Customer Reviews

Guilty Pleasures of the Horror Film

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This book's purpose, as stated in its Introduction: "...the writer has to share internal struggles, sometimes embarrassing predilections...in order to define the merits of a piece of moviemaking which most people have either forgotten or else dismiss as utter trash. Thus, writing about one's cinematic guilty pleasure takes intricate self-analysis heaped upon piles of courage."

In this book, Midnight Marquee Press presents fourteen "guilty" films, with evidence presented in their favor, by MMP's roster of talented writers.

The writers certainly are daring. Who would have guessed that anyone would (or could) defend 1976's King Kong? Or Chaney Jr.'s Indestructible Man and Lugosi's Voodoo Man? Not this reviewer. But they do, among others, and admirably.

Most entries are well written, interesting, and informative. Given that, it brings me to a problem I have with the book: There is no one common style to the chapters. In some, we are given little more than lengthy synopses. (A warning to those who haven't seen some of the films discussed within: endings are revealed.) Others give a production history or a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the author's guilty pleasure (the chapter on When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth, is a lengthy, but fascinating example). Still others start out focused on the film at hand, and then go off-point. The chapter on Scared Stiff gives us more a history of the teaming of Jerry Lewis/Dean Martin than it discusses the titled film.

Individually, one admires each author's work. Put together, however, the book's disparate style causes a lack of cohesiveness that I feel is to the book's detriment. Each chapter has a definite feel of "sticking out", of being an individual/independent unit, rather than meshing seamlessly, one into another. But perhaps that is an somewhat unfair criticism, for I certainly recognize that creativity demands that authors not have to follow a rigid formula. Still...

Additionally, a disappointment of the book for me is the fact that while most authors do present compelling evidence in favor of their chosen film, many do so in an objective "here's a reason why the film is good" kind of way. Missing are the more subjective reasons, the personal anecdotes and "...intricate self-analysis heaped upon piles of courage." that I was looking for. The fun spirit of the book's Introduction (especially the snippet quoted above) is either sadly missing, or given short shrift in many of the chapters. One wishes for more reminiscences and less plot summaries.

Given those complaints, this is still a very fun book. It allowed this reader to recapture some wonderful memories of watching and enjoying films not seen in many a day, despite their many and very obvious faults. In the end, the book is recommended, for the pleasure derived (and the knowledge gained) from reading it far outweighs the above-mentioned quibbles