Dark Dreams: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film (The Horror Film from Psycho to Jaws) [Hardcover]

Charles Derry (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: A S Barnes & Co (August 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0498019152
• ISBN-13: 978-0498019159
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,914,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles Derry was born in Cleveland, Ohio in an inner-city Italian neighborhood, then moved to suburban Maple Heights. After an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, he got an MA in film at the University of Southern California, studying with John Russell Taylor, Arthur Knight, and philosopher John Hospers. Derry returned to Northwestern for his Ph.D., where he studied with Stuart Kaminsky, Jack Ellis, and Paddy Whannel. Now a Professor Emeritus at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, Derry taught screenwriting and film history/criticism there for thirty-one years as well as being Coordinator of its Film Studies program.

Derry is the author of several books on film, including DARK DREAMS 2.0, an analysis of contemporary horror films, and THE SUSPENSE THRILLER: FILMS IN THE SHADOW OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK. As well, he has published dozens of essays on a wide-range of film artists, among them Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Jerry Lewis, Robert Altman, Otto Preminger, and Claude Chabrol. Some of this criticism can be found in the ST. JAMES FILM DIRECTORS ENCYCLOPEDIA, edited by Andrew Sarris. Derry has published fiction, too, in THE CHIRON REVIEW, THE PORTLAND LITERARY REVIEW, WRITERS FORUM, HARRINGTON GAY MEN'S FICTION QUARTERLY, and in the anthologies CONTRA/DICTIONS and RECLAIMING THE HEARTLAND. His "Ten Memories of My Mother, in the Order I Think of Them," was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, published in THE CHATTAHOOCHEE REVIEW, and named a finalist for the Heidemann Award. He is especially proud of his cancer memoir, "A Year Like Any Other" published in THE SUN, a portion of which can be found at http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/357

Derry has also published criticism in THE HARVARD GAY AND LESBIAN REVIEW and written on soap opera and melodrama, themes which make their way into his visual work. The two short films he wrote and directed -- CEREBRAL ACCIDENT and JOAN CRAWFORD DIED FOR YOUR SINS -- have been shown widely at film festivals around the country, including festivals in Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco, as has the most recent short film he wrote, THE FIRST GREAT LESSON OF MY LIFE. Derry has also directed plays dealing primarily with social and family issues, such as WINGS (about stroke), WARREN (about AIDS), and THE LARAMIE PROJECT (about homophobia). His own play version of JOAN CRAWFORD DIED FOR YOUR SINS premiered at the Reality Theatre in Columbus, Ohio.

Derry has been awarded fellowships in criticism and fiction from the Ohio Arts Council. His fellowship in visual arts from Culture Works was based on "SNAPSHOTS: WE ARE HERE," his touring exhibit of still photography with text on the subject of gay marriage and social pressures.

Derry is currently finishing two books: one on the television show THIRTYSOMETHING, and a novel, CONFESSIONS OF THE ANGELS.

And finally, an interview with Charles Derry on the subject of suspense and Alfred Hitchcock was broadcast on the national radio program STUDIO 360. That interview, featuring Derry, Kurt Andersen, and Wendy Wasserstein, is archived at http://www.wnyc.org/studio360/show020505.html

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At the moment, Derry's favorite films are: Marnie, The Godfather Part II, Nashville, The Hours, The Times of Harvey Milk, Seconds, La Femme Infidele, Le Boucher, Winter Light, Wings of Desire, Three Colors Trilogy: Blue/White/Red, It's Always Fair Weather, Amores Perros, The Fountainhead, Love Me Tonight, Now Voyager, and Brokeback Mountain.

His favorite books are: Howards End, The Women's Room, The Hours, Mrs. Dalloway, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and the children's novels by E. Nesbit.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark Dreams, October 26, 2001

By 

Thomas G. Kohn "homergelb" (Dayton, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Dreams: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film (The Horror Film from Psycho to Jaws) (Hardcover)

I once heard a Hallowe'en interview on a radio station in Los Angeles where Donald Spoto cited the three types of horror that Derry presents in this genre analysis of the horror film. It was clear that Spoto had digested this book and found it more than satisfying. Although Spoto did not give credit to the original author, it gives proof of the import of Derry's work.

Immensely readable and replete with black and white photos from many of the important films Derry discusses, finding this book in the used book shops and seconds shelves around the country is like finding a treasure trove.

I've heard the author is planning a new release of this book, with an update chapter covering the period of 1970 to the present.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, June 29, 2009

By 

Theseus "theseus" (US of A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Dreams: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film (The Horror Film from Psycho to Jaws) (Hardcover)

An important, illuminating, and fun book. Terrific analysis and over 200 choice b&w illustrations. It covers all the famous landmark films, but also highlights a lot of movies that I really have to see now: The Tingler, Die Die My Darling, Who Slew Auntie Roo?, Phase IV, The Nightcomers, Ladybug Ladybug...

143 pp, Bibliography, Filmographies.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
The Horror of Personality
The Horror of Armageddon
The Horror of the Demonic
Appendix 1: Directors on Horror
Appendix 2: Filmographies