Horror Cinema
£15.20
Get ready to quake in fear with this revised and expanded edition of our history of horror cinema. This chilling volume packs 640 pages full with the finest slashers, ghosts, zombies, cannibals, and more, curating the very creepiest screen creations from the flickering spooks of the 1920s to the special-effect terrors of the 21st century.
Across 10 illustrated chapters, the compendium gets under the skin of some of horror’s favorite figures and themes, whether the vampire, the haunted house, the female killer, or the werewolf. Each classic device is explored in aesthetic and historical terms, probing horror’s manipulation of archetypal human fears as much as socially and culturally specific anxieties.
A subsequent Top 50 movies section brings readers up close and trembling with 50 horror showpieces, from black-and-white classics like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Godzilla to Rosemary’s Baby, The Wicker Man, The Shining, The Blair Witch Project, and much, much more. Throughout, the book’s featured images include movie posters, set designs, film stills, and on-set shots.
About the series
Bibliotheca Universalis ― Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe!
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Additional information
| Publisher | TASCHEN, 1st edition (30 Sept. 2022) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 640 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 3836561859 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-3836561853 |
| Dimensions | 20.7 x 4.7 x 15.2 cm |
by Andrei s
Horror Cinema-Taschen(2017): I find the’1 Star’ review of this book rather surprising. As The number of noteworthy films that could be classed in one of the countless, constantly changing ‘horror genres’ in over 100 years of cinema can’t be covered in around 600 (or 6,000)pages. The 450pg book recently dedicated to ‘Folk Horror'(vol 1) being an example.
Just under half this book is based around 10 parts:These includes ‘Sci-Fi Horror’, ‘The Living Dead’, ‘Vampires & Werewolves’ etc
The rest has Taschens choice of ’50 top horror movies’. Much like S.J.Schneiders ‘101 Horror Movies’ book, this runs chronologically & has a mix of the obvious with some ‘surprise choices’. e.g. Jacques Tourneurs ‘Cat People’ is included ,but also his rather creaky ‘I walked with a Zombie’ thus leaving out his ‘Night of the Demon'(barely mentioned in book) & no inclusion of ‘The Haunting’ or ‘The Innocents’ & while the choices are spread out over the years ,to finish in 2001 with ‘The Others’ makes it look rather over indulgent to some of the older ‘Classics’ (some of which are name checked more than actually watched?)
Before each review ,on the left side is a full page given to Title & release year ,Director & Writer, D.O.P., Cast etc & opposite a full page cinema ad’- many of which are(to me) lesser known, & most look good enough to put in a picture frame.
And it’s the hundreds of images that really make this a worthwhile purchase.- The ‘colour palette’ of images is nearly always spot on -from sickly looking- ‘Dawn..’ & ‘The Evil Dead’, retina scorching- ‘ Suspiria’ & ‘Carrie’, dreamlike- ‘Company of Wolves’ & ‘Sixth Sense’ ,naturalistic- ‘Invasion of the body snatchers’ & ‘Man bites Dog’ to the theatrical ‘Faust’ & ‘Dracula’ ,Truly unnerving ‘Eyes without a Face’ & ‘The Vanishing’ And equally good- the stylish B&W framing & portraits of the earlier Hollywood studios .
Time and thought has clearly gone into the printing of these images .On virtually every page there’s something that catches the eye .-The only problem with such well printed work is you wish the images were larger.
The striking cover (in English ,not the Italian pictured) is a standard that’s kept up throughout . There are occasional slip ups, mistaking images from Tobe Hoopers mid80s follow up to his classic 1974 ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ is an obvious one. While sometimes confusing Promo/Publicity shots with ‘Stills’ isn’t really a problem…
I feel the writing is not surprisingly where it lacks ,there could be more on non English language films- & I feel the stream of ‘Found Footage’ & the very popular Gialli/Italioexploitation could have been sections,while ‘Possesion ,Demons &Tricksters’ & ‘Voodoo,Cults&Satanists’ might have been combined..I also feel less of the book(nearly 400pgs) should be dedicated to ‘Their Top 50’much of which is covered in the preceding sections .
There isn’t an index & it has a rather slight ‘Chronology of horror films’ , but it does contain a brief bibliography + A couple of tempting images & covers of other Taschen books (most available for the price of a large Pizza ).
The book is ‘easy to navigate’ and generally there is a wide range of genres covered in a style that’s very readable.
Taschens statement of creating affordable books that ‘Never bore,always excite!’ is hard to argue with here…
by Olga
Was pleased with item
by Deborah neenan
The book itself is great, the copy I received is not so good. It arrived with a strip of glue and possibly packing tape stuck to the back that has made quite a mess of the back cover. This item wasn’t listed as used, but my copy looks well worn at the edges.
by Bruce Johnson
very good book covering the subject
by p halsey
I was attracted to this for the “640 pages”…
If you have a knowledge of horror cinema, basically, this is a poor book.
If you know nothing, and have just arrived on the 4.30 shuttle from Mars, you’ll love it!
Basically 640 pages of nothing new… a few pics flung in to take up space…contents that could have been lifted from several other books on the internet…this is a waste of money
It’s also a very small size book…vastly overpriced for what it is
zzzzzz
by Andrei s
Purchased as a gift. Well received.
by Olga
Bought for my 10 year old horror mad soon. Unfortunately it a bit old school for him. Most of the characters in it are unfamiliar to him. I’ve enjoyed it more than him. It is though big, colourful, and comprehensive.
by Vasilis Koursarys
Very good book, high image quality