Customer Reviews

Movie Psychos and Madmen: Film Psychopaths from Jekyll and Hyde to Hannibal Lecter

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John McCarty has a good reputation as a genre critic, but this book certainly does not bear that reputation out. Movie Psychos and Madmen is a collection of inaccurate plot summaries, with some not-terribly-accurate analysis thrown in for good measure. McCarty even makes review comments about films (such as Black the Ripper) that never got made!

After reading a few chapters of this book, it's easy to get the impression that McCarty didn't see half the movies he's discussing... or that he saw them years ago and never bothered to screen them again before turning on the word processor.

This book, in short, contains terribly shoddy work. Where are the facts-checkers at Citadel when you need them?

I really enjoyed this book, and came away with a whole list of films I want to see. I expected to get little more than dossiers on movie madmen, but was happily surprised to find that it is much more in-depth than that, giving a history of madmen in film, going all the way back to silent pictures. There are many great details regarding directors, actors, inspiration, reviewers, public perceptions, etc. I'd have liked more on Hannibal Lecter, who got a relatively small part in the book, but it was a pleasant read nonetheless.

One the best books on horror movies yet on fictional and real ones this books has every thing Some one who likes this genere will love this book