Scary Movies: Behind the Scenes Stories, Reviews, Biographies, Anecdotes, History & Lists [Paperback]

A. S. Mott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2005

Only a true fan of movies and the macabre could so enjoy crafting a book like this. A.S. Mott carves wide open a half dozen of the best horror flicks of all time. He also ranks the best and worst of several genres of scary movie complete with insightful and highly informed reviews. Among the films reviewed and revealed: Nightmare on Elm Street, An American Werewolf in London, Halloween, Evil Dead II, The Fly and Psycho.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I sat down Sunday afternoon to just thumb through it...ended up reading the whole damn thing cover to cover. -- Hitch Magazine, 11 August 2005

From the Back Cover

A.S. Mott has been fascinated with scary movies since childhood, and he has devoted himself to watching as many of them as he can find. This book of entertaining analyses and anecdotes represents a culmination of his years spent in dark basements studying both the great and not-so-great examples of the genre. Go behind the scenes and read about why some films are still popular decades after they were first released:

Psycho: Alfred Hitchock's daring desire to push the boundaries of the cinematic conventions of the day with a bold film featuring a new breed of movie villain

An American Werewolf in London: John Landis' challenge to makeup designer Rick Baker to come up with an innovative way to turn a standard werewolf transformation scene into something extraordinary

Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn: Sam Raimi's decision to go so over the top with the blood and gore in his sequel that he did not even bother sending the finished movie to the ratings board

The Fly: David Cronenberg's choice to turn a gruesome little movie about a man turning into a great big bug into a serious and moving love story

A Nightmare On Elm Street: Wes Craven's inspiration to make a series of unrelated news articles about Asian refugees dying in their sleep into a screenplay so unique it almost didn't get made

Halloween: John Carpenter's low-budget tricks, which inspired over 100 imitations and created a new subgenre known as the slasher movie.

If you're a fan of scary movies, you can't afford to miss out on this book's wealth of detail about some of the most important horror movies ever made, plus plenty of other must-sees and duds.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 199 pages
• Publisher: Ghost House Books (July 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1894877705
• ISBN-13: 978-1894877701
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,180,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A love-letter to the genre..., April 11, 2006

By 

Brandon Doss (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scary Movies: Behind the Scenes Stories, Reviews, Biographies, Anecdotes, History & Lists (Paperback)

Forget those stuffy monographs written by film studies academics bent on proving how dull movies are. And while you're at it, also forget those self-conscious diatribes by soi-disant movie experts, who stare down the noses of their artistic frustrations at anything that doesn't meet their overblown and unimportant expectations. Now...deep breath...read this book!

A.S. Mott has produced a guide to film's dark genre that is fun and informative, as much about horror movies as it is about the author's life-long love for them. Featuring six chapters each imparting an in-depth study of Halloween, Psycho, An American Werewolf in London, Nighmare on Elm Street and Evil Dead II, the book is less academic than conversational, an extended sit-down with the optimus-prime of movie geeks. The text is punctuated throughout with footnotes facts, observations and fun asides. A must read for anyone interested in the subject. There's something here for dilettantes and die-hard fans alike.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars There are better books then this about scary movies., July 11, 2008

By 

H. Corbett (Nova Scotia, CANADA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scary Movies: Behind the Scenes Stories, Reviews, Biographies, Anecdotes, History & Lists (Paperback)

This book deserves only two stars because it covers only the more well known horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and the original Psycho. The author also makes room to include, for some reason, titles such as Color of Night, Cobra, Basic Instinct, Jaws the Revenge and some other movies that have no place in a book called SCARY MOVIES. It does mention a few lesser known horror titles but only to say how bad they are (at least in the author's opinion). If you want to read a better book about scary movies the best place to start is with GOING TO PIECES. It details a lot of the lesser known horror films and doesn't stray away from the genre like this book does. It also has better pictures.