American Horror Film: The Genre at the Turn of the Millennium - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1604734531 ISBN 13: 9781604734539

Publisher: University Press of Mississippi, 2010

Synopsis

Creatively spent and politically irrelevant, the American horror film is a mere ghost of its former self―or so goes the old saw from fans and scholars alike. Taking on this undeserved reputation, the contributors to this collection provide a comprehensive look at a decade of cinematic production, covering a wide variety of material from the last ten years with a clear critical eye.

Individual essays profile the work of up-and-coming director Alexandre Aja and reassess William Malone’s much-maligned Feardotcomin the light of the torture debate at the end of President George W. Bush’s administration. Other essays look at the economic, social, and formal aspects of the genre; the globalization of the US film industry; the alleged escalation of cinematic violence; and the massive commercial popularity of the remake. Some essays examine specific subgenres―from the teenage horror flick to the serial killer film and the spiritual horror film―as well as the continuing relevance of classic directors such as George A. Romero, David Cronenberg, John Landis, and Stuart Gordon.

Essays deliberate on the marketing of nostalgia and its concomitant aesthetic and on the curiously schizophrenic perspective of fans who happen to be scholars as well. Taken together, the contributors to this collection make a compelling case that American horror cinema is as vital, creative, and thought-provoking as it ever was.

About this title

Book Description:

Essays that assault the conviction that horror film is a genre on its deathbed

About the Author:

Steffen Hantke has written on contemporary literature, film, and culture. He is author of Conspiracy and Paranoia in Contemporary Literature and Monsters in the Machine: Science Fiction Film and the Militarization of America after World War II, as well as editor of Horror Film: Creating and Marketing Fear and American Horror Film: The Genre at the Turn of the Millennium.

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1604734531
• ISBN 13: 9781604734539
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 275
• Editor: Hantke Steffen