The cult sub-genre of the supernatural film has been much maligned, but, at its best, supernatural horror allows us an awe-inspiring glimpse of another world, exhibiting all the facets of the cinema's possibilities as a narrative art form. This is an exploration of the supernatural horror film, providing a detailed analysis of individual films, concentrating on the "golden age" of horror films, from the earliest Universal talkies and the B movies produced for RKO, to an in-depth examination of Robert Wise's "The Haunting", made in 1963. The book aims to illuminate the developing complexities of themes, styles and techniques, identifying their often-overlooked influence on mainstream cinema, and pointing out some surprising similarities between movies such as "Citizen Kane" and Hitchcock's "Vertigo", and some of their less celebrated genre antecedents.
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This well-written book about black-and-white horror films covers the period from the earliest Universal talkies to Val Lewton's B movies produced for RKO in the 1940s, and concludes with a chapter on Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963). Jeremy Dyson shares his admiration for the sense of conviction that's at work in the old masterpieces such as Frankenstein and I Walked with a Zombie. His fascinating observations include the debt of Citizen Kane to earlier genre films, specifics about set design and sound (he reveals how Elsa Lanchester created those eerie cries for Bride of Frankenstein), and the evocation of atmosphere achieved by the "softly glowing silver shadows" of monochrome film. As Peter Crowther writes in the foreword, "In this immensely readable book, Jeremy treads assuredly the fine line which separates the high ground of research from the obsessive. Most of the great movies are here, covered in great and loving depth. Jeremy has combined extensive original research with numerous quotes and comments from a barrage of biographies, autobiographies and other film books, each of them cross-referenced for those who wish to delve further." One quibble: the footnotes for chapter 8 are missing.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Horror within Film History,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bright Darkness: The Lost Art of the Supernatural Horror Film (Film Studies) (Paperback)
This book illuminates the commonly neglected genre of Horror. Great detail is given to the films examined in the book which is sometimes tedious but mostly very intriguing. It is within the detail that the elements of the genre are connected to other films, from Citizen Kane to the greater Film Noir catalog. It is difficult to repel Dyson's enthusiasm for the genre and the book is definitely a rewarding read.
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