Euro horror
Subtitle: classic European horror cinema in contemporary American culture
By: Ian Olney
Series: New directions in national cinemas
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Bloomington
Language: eng
Number of pages: 257
ISBN-13: 9780253006486; 9780253006523; 9780253006585
Subjects: Motion picture audiences; History and criticism; Horror films
Description: Beginning in the 1950s, "Euro Horror" movies materialized in astonishing numbers from Italy, Spain, and France and popped up in the US at rural drive-ins and urban grindhouse theaters such as those that once dotted New York's Times Square. Gorier, sexier, and stranger than most American horror films of the time, they were embraced by hardcore fans and denounced by critics as the worst kind of cinematic trash. In this volume, Olney explores some of the most popular genres of Euro Horror cinema--including giallo films, named for the yellow covers of Italian pulp fiction, the S&M horror film, and cannibal and zombie films--and develops a theory that explains their renewed appeal to audiences today.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Toward a performative theory of Euro horror cinema. Academic hot spots and blind spots: horror film studies and Euro horror cinema; title: Fast, cheap, and out of control: the academic case against Euro horror cinema; title: Playing dead, take one: Euro horror film production; title: Playing dead, take two: Euro horror film reception; title: Return of the repressed: Euro horror cinema in contemporary American culture; title: Case studies in Euro horror cinema. Blood and black lace: the Giallo film; title: The whip and the body: the S&M horror film; title: Cannibal apocalypse: cannibal and zombie films; title: Conclusion: from the grindhouse to the arthouse: the legacy of Euro horror cinema.