”The terror film, with puzzling, disturbing, multivalent images, often leads us into regions that are strange, disorienting, yet somehow familiar; and for all the crude and melodramatic and morally questionable forms in which we so often encounter it, it does speak of something true and important, and offers us encounters with hidden aspects of ourselves and our world.” So writes S. S. Prawer in his concise and penetrating study of the horror film—from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Frankenstein, to Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Omen. After a brief history of the horror genre in film, Prawer offers detailed analyses of specific sequences from various films, such as Murnau’s Nosferatu. He discusses continuities between literary and cinematic tales, and shows what happens when one is transformed into the other. Unpatronizing and scholarly, Prawer draws on a wide range of sources in order to better situate a genre that is both enormously popular with contemporary audiences and of increasing critical importance.
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About the Author
S. S. Prawer is Taylor Professor of German Language and Literature at Oxford University, and a fellow of The Queen’s College. His books include studies of Heinrich Heine and Karl Marx.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
This really is "The Film as Tale of Terror",
By
This review is from: Caligari's Children: The Film as Tale of Terror (Paperback)
This book has more depth and comparisons than the title implies. It is about many films from different eras and locations. They are categorized by types more than times or locations. They are compared to the original scripts or books and the authors. These book discuses the different media types and what is best designed for the different media. The word terror and horror are interchanged in the book so that there is no distinction. This is more of a psychological book than it is of a media. However I had to put it down several times to catch up on the films and people discussed in the book. I was ready for the German silent films but the scope is much greater. It also includes theater.
5.0 out of 5 stars
This really is "The Film as Tale of Terror",
By
This review is from: Caligari's Children: The Film As Tale Of Terror (Da Capo Paperback) (Paperback)
This book has more depth and comparisons than the title implies. It is about many films from different eras and locations. They are categorized by types more than times or locations. They are compared to the original scripts or books and the authors. These book discuses the different media types and what is best designed for the different media. The word terror and horror are interchanged in the book so that there is no distinction. This is more of a psychological book than it is of a media. However I had to put it down several times to catch up on the films and people discussed in the book. I was ready for the German silent films but the scope is much greater. It also includes theater.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
THE Gothic terror-fictions which were so distinctive a legacy of the eighteenth century to the nineteenth lent themselves. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cinematic tale, old dark house, incredible shrinking man, female vampire Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
King Kong, David Gray, Fritz Lang, Boris Karloff, Dracula-Prince of Darkness, Christopher Lee, Terence Fisher, Dead of Night, The Exorcist, Conrad Veidt, James Whale, Lon Chaney, Van Helsing, Werner Krauss, Cat People, Peter Cushing, Val Lewton, Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, Dreyer's Vampyr, Roger Corman, White Zombie, Murnau's Nosferatu, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
THE Gothic terror-fictions which were so distinctive a legacy of the eighteenth century to the nineteenth lent themselves. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cinematic tale, old dark house, incredible shrinking man, female vampire Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
King Kong, David Gray, Fritz Lang, Boris Karloff, Dracula-Prince of Darkness, Christopher Lee, Terence Fisher, Dead of Night, The Exorcist, Conrad Veidt, James Whale, Lon Chaney, Van Helsing, Werner Krauss, Cat People, Peter Cushing, Val Lewton, Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, Dreyer's Vampyr, Roger Corman, White Zombie, Murnau's Nosferatu, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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- Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (Scholastic Classics) by Robert Louis Stevenson on 11 pages
- The Vampire Cinema by David Pirie on 5 pages
- Classics of Horror Film-P by EVERSON on page 108, page 235, and Back Matter
- The Body Snatcher (Random House Chillers(TM)) by Monica Kulling on page 11, page 131, and page 222
- Ivan the Terrible (Pts. 1-3) by Sergei Eisenstein on page 120, page 215, and page 216
See all 100 books this book cites
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