Overview

In its heyday from the late 1950s until the early 1980s Italian horror cinema was characterised by an excess of gore, violence and often incoherent plot-lines. Films about zombies, cannibals and psychopathic killers ensured there was no shortage of controversy, and the genre presents a seemingly unpromising nexus of films for sustained critical analysis. But Italian horror cinema with all its variations, subgenres and filoni remains one of the most recognisable and iconic genre productions in Europe, achieving cult status worldwide. One of the manifestations of a rich production landscape in Italian popular cinema after the Second World War, Italian horror was also characterised by its imitation of foreign models and the transnational dimension of its production agreements, as well as by its international locations and stars. This collection brings together for the first time a range of contributions aimed at a new understanding of the genre, investigating the different phases in its history, the peculiarities of the production system, the work of its most representative directors (Mario Bava and Dario Argento) and the wider role it has played within popular culture.

Full Product Details

Author:   Hunter Baschiera
Publisher:   Edinburgh University Press
Imprint:   Edinburgh University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.363kg
ISBN:  

9781474419680

ISBN 10:   1474419682
Pages:   240
Publication Date:   30 June 2016
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1: Preferisco l'inferno: Early Italian horror cinema, Russ Hunter Chapter 2: Domestic Films Made for Export: Modes of Production of the 1960s Italian Horror Film, Francesco Di Chiara Chapter 3: The 1980s Italian horror cinema of imitation: the good, the ugly and the sequel, Stefano Baschiera Chapter 4: Knowing the unknown beyond: 'Italianate' and 'Italian' horror cinema in the twenty-first century, Johnny Walker Chapter 5: Bavaesque: The Making of Mario Bava as Italian horror auteur, Peter Hutchings Chapter 6: The Argento Syndrome: Aesthetics of Horror, Marcia Landy Chapter 7: Scrap Metal, Stains, Clogged Drains: Argento's Refuse and Its Refusals, Karl Schoonover Chapter 8: The Giallo/Slasher Landscape: Ecologia del delitto, Friday the 13th, and Subtractive Spectatorship, Adam Lowenstein Chapter 9: Kings of Terror, Geniuses of Crime: giallo cinema and fumetti neri, Leon Hunt Chapter 10: Political Memory in the Italian Hinterland: Locating the 'Rural Giallo', Austin Fisher Chapter 11: The Horror of Progressive Rock: Goblin and Horror Soundtracks, Craig Hatch Chapter 12: 'The Only Monsters Here Are the Filmmakers': Animal Cruelty and Death in Italian Cannibal Films, Mark Bernard Chapter 13: Italian Horror cinema and Italian Film Journals of the 1970s, Paolo Noto

Reviews

Ready-made reading for the genre's most fervent enthusiasts. -- Rod Lott, flickattack.com Some important rarely tackled topics finally get their much deserved academics treatment, such as the influences between Italian giallo and the American slasher, commonly taken for granted among fans and critics but rarely investigated in greater detail. Also helpful are essays on rural giallo, the neglected poor cousin of the more prominent urban type, and on animal cruelty in cannibal flicks, with its moral quandaries and aesthetic justifications. -- Dejan Ognjanovic, Rue Morgue Under the elegant stewardship of Stefano Baschiera and Russ Hunter, the analysis and discussion of the genre here demonstrates both info-heavy enthusiasm and intelligence from the various contributors...the study is bang up to date in its examination of recent developments in the field, such as the gruesome Necrostorm product. For anyone interested in the genre, it's essential reading. -- Barry Forshaw

Ready-made reading for the genre's most fervent enthusiasts. -- Rod Lott, flickattack.com Some important rarely tackled topics finally get their much deserved academics treatment, such as the influences between Italian giallo and the American slasher, commonly taken for granted among fans and critics but rarely investigated in greater detail. Also helpful are essays on rural giallo, the neglected poor cousin of the more prominent urban type, and on animal cruelty in cannibal flicks, with its moral quandaries and aesthetic justifications. -- Dejan Ognjanovic, Rue Morgue

Author Information

Stefano Baschiera is Lecturer in Film Studies at Queen's University Belfast. His work on European cinema and film industries has been published in a variety of edited collections and journals including Film International, Bianco e Nero, Italian Studies, New Review of Film and Television Studies. Russ Hunter is a Senior Lecturer in Film & Television at the University of Northumbria. His research is focused upon Italian genre cinema, critical reception, and European horror cinema.

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