I'm a Senior Lecturer in Film and Television with a particular passion for the horror genre – the first film books I ever read were about Horror. I'm also a confirmed Italophile. I became fascinated by Mario Bava – and later, Italian horror more broadly – before I saw his films from accounts and images of them in books and magazines. The films weren’t easy to see before video, DVD/blu-ray or streaming, and so I was on a mission over time to track them all down. This is how cult reputations often develop – from obscurity to re-evaluation – and that was one of the things I wanted to address in my book.
This is one of the first books to introduce me to Horror films beyond Britain and the US – it might even have been where I first heard Mario Bava’s name alongside directors like Jess Franco and Jean Rollin.
It obviously looks at vampire films more broadly but introduced me to a body of films I wanted to know more about. It’s also a beautifully illustrated and intelligent book, essential reading for anyone interested in vampires.
This is possibly the film book I flick through more than any other, usually to check a review.
Again, it covers the Horror genre broadly (year by year) but introduced me to a lot more European entries that I had never heard of, as well as horror films from Japan and other countries. I disagree with many of the critical opinions in the book but that doesn’t make them any less interesting.
This is the best single volume book on the horror film, the definitive reference work devoted to the subject. It contains entries on every movie even remotely connected to the genre, whether it is a 19-century silent, a grade "Z" schlocker, or an "art" film by the likes of Fritz Lang or Ingmar Bergman. Each entry contains a full list of credits and a descriptive review. Hardy writes about horror movies with such enthusiasm and intelligence that you feel you're getting the low down on the genre from a sincere and learned friend.
An engagingly written, erudite, and intelligent critical history of horror films made in Europe from silent cinema to the modern day.
Rigby is one of the best scholars of the horror genre and gives closer critical attention to some of the classics produced in Italy, France, Spain, and Germany. You may not agree with all of his critical opinions, but his expertise is never in doubt.
Euro Gothic is the most extensive survey of Continental horror cinema ever published. From the Expressionist reveries of the Weimar Republic to the transgressive nightmares smuggled past the Franco regime, via surrealist Gallic fever-dreams and psychedelic shockers from Cinecitta, Jonathan Rigby applies his incisive scrutiny to the most important European horror films, ranging from the early years of the 20th century to the video revolution of the 1980s.
At 1128 pages, you are unlikely to find a more thorough or lavish account of Mario Bava’s career from his early days as a cameraman to his classic Horror films – the book is huge.
Lucas spent decades researching Bava and it shows in this monumental volume. How was I going to compete with this when I wrote my own book on Bava? I didn’t try – I took a different approach, but obviously this was an essential reference source for me.
Introduction by Martin Scorsese. Foreword by Italian Horror Pioneer Riccardo Freda. This is the Complete Story of Mario Bava's life and careers as director, cameraman and special effects artist. Interviews with more than 100 actors, co-workers, friends and family members. The Definitive Study of each of his films: production histories, cast biographies, critical analysis, and video information. Never-before Published Photos including the only color shots taken on the set of BLACK SUNDAY. Original Mario Bava Storyboards - including the boards for the unfilmed project BABY KONG. Original Mario Bava Artwork - Some in Full Color! Bava's Secret Filmography: His uncredited…
Curti is an Italian film critic who also writes in English and brings a singular expertise to Italian genre cinema.
The giallo, the Italian murder mystery, isn’t technically Horror but often incorporates it in gory murder scenes. A lot has been written about the genre, but there has never been a more thorough account than this one, as close to definitive as one might get, and it will certainly broaden your understanding of the giallo as well as introducing you to films and TV shows you might not have heard of before.
Since the release in 1929 of a popular book series with bright yellow covers, the Italian word giallo (yellow) has come to define a whole spectrum of mystery and detective fiction and films. Although most English speakers associate the term giallo with the violent and erotic thrillers popular in the 1960s and 1970s from directors like Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and others, the term encompasses a wide range of Italian media such as mysteries, thrillers and detective stories-even comedies and political pamphlets. As films like Blood and Black Lace (1964) and Deep Red (1975) have received international acclaim,…
How do we approach a figure like 'maestro of horror' Mario Bava, a once obscure figure promoted to cult status? Can he be seen as an auteur, given that several of his films were released in different versions? How might he be understood in relation to genres such as gothic horror and the giallo-thriller? This book provides a thorough analysis of Bava's shifting reputation as a genre pioneer in different eras and contexts and also discusses the formal and narrative properties of his films. Featuring new analysis of cult classics like Kill, Baby… Kill and Five Dolls for an August Moon, the book sheds light on a body of work that continues to fascinate us today.
Growing up in New England, my mother had a set of books that she kept in the living room, more for display than anything else. It was The Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I read them and instantly became hooked on horror. In the seventh grade, I entertained my friends at a sleepover by telling them the mysterious clanking noise (created by the baseboard heater) was the ghost of a woman who had once lived in the farmhouse, forced to cannibalize her ten children during a particularly bad winter. And I’ve been enjoying scaring people ever since.
In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunged off a waterfall to her death, leaving behind a legacy shrouded in secrets. Her great-niece Julia, a struggling journalist recovering from a divorce, seeks answers decades later.
Tasked with retrieving Dr. Greer’s discovery–a flower that could have world-changing properties–Julia unearths a story rife with hidden agendas and a missionary community unwilling to share the truth. As she confronts the eerie legends and a fellow traveler with his own motives, Julia finds that the longer she stays, the thinner the line between reality and the fantastical becomes until she…
From the award-winning author of Dead Souls and Poe comes an all-new bone-chilling novel where a mysterious island holds the terrifying answers to a woman's past and future.
In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunges off a waterfall to her death, convinced the spirits of her dead husband and daughter had joined the nightmarchers-ghosts of ancient warriors that rise from their burial sites on moonless nights. But was it suicide, or did a strange young missionary girl, Agnes, play a role in Irene's deteriorating state of mind?
