Profoundly Disturbing - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0859653366 ISBN 13: 9780859653367

Publisher: Plexus Publishing Ltd, 2003

Synopsis

From the murky depths can come the most extraordinary things...

Profoundly Disturbing examines the startling and controversial movies that have -- unexpectedly and often unintentionally -- revolutionized the way that all movies would be made. These milestone films pioneered new cinematographic techniques, subversive narrative structuring, and guerrilla marketing strategies that would change the face of mainstream cinema. Most importantly, they expanded what could be shown on screen and introduced us to a new, darker side of the cinema. Joe Bob Briggs, dubbed "the aficionado of trash" by The Wall Street Journal, uncovers fifteen of the twentieth century's most seminal cult movies, revealing the fascinating stories behind their making, complemented by "For Further Disturbance" sections with recommendations for hundreds of related movies. Profoundly Disturbing finds order amidst the chaos of bizarre cinema and provides a guide that's essential for all movie-lovers, especially those who think they've seen everything.

About this title

About the Author

Joe Bob Briggs began his career as a film critic for the Dallas Times-Herald and Texas Monthly. In 1986, he started Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater, the highest-rated show on The Movie Channel, which ran for ten years. Later he moved to create Monstervision on TNT, which ran for four years and had a viewership of two million. His last book, Iron Joe Bob, was published ten years ago. A New York City resident, he is currently a columnist for UPI.

From Publishers Weekly

Briggs, host of the long-running cable shows Joe Bob's Drive-In Theatre and Monstervision, is an acknowledged king of cult movie history. From Blood Feast to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Briggs analyzes 20 films and points out their cultural significance. The book is not, as the London Evening Standard put it, "beyond the bounds of depravity," but rather a wryly amusing, informative study of productions that some publicly disparage and privately relish. Roger Vadim's 1956 And God Created Woman broke down sexual barriers. His directorial shaping of Brigitte Bardot into a sex symbol, despite handicaps of coarse voice, cold manner and expressionless face, is a lusty and intriguing French version of Pygmalion. The Svengali theme also relates to Deep Throat, when Linda Lovelace, its star, became a steamy sex goddess in the hands of husband Chuck Traynor. These two movies permanently altered the way the world views celluloid sex, and Briggs demonstrates how Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch did the same for violence. Briggs touches thoughtfully on controversial interpretations that The Wild Bunch film elicited before placing it in perspective as an artistically daring forerunner of modern action films. Shaft unleashed the blaxploitation boom, while The Exorcist turned Satan into a Hollywood high concept. The author also writes with insight and affection about such lurid enterprises as The Curse of Frankenstein and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The book merits attention from fans tired of high-minded essays about classics such as Citizen Kane, and explains why crass, tasteless pictures often make more impact than those released with the stamp of respectability. 50 illus.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Plexus Publishing Ltd
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0859653366
• ISBN 13: 9780859653367
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256