The Official Splatter Movie Guide
John McCarty writes about splatter movies with some authority, being the man who coined the term. Splatter was born in 1963 with Herschell Gordon Lewis'sBlood Feast, and, as McCarty predicted in his 1984 studySplatter Movies: Breaking the Last Taboo of the Screen, it has outgrown the confines of the horror world and influenced practically every other film genre.WithThe Official Splatter Movie Guide, McCarty (with a team of knowledgeable colleagues) set out to produce a reference book that would "give readers a broad view of the many different routes the genre has taken since its debut." The result is a collection of more than 400 reviews, encompassing the obviously splattery (e.g., the slasher films of the 1980s) as well as mainstream movies with significant splatter elements (e.g.,Raiders of the Lost Ark). Each review gives basic cast and production information and a brief plot summary, with comments on notable gore sequences, as well as trivia and related credits. The films do not receive individual quality ratings, but the reviewers comment freely on their merits (or lack thereof) in an informal but literate style. There are also several dozen pages of unusual black-and-white stills and posters.Readers should be aware that coverage of European movies is limited and of Asian ones nearly nonexistent. Despite this limitation, however, theGuideis an indispensable source for both aficionados and relative newcomers to the genre, ranging as it does from the classics to the obscurities. It's also just plain fun to read.McCarty went on to produce the equally impressiveOfficial Splatter Movie Guide, Volume IIin 1992.--Mary V. Burke