Italian Horror Film Directors [Hardcover]

Louis Paul (Author), Jesus Franco Manera (Foreword), Antonella Fulci (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0786418346 | ISBN-13: 978-0786418343 | Publication Date: November 15, 2004

There is no cinema with such effect as that of the hallucinatory horror of Italian horror films. From Riccardo Freda’s I Vampiri in 1956 to Il Cartaio in 2004 (The Card Player), this work recounts the origins of the genre, celebrates ten auteurs who have contributed to Italian horror, mentions the many who have made noteworthy films, and discusses the influential genres associated with Italian horror.

The directors discussed in detail are Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava, Mario Bava, Ruggero Deodata, Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi, Antonia Margheriti, Aristide Massaccesi, Bruno Mattei, and Michele Soavi. Each section includes a short biography, a detailed account of the subject’s career, discussion of influences both literary and cinematic, commentary on the films, with plots and production details, and an exhaustive filmography. The second section lists other important directors, each with a short discussion and selected filmography. The work concludes with a chapter on the future of Italian horror and an appendix of important horror films by other directors, and is illustrated with stills, posters, and behind-the-scenes shots.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"in-depth" --Arba

"a fine account" --Fangoria --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Louis Paul has written for such magazines as Chiller Theatre Magazine and European Trash Cinema and is the coauthor of Film Fatales (2002, with Tom Lisanti). He lives in New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Mcfarland & Co Inc Pub (November 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786418346
• ISBN-13: 978-0786418343
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,410,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Explore the Id, February 4, 2005

By 

fathomless void - See all my reviews

This review is from: Italian Horror Film Directors (Hardcover)

Because of my preference for psychological horror, I had long resisted the Italian giallo. I've since come to realize my error. It is precisely its vast psychological component that makes the giallo unique. What other art form peers so unflinchingly into the darkest recess of the human psyche? This book helped me form that appreciation. In addition to offering hundreds of plot summaries, the author discusses the films' psychological underpinnings at length; musing as to what makes them tick individually and what makes the genre tick as a whole. There is also a wealth of well-organized reference material, exhaustively researched and detailed, for those who wish to dive deep into the arcana. I turned to the book to find out which Gogol story served as the basis for Bava's "Black Sunday" (since the story's title isn't listed in the film's credits) and found the answer immediately.

On the down side, the author has a preference for the movies' Italian titles, which meant I had to frequently thumb through the book for translations. (Although longtime fans of the genre may not be bothered by this.)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been much better, December 30, 2004

By 

pg (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Italian Horror Film Directors (Hardcover)

I agree with the previous reviewer that Louis Pauls's new book comes as a bit of a disppointment. For that price, you would expect beautiful stills on good quality paper; instead what you get is sparse black-and-white photos on poor quality paper. The author's writing style doesn't help either: his bland style coupled with a lack of critical evaluations of the works of the major directors make this book pale in comparison to other much more exciting works, like Hardy's "The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Horror" or Schneider's "Fear Without Frontiers". I am pretty sure "giallo cinema" is much more exciting and colorful than portrayed by the author.

On the positive side, Louis Paul does cover, to my knowledge, almost every major Italian horror movie and director. He covers many more giallos than does Phil Hardy. Also the index is very comprehensive and mentions both people and movies (both the English and Italian names).

All in all: could have been better but still a valuable reference.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excelent travel in giallo cinema, October 26, 2005

By 

Dulce Fabiana Mota Lima "Bia Raven" (Campinas, SP Brazil) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Italian Horror Film Directors (Hardcover)

Excelent purchase for all those who want to know a little more about the italian horror cinema. This wonderful travel begins with a panorama over the history of the gothic and horror cinema in Italy; then, it shows the 10 most important giallo directors (Argento, Fulci, the Bavas among others); later, the author Louis Paul discusses briefly about more obscure directors. And at the end of the book, there's a really vast bibliography, very useful to those who want to make a research on this subject (italian horror cinema).