Awards

• Short-listed for Bram Stoker Awards 2021

Overview

Finalist, 2021 Bram Stoker Awards (Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction) The first collection of essays to address Satan's ubiquitous and popular appearances in film Lucifer and cinema have been intertwined since the origins of the medium. As humankind's greatest antagonist and the incarnation of pure evil, the cinematic devil embodies our own culturally specific anxieties and desires, reflecting moviegoers' collective conceptions of good and evil, right and wrong, sin and salvation. Giving the Devil His Due is the first book of its kind to examine the history and significance of Satan onscreen. This collection explores how the devil is not just one monster among many, nor is he the ""prince of darkness"" merely because he has repeatedly flickered across cinema screens in darkened rooms since the origins of the medium. Satan is instead a force active in our lives. Films featuring the devil, therefore, are not just flights of fancy but narratives, sometimes reinforcing, sometimes calling into question, a familiar belief system. From the inception of motion pictures in the 1890s and continuing into the twenty-first century, these essays examine what cinematic representations tell us about the art of filmmaking, the desires of the film-going public, what the cultural moments of the films reflect, and the reciprocal influence they exert. Loosely organized chronologically by film, though some chapters address more than one film, this collection studies such classic movies as Faust, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, Angel Heart, The Witch, and The Last Temptation of Christ, as well as the appearance of the Devil in Disney animation. Guiding the contributions to this volume is the overarching idea that cinematic representations of Satan reflect not only the hypnotic powers of cinema to explore and depict the fantastic but also shifting social anxieties and desires that concern human morality and our place in the universe. Contributors: Simon Bacon, Katherine A. Fowkes, Regina Hansen, David Hauka, Russ Hunter, Barry C. Knowlton, Eloise R. Knowlton, Murray Leeder, Catherine O'Brien, R. Barton Palmer, Carl H. Sederholm, David Sterritt, J. P. Telotte, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock

Full Product Details

Author:   Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock ,  Regina M. Hansen ,  Simon Bacon ,  Katherine A. Fowkes
Publisher:   Fordham University Press
Imprint:   Fordham University Press
ISBN:  

9780823297900

ISBN 10:   082329790
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   05 October 2021
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction: Giving the Devil His Due Regina M. Hansen and Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock | 1 The Sign of the Cross: Georges Méliès and Early Satanic Cinema Russ Hunter | 15 Murnau’s Faust and the Weimar Moment Barry C. Knowlton and Eloise R. Knowlton | 27 Disney’s Devils J. P. Telotte | 42 What’s the Deal with the Devil? The Comedic Devil in Four Films Katherine A. Fowkes | 58 His Father’s Eyes: Rosemary''s Baby David Sterritt | 71 From the Eternal Sea He Rises, Creating Armies on Either Shore: The Antichristology of the Omen Franchise R. Barton Palmer | 86 The Weird Devil: Lovecraftian Horror in John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness Carl H. Sederholm | 103 Narration and Damnation in Angel Heart Murray Leeder | 120 The Devil’s in the Details: Devilish Desire and Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock | 136 Agency or Allowance: The Satanic Complications of Female Autonomy in The Witches of Eastwick and The Witch Simon Bacon | 149 “Roaming the Earth”: Satan in The Last Temptation of Christ and The Passion of the Christ Catherine O’Brien | 161 Lucifer, Gabriel, and the Angelic Will in The Prophecy and Constantine Regina M. Hansen | 178 Advocating for Satan: The Parousia-Inspired Horror Genre David Hauka | 191 List of Contributors | 207 Index | 211

Reviews

Hansen and Weinstock have collected (a lucky) thirteen new essays exploring the Devil's cinematic avatars, from his earliest appearances in the films of George Melies to the deliciously-living Black Phillip in The Witch (2015). Including discussions of generically-diverse films like Faust (1926), Prince of Darkness (1987), and The Passion of the Christ (2004), this volume will be of interest to theologians and film scholars alike. -- Harry M. Benshoff, Professor of Media Arts, University of North Texas

"Fascinating, lucid, and accessible, these essays create cultural and spiritual conversations about the fantastic nature of the demonic and the place of evil in human affairs.-- ""Choice Reviews"" ...an excellent overview of an important cinematic character who has proven flexible enough to adapt to a wide range of contexts, themes, and perspectives. This volume is an important step towards understanding why the devil always gets the best lines.-- ""Journal of Religion & Film"" Hansen and Weinstock have collected (a lucky) thirteen new essays exploring the Devil's cinematic avatars, from his earliest appearances in the films of George Méliès to the deliciously-living Black Phillip in The Witch (2015). Including discussions of generically-diverse films like Faust (1926), Prince of Darkness (1987), and The Passion of the Christ (2004), this volume will be of interest to theologians and film scholars alike.---Harry M. Benshoff, Professor of Media Arts, University of North Texas"

...an excellent overview of an important cinematic character who has proven flexible enough to adapt to a wide range of contexts, themes, and perspectives. This volume is an important step towards understanding why the devil always gets the best lines.-- Journal of Religion & Film Hansen and Weinstock have collected (a lucky) thirteen new essays exploring the Devil's cinematic avatars, from his earliest appearances in the films of George Melies to the deliciously-living Black Phillip in The Witch (2015). Including discussions of generically-diverse films like Faust (1926), Prince of Darkness (1987), and The Passion of the Christ (2004), this volume will be of interest to theologians and film scholars alike.---Harry M. Benshoff, Professor of Media Arts, University of North Texas,

Author Information

Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock (Edited By) Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock is professor of English at Central Michigan University and an associate editor of the Journal for the Fantastic in the Arts. He has authored or edited twenty-four books, the most recent of which are The Monster Theory Reader (2019), Critical Approaches to Welcome to Night Vale: Podcasting Between Weather and the Void (2018), The Cambridge Companion to American Gothic (2018), and The Age of Lovecraft (2016). Visit him at JeffreyAndrewWeinstock.com. Regina M. Hansen (Edited By) Regina M. Hansen teaches at Boston University. She publishes and presents on horror, religion in film, neo-Victorianism, and the fantastic. Her works include the edited volumes Supernatural, Humanity and the Soul (with Susan George; 2014) and Roman Catholicism in Fantastic Film, and a special Stephen King issue of Science Fiction Film and Television (with Simon Brown; 2017), along with the novel The Coming Storm (Atheneum 2021). Her writing on film, folklore, and the supernatural has appeared in the Wall Street Journal Review and the children’s magazine Dig Into History.

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