2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Handy Guide to Things Freakish in Film, June 1, 2002
This review is from: Inside Teradome: An Illustrated History of Freak Film (Creation Cinema Collection) (Paperback)
Jack Hunter makes clear his purpose at the end of the preface to INSIDE TERADOME: "This book is also written from the viewpoint that 'bizarre' films...represent the pinnacle of cinematic art, since any artistic medium can only be explored to its full potential when used to express imaginative extremes."
That said, he has produced a wonderful catalog and commentary on films and photographic media that feature human anomalies, both genetic/organic (little people, giants) and man-made (tattooed people), both at the sideshow or for the movies. From Tod Browning's classic FREAKS to the pictures of Joel-Peter Witkin, from THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI to Jodorowsky's SANTE SANGRE to David Lynch's THE ELEPHANT MAN, Hunter has managed to cover it all.
This book is *loaded* with pictures, letting you in on the freakish details in case your local video store isn't this broadminded.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It starts with the carnival freak show and moves on to the freak film, July 7, 2007
This review is from: Inside Teradome: An Illustrated History of Freak Film (Creation Cinema Collection) (Paperback)
This book is more than just a summary of the freak film genre; it begins with a history of the carnival freak show and some of the most common "acts." Some of the traditional acts were the bearded lady, the fat lady, dwarfs, people who can perform amazing contortionist acts, people with extremely flexible skin, people with extra limbs, people with fewer limbs than normal and people with other major physical deformities. For various reasons, the carnival freak show died out, so the focus turned to what people put on film.
Hunter uses many genuine illustrations to demonstrate some of the unusual malformations of humans that occur in nature. He then moves on to the use of such people in the early movies and then goes on to some of the more bizarre practices that have been put on film. Although he briefly mentions hard-core pornography, the focus is on other films, some of which can be considered mainstream. For example, he describes the plot of Hitchcock's classic "Psycho."
My favorite movies to read about were the two starring Chesty Morgan, "Deadly Weapons" and "Double Agent 73." Chesty has a genuine 73 inch chest and the premise of the movie is that she kills her enemy by suffocating them with her bare breasts. In reading the online reviews of the movies the consensus was that these movies are very bad. So bad that it is in the category of those that you gather your friends together to watch so that you can hoot and snicker your way through it. It was also conceded that Chesty is in the running for the title of world's worst actress.
Some of the images in this book take a bit of a strong stomach to look at. In many ways, you feel sorry for the people you see. There is no question that few of them led lives of any great joy, their suffering was emotional and physical as they truly were branded as freaks.
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