Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I picked up this book, not because I'm specifically a horror fan, but more due to an interest in cinema and also what's popularly known as countercultural artistic expression. I had no expectations regarding this book, nor had I any expectations about the quality of the writing or choice of films. I was pleasantly surprised by his enthusiasm, love of the genre, and yes, writing `chops'. Here's an example:
(On Alice, Dear Alice)
"...Mr. Alphonso is one of sick cinema's most stomach-churning pseudo-villains. Whether fanning his greasy, sweaty, repellant self in an easy chair while listening to opera, feeding his horde of many, mewling felines or lecherously pawing at Alice, his is a creation of brilliant slobbery and is just one of the many morally repellent adult characters who litter the film."
This book is a compilation of essays and there's always the danger that, because these were originally written as separate pieces, that he runs the risk of repetition or pulling the same rabbit out of the hat in a literary sense. I've read other essay compilations and by the end I felt like I had read the same thing over and over...because I had! Either through luck, careful editing or just plain writing ability he manages to avoid redundancy from article to article. Each essay feels fresh, and not that this book is meant to be read from beginning to end, if you read a few chapters in a row you don't get brain fatigue.
The best part of this book is his genuine, wide-eyed wonder at this genre of film. He's not some musty academic who sits in his cobwebbed library (although wouldn't that be an interesting character for one of these films?) and has decided to compile a number of essays before moving onto something that has nothing to do with this genre. It's clear from the way he writes that he loves, lives and breathes this type of film and not only that, but has something interesting to say about it.
Also, I liked how he deftly defies conventional critical opinion with some more reviled-than-not films such as `Maximum Overdrive' and `Angel Heart' (the latter one of his clear personal favorites). He doesn't follow the crowd, but presents his case and convinces, more often than not, that some of these films deserve a second chance.
Finally, the icing on the cake is the interviews with various film-makers, composers or actors for some of these films, some of which he takes great pains to track down. I only wish some of those interviews were longer, but for the most part, they satisfy. Plus, it is interesting to read what those artists' perspective is on their films, often many years later.
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