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Movie audiences seem drawn, almost compelled, toward tales of the horrific and the repulsive. Partly because horror continues to evolve radically-every time the genre is deemed dead, it seems to come up with another twist-it has been one of the most often-dissected genres. Here, author Kendall Phillips selects ten of the most popular and influential horror films-including
Dracula,
Night of the Living Dead,
Halloween,
The Silence of the Lambs, and
Scream, each of which has become a film landmark and spawned countless imitators, and all having implications that transcend their cinematic influence and achievement. By tracing the production history, contemporary audience response, and lasting cultural influence of each picture, Phillips offers a unique new approach to thinking about the popular attraction to horror films, and the ways in which they reflect both cultural and individual fears. Though stylistically and thematically very different, all of these movies have scared millions of eager moviegoers. This book tries to figure out why.
List of contents
Introduction
Dracula (1931)
The Thing from Another World (1951)
Psycho (1960)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The Exorcist (1973) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Halloween (1978)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Scream (1996)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Conclusion
Bibliography
About the author
KENDALL R. PHILLIPS is Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University. He is the author of Projected Fears (Praeger, 2005), and his essays and reviews have appeared in such journals as Literature/Film Quarterly and Philosophy and Rhetoric.
Summary
By tracing the production history, contemporary audience response, and lasting cultural influence of each picture, Phillips offers a unique new approach to thinking about the popular attraction to horror films, and the ways in which they reflect both cultural and individual fears.
