Douglas Keesey’s Twenty First Century Horror Films Examines Over 100 Contemporary Movies
Douglas Keesey’s Twenty First Century Horror Films, an extensive study on modern relationships with horror films, arrives in October from Kamera Books, an imprint of Oldcastle Books; and we have your early details right here.
Arriving October 1, 2017, Twenty First Century Horror Films covers every popular and obscure sub-genre of horror cinema. Keesey, a professor of film and literature at California Polytechnic State University, tackles everything from the everlasting vampire movie to the more nuanced eco-horror and the recent boom in found footage. This definitive critique of contemporary horror analyzes how psychological fears manifest themselves in cinema and, furthermore, how this has been affected by present-day technology.
Meticulously examining the most influential films from the last two decades, this guide provides an original perspective on today’s culture for horror fanatics and cinema buffs alike.
Synopsis:
This lively and illuminating book explores over 100 contemporary horror films, providing insightful and provocative readings of what they mean while including numerous quotes from their creators. Some of these films, including The Babadook, The Green Inferno, It Follows, The Neon Demon, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and The Witch, are so recent that this will be one of the first times they are discussed in book form.
Twenty First Century Horror Films is divided into three main sections: “Nightmares,” “Nations,” and “Innovations.” “Nightmares” looks at new manifestations of traditional fears, including creepy dolls, haunted houses, and demonic possession as well as vampires, werewolves, witches, and zombies, and also considers more contemporary anxieties such as dread of home invasion and homophobia. “Nations” explores fright films from around the world, including Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Norway, Russia, Serbia, Spain, and Sweden as well as the UK and the US. “Innovations” focuses on the latest trends in terror from 3D to found-footage films, from Twilight teen romance to torture porn, and from body horror and eco-horror to techno-horror. Parodies, remakes, and American adaptations of Asian horror are also discussed.
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