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Synopsis
This provocative book uncovers the surprising links between horror entertainment, and the great social crisis of our time, as well as horror's function as a pop analogue to surrealism and other artistic movements.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent look into American horror culture,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror (Paperback)
Skal traces popular horror (mainly cinema, but occasionally touching on fiction, comics, television, and the cult of special effects that slowly built up in the 60s) and the way it both responded to and affected American culture. The chapters on Tod Browning and the late-70s' "evil child" fad are especially excellent.All in all, a great read for anyone who loves horror and wants to see how culture affects media and vice versa.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliantly readable history,
By
This review is from: The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror (Paperback)
Skal is an important film historian and one who demonstrates here just why. The book is a fuss-free history of the monster in popular US culture in general and filmaking in particular. Importantly Skal is able to link developments in the horror film to wider developments in the culture of 'the horrific'. The history is built on solid foundations and the anecdotes highly revealing (and - at times- very funny).
Highly recommended.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews) 33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Monster Movie Making History,
By Ian M. Enriquez "Counselor and lover of life" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror (Paperback)
I have decided to review this book because it needs to be a little clearer about what you are purchasing here. The first half of the book focuses on what is clearly David Skal's expertise-- 30's monster movies. He covers biographies on Tod Browning and Bela Lugosi, James Whale's battles against the censors, the influences of war and the Great Depression, and the move from stage to screen. It was so pleasurable and enlightening to read all about the beginnings of the genre.After 200 pages on this decade, I soon realized that the following 6 decades could not possibly get the same attention in the second half. Hammer horror from England receives two sentences in the book when it easily deserves at least a lengthy chapter. Italian horror (which has one of the largest cult followings within this genre) is completely unmentioned. To my shock, a film with such powerful cultural relevance as The Stepford Wives also remains completely unmentioned in the book. A chapter that I thought would discuss the cultural emergence and relevance of slasher films ends up covering plastic surgery. Basically the book is greatly unbalanced. There is so much passion in the first half that the second half of the book seems a drought by comparison. However, if you are even reading this review, then I must say that this book is a must-own. The information is absolutely fascinating (even in the second half). The photos throughout the book are excellent and add so much to the experience of reading it. The information I regretfully did not get is now more accessible to me through the foundations and structure of this book. 26 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
An odyssey into dodgy cultural analysis,
By Lars Peder Kallar Devold - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror (Hardcover)
This is simply one of the worst books on horror I've ever read.
Before you purchase this book, know what you are getting: the first half of the book focuses on the horror films of the twenties and thirties, and is embroiled (as would be expected) with anecdotes, stories and information about people like James Whale, Tod Browning and Bela Lugosi. This is all highly interesting, but unfortunately the author makes some very far-reaching conclusions about the cultural place of horror films in the 1930s, and especially about Frankenstein and Dracula, the two subjects to which he devotes the most time. In the second half, the book starts collapsing under the weight of its own grand conclusions and impossible correlations. Gradually, almost unnoticeably, facts and figures are entirely replaced with dodgy social and cultural analysis. Mr. Skal completely fails to mention Jesus Franco, Ruggero Deodato, Lucio Fulci and other famous Italian horror directors. Hammer Horror has less than a page devoted to it. Roger Corman is mentioned in passing in a rambling two-page essay about "Masque of the Red Death". Even Dario Argento, who should be known to all but the least knowledgeable cinephiles, is not mentioned at all in this book. Instead, Skal spends 80 pages discussing AIDS, vampirism and Anne Rice. The author reaches conclusions that are drawn from a set of banal connections: for instance, in the chapter "Bad Blood", Michael Jackson is made out to be a modern-day Lon Chaney. The connection? That both practiced physical transformation (Jackson is a pop star with plastic surgery, Lon Chaney was a make-up pioneer film-star. The connection is superficial at best). Horror icons are constantly made out to be "christ figures". This book is full of holes when it comes to the subject it's supposed to be a "comprehensive" study of: Italian/Spanish horror, Indian horror and Asian horror are not mentioned at all, and neither is the VHS revolution in the 80s. To add to insult, the cultural analysis is weak and contrived, delivered in hyper-eloquent, grandiose prose and takes up about half of the book. Go with Steven J. Schneiders "The Horror Film and Psychoanalysis: Freud's Worst Nightmares" instead, which covers much of the same subjects in an infinitely better package. 10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Frightfully good,
By Charlus "charlus" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror (Paperback)
Wonderfully witty and well written, this is a cultural history that well deserves its name. The first half plays up to Skal's strength as a film historian but the second half, which detours into comic books, Stephen King, monster models, the Adams Family, etc. is marred with passages of psychobabble and strained analysis. Mostly however this is an entertaining and near definitive exploration of things delightfully horrible. And the illustrations are great!
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