cobwebbed hidden passageways; portraits; a family curse; the doppelganger; science vs witchcraft) into Bava's own idiosyncrasies and haunting motifs (images as powerful simulacra; the return of the repressed; dislocation of the space-time continuum; non-Euclidian logic; hallucinatory confusion of illusion and reality).
- Philippe Met on Kill, Baby... Kill!
♥
Deep Red - a stylistically eerie exploration of murder, madness, paranoia and alienation - makes an early case for the director's development of an art-house sensibility. The eeriness achieved here recalls the paintings of American artist Edward Hopper... As if quoting from Hopper's paintings, scenes in Deep Red appear to insist on drawing attention to their own artifice and are marked by stark juxtapositions of colour and a hyperrealism that produce an uncanny disquiet.
- Jodey Castricano on Deep Red
♥
Twitch clusters its narrative explanations in the middle of the picture, thereby enabling the original Italian audience in the 'terza visione' cinemas - third-class cinemas in rural and working-class neighbourhoods - to talk amongst themselves and wander about the cinema as the cultural context warranted. Bava then calls the audience's attention back to the screen for the final twenty minutes, as Alberto and Renata kill anyone else left alive who stands in their way.
- Mikel J. Koven on Twitch of the Death Nerve
♥
The film blurs the distinction between dream and reality as its female characters begin to seek revenge on the male-dominated micro-society that surrounds them. In its representation of Spanish machismo, The Blood Spattered Bride is one of a group of horror films of the era ... that uses the codes and conventions of the genre to critique the dominant ideologies of Franco's Spain.
- Andrew Willis on The Blood Spattered Bride
♥
The film employs the uncanny language of nightmare and, in so doing, bears some notable resemblance and relationship to the work of other directors who deal in irrational cruelties, doubled characters, and emotional pandemonium: Luis Bunel, Ken Russell and David Lynch chief among them. The film can also potentially be read as Zulawski's anguished farewell to Poland and a meditation on betrayal and deception on levels beyond the individual.
- Ruth Goldberg on Possession
♥
Nevenka feels constrained to be punished, which takes the form of being flogged by Kurt and of flogging herself. That she should finally die by stabbling suggests an unconscious identification with a feminine position, explicitly diagnosed as that of the hapless victim of male desire and power, that of the daughter of the servant Georgia who committed suicide when abandoned by Kurt. Thus, Nevenka's 'amour fou' is a proto-feminist gesture of solidarity and a refusal to give up on her desire, however criminal a form it takes.
- Reynold Humphries on The Whip and the Body
♥
But the miraculous alchemy of the film lies in the transfiguration of conventional Gothic paraphernalia (fog-shrouded labyrinthine streets; a haunted villa; cobwebbed hidden passageways; portraits; a family curse; the doppelganger; science vs witchcraft) into Bava's own idiosyncrasies and haunting motifs (images as powerful simulacra; the return of the repressed; dislocation of the space-time continuum; non-Euclidian logic; hallucinatory confusion of illusion and reality).
- Philippe Met on Kill, Baby... Kill!
♥
Deep Red - a stylistically eerie exploration of murder, madness, paranoia and alienation - makes an early case for the director's development of an art-house sensibility. The eeriness achieved here recalls the paintings of American artist Edward Hopper... As if quoting from Hopper's paintings, scenes in Deep Red appear to insist on drawing attention to their own artifice and are marked by stark juxtapositions of colour and a hyperrealism that produce an uncanny disquiet.
- Jodey Castricano on Deep Red
♥
Twitch clusters its narrative explanations in the middle of the picture, thereby enabling the original Italian audience in the 'terza visione' cinemas - third-class cinemas in rural and working-class neighbourhoods - to talk amongst themselves and wander about the cinema as the cultural context warranted. Bava then calls the audience's attention back to the screen for the final twenty minutes, as Alberto and Renata kill anyone else left alive who stands in their way.
- Mikel J. Koven on Twitch of the Death Nerve
♥
The film blurs the distinction between dream and reality as its female characters begin to seek revenge on the male-dominated micro-society that surrounds them. In its representation of Spanish machismo, The Blood Spattered Bride is one of a group of horror films of the era ... that uses the codes and conventions of the genre to critique the dominant ideologies of Franco's Spain.
- Andrew Willis on The Blood Spattered Bride
♥
The film employs the uncanny language of nightmare and, in so doing, bears some notable resemblance and relationship to the work of other directors who deal in irrational cruelties, doubled characters, and emotional pandemonium: Luis Bunel, Ken Russell and David Lynch chief among them. The film can also potentially be read as Zulawski's anguished farewell to Poland and a meditation on betrayal and deception on levels beyond the individual.
- Ruth Goldberg on Possession
♥
Nevenka feels constrained to be punished, which takes the form of being flogged by Kurt and of flogging herself. That she should finally die by stabbling suggests an unconscious identification with a feminine position, explicitly diagnosed as that of the hapless victim of male desire and power, that of the daughter of the servant Georgia who committed suicide when abandoned by Kurt. Thus, Nevenka's 'amour fou' is a proto-feminist gesture of solidarity and a refusal to give up on her desire, however criminal a form it takes.
- Reynold Humphries on The Whip and the Body
March 8, 2013
I though this was very good. Often these kind of lists books seem arbitrary or obvious, but here there was a good balance between the obvious classics and a spread of more obscure titles from all round Europe, with an unavoidable dominance of Italy and Spain, but many less obvious countries included for one or two titles.
I consider myself fairly knowledgable about European horror (I've seen about 40 of the 100), but there were several very interesting sounding films I was unaware of which I will now try to track down. Each film gets a roughly two-page essay which covers the social, political and cultural context of the country of origin at the time, some plot and stylistic overviews and a brief analysis. It is written at an intelligient level, assuming considerable film literacy, with an academic bent, but without descending into impenatrability. Films are not assessed at a simple level of good or bad, but in terms of what makes them of interest. If they're included you can assume a certain level of quality or cultural significance - no star ratings here.
The films covered date from early cinema (Vampyr, Nosferatu) to the present day, with most of them coming from the 60s to the 80s, including, inevitably, all the Bava and Argento classics, yet to omit some of them would be wrong, as they are such great and important works.
All in all, this is an excellent little book, which would make a good primer for anyone looking to explore Euro horror, but also of interest to those who already know a fair amount but wish to delve further (I now have a list of 30 or so films I want to work through). I highly recommended it.
I consider myself fairly knowledgable about European horror (I've seen about 40 of the 100), but there were several very interesting sounding films I was unaware of which I will now try to track down. Each film gets a roughly two-page essay which covers the social, political and cultural context of the country of origin at the time, some plot and stylistic overviews and a brief analysis. It is written at an intelligient level, assuming considerable film literacy, with an academic bent, but without descending into impenatrability. Films are not assessed at a simple level of good or bad, but in terms of what makes them of interest. If they're included you can assume a certain level of quality or cultural significance - no star ratings here.
The films covered date from early cinema (Vampyr, Nosferatu) to the present day, with most of them coming from the 60s to the 80s, including, inevitably, all the Bava and Argento classics, yet to omit some of them would be wrong, as they are such great and important works.
All in all, this is an excellent little book, which would make a good primer for anyone looking to explore Euro horror, but also of interest to those who already know a fair amount but wish to delve further (I now have a list of 30 or so films I want to work through). I highly recommended it.
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May 11, 2025Thank you for intellectualising my love of Italian schlock movies, pretty fun list of movies, gave me the recs for a few great ones. Thank you for pointing me in the direction of la chiesa and night watch 04.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews