Overview

This book looks at contemporary Gothic cinema within a transnational approach. With a focus on the aesthetic and philosophical roots which lie at the heart of the Gothic, the study invokes its literary as well as filmic forebears by exploring how these styles informed strands of the modern filmic Gothic: the ghost narrative, folk horror, the vampire movie, cosmic horror and, finally, the zombie film. In recent years, the concept of transnationalism has 'trans'-cended its original boundaries, perhaps excessively in the minds of some. Originally defined in the wake of the rise of globalisation in the 1990s, as a way to study cinema beyond national boundaries, where the look and the story of a film reflected the input of more than one nation, or region, or culture. It was considered too confining to study national cinemas in an age of internationalization, witnessing the fusions of cultures, and post-colonialism, exile and diasporas. The concept allows us to appreciate the broader range of forces from a wider international perspective while at the same time also engaging with concepts of nationalism, identity and an acknowledgement of cinema itself.

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9781785277733

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Reviews

This is a stimulating exploration of the ways in which Gothic conventions and tropes are not simply features of classical horror, but are to be found in so many corners of the modern horror film. Nor do they just belong in the familiar narratives of ghosts and vampires, but also in the less obviously gothic movie worlds of folk horror, 'cosmic horror, and zombie horror. A worthy addition to the horror movie literature. - Andrew Tudor, Professor Emeritus, University of York, UK. Contemporary Gothic and Horror Film: Transnational Perspectives presents a truly transnational vision. Its scope is broad and its reach global. The book presents an expert introduction to the subgenres of Gothic and horror film including ghost stories, folk horror, vampire and zombie movies, while drawing from examples across the world. An essential book for lovers of horror looking for something new. - Deborah Shaw, University of Portsmouth, UK American horror films are often claimed to associate the horror as being external to America: as foreign in origin. But what about horror films made outside the United States? Cultures from around the world not only have their own traditions of horrific storytelling but contemporary cinema has witnessed the emergence of a huge international trade in such stories. Contemporary Gothic and Horror Film: Transnational Perspectives explores the films and the filmmakers that have benefited from this trade, particularly figures such as Guillermo del Toro or Bong Joon Ho. As such is a crucial contribution to our understanding of both the horror genre and international film culture more broadly. - Prof. Mark Jancovich, University of East Anglia, UK Contemporary Gothic and Horror Film: Transnational Perspectives is a potent addition to recent scholarship that focuses on contemporary iterations of Gothic horror across languages and cultures. It tackles the transnational turn of the horror film genre in the first two decades of the new millennium through a rigorous engagement with the history of the Gothic as a genre of literature and film. By placing it in a trajectory that harkens back more than two hundred years and spans far beyond its well-known anglophone literary tradition, the book breaks new ground by assessing the international impact of the Gothic tradition in horror fiction and cinema in recent years through perspicacious in-depth readings of recent films from Iran, South Korea, India, Australia, Germany, Sweden and Mexico in addition to British and American examples. The book's most surprising and astute contribution is its painstakingly constructed argument that the Gothic as a genre has been a transnational endeavour from its very inception and has carried global underpinnings throughout its lengthy history as both a literary and filmic tradition. - Dr. Guillermo Rodriguez-Romaguera, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, US

Author Information

Keith McDonald holds a PhD from Birkbeck College, University of London, and is a senior lecturer of film studies and media at York St John University, UK. Wayne Johnson is a senior lecturer in media and film studies at York St. John University. He received his PhD from Keele University, UK.

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