A History of Violence

by David Cotner

Once in a century, a book comes along that both defines a genre – and defies it. This is that century. This is that book. The book is A History of Violence (1973) . A memoir of the human race. Its concept is take the date in 1973 on which a violent film was first screened – and go beyond the film to see the world that exists outside the theatre. It’s a book that realizes that the line between life and cinema is as much a horizon as it is a terminator. A History of Violence (1973) takes you across that horizon to places in time you never even imagined existed. Because bombs don’t explode in only one direction. 169 films. The brutal and transgressive sex films ( Forced Entry ; High Priestess of Sexual Witchcraft ; Teenage Jailbait ). The films of cinematic masters like Brian De Palma ( Sisters ), Terence Malick ( Badlands ), and Nicolas Roeg ( Don’t Look Now ). The Italian crime films ( Death Carries a Cane ; The Flower With the Deadly Sting ; Torso ). The police procedurals ( Blade ; The Laughing Policeman ; The Marcus-Nelson Murders ). The flat-out shocking and bizarre films that can only be appreciated by surviving them ( The Hunchback of the Morgue ; The Night God Screamed ; The Sinful Dwarf ).1973. The year that the War in Vietnam ends, military coups convulse Afghanistan and Chile and Rwanda, and the specter of Watergate looms large.1973. The year that a teen thinks his neighbor is using telepathy to make him gay – so he strips him nude, kills him and his entire family, and burns down their house. The year that a husband kidnaps young men and holds them at gunpoint – while they have sex with his wife. The year that a man goes out for a night on the town with a friend – and comes home to find that his wife has murdered their children, then killed herself. 1973. The year of the deaths of writers W.H. Auden and Victor Jara; actors Bruce Lee and Lon Chaney Jr.; and artists Robert Smithson and Pablo Picasso. The year of Skylab and Pioneer and Kohoutek. The year of the mass murders of Edmund Emil Kemper, Herbert William Mullin, Charlie Chop-Off, and The Alphabet Killer. A History of Violence (1973) also stands as a testament to the tireless efforts of law enforcement to solve the violent crimes that grip America. In 1973, America sees the first blue flashing lights that complete the lightbars of today’s police cruisers; the breathalyzer comes into common usage; and Dr. Lester Luntz becomes the first forensic odontologist to try to crack a case by obtaining a search warrant to get a cast of a suspect’s teeth. A History of Violence (1973) . A history book for the history books. A History of Violence (1973) represents the culmination of 20 years of exhaustive research, employing the digital advances that have thrown wide the doors of archives everywhere for a greater understanding of the human condition – both scaling the heights of creation and plunging to the depths of annihilation. With an audience as wide-ranging as true-crime enthusiasts, police detectives and horror movie buffs, A History of Violence (1973) also presents a seething array of lurid and alluring movie advertising art – some unseen for more than 40 years. This isn’t the book about violence you thought you wanted. This is the book about violence you knew you needed.

360 pages, Paperback

Published October 14, 2022

Reviews

[Doug Brunell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A year in the life . . . of violence. Man-made. Natural. Unexplainable.

A year in the life of movies showing on screens both large and small. Often violent. Man-made. Unnatural. Explainable.

David Cotner took on a task. Look at the films released or first shown on dates throughout 1973. Write a brief synopsis. Then dive into the real stuff. The murders. The serial killers. The hijackings. The accidental shootings. The explosions. The pranks gone wrong. The vengeance gone right. What do they say about society? What do they say about life? Art imitates life? Yes. Life imitates art? Also, yes.

It was a task with no end. Cotner doesn't make excuses. There is no academic jumble of thoughts disguised as keen insight into the human condition. There is a fictional dwarf rapist, and real life serial rapists. There are cinematic dirty cops, and real life cops doing anything but serving and protecting. Cotner finds intersections. That's a given. But his most startling find? The roads between real life and the silver screen are dangerous parallels that we traverse whether we want to or not. A history of violence? Sure. Same as it ever was.

Same as it will ever be . . . though to be sure, the movies have changed.

The violence has not.

[D Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was the best of times. It was the blurst of times.