Customer Reviews

A Guide to Apocalyptic Cinema

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This is a fascinating, comprehesive study of END OF THE WORLD films ranging from comedies such as THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT to profound and dark films like NO BLADE OF GRASS and THE SAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE. Mitchell also makes a unique distinction between apocalyptic and postapocalyptic films. He examines a hundred examples of aocalyptic films and fifty of postapocalyptic as contrast. Fifty films are provided in depth coverage. My three favorites are the whimsical treatment of THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES, the penetrating study of Abel Gance's truncated Thirties masterpiece, END OF THE WORLD, and DELUGE. My examples are all Thirties films, but all decades are included up to ARMAGEDDON and END OF DAYS. There are a number of interesting photos as well, including a mock newspaper headline from the rare Thirties film DELUGE, as well as a shot showing the Statue of Liberty getting swept away in a flood. This is a genuine first rate fimography. Recommended

This remrkable book covers 150 film titles involving various nd of the world scenarios. 50 of the titles are explored in great depth, including Cornel Wilde's NO BLADE OF GRASS, DR. STRANGELOVE, ON THE BEACH, H. G. Wells' THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES, DELUGE, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, THE LAST WOMAN ON EARTH, CRACK IN THE WORLD, THE SATAN BUG, MARS ATTACKS, METEOR, THE SEVENTH SIGN and many more. The introduction divides apocalyptic films into eight categories and the author explains the differences between apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic genres. A spellbinding and essential film resource book.