Videohound's Vampires on Video (Videohound (Series).) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

J. Gordon Melton (Author)

Book Description

Series: Videohound (Series). | Publication Date: March 1997

Devoted exclusively to vampire films, this comprehensive guide selects, rates, and reviews 800 of the most mesmerizing movies of the genre, from Nosferatu to The Cemetery Man and Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood. Entertaining sidebars profile Draculas, both classic and modern. 75+ photos.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Don't be fooled by the easy-to-read format and unabashed enthusiasm of this book: this is not just a fun movie-watching companion for vampire fans, but also an impressive resource for students of this cinematic subgenre. J. Gordon Melton, who wrote The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, is the founder and president of the American chapter of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula, which puts out a scholarly journal and was instrumental in organizing "Dracula '97," a celebration in honor of the 100th anniversary of the publication of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Vampires on Video contains over 600 lighthearted mini-reviews, 40 sidebar essays on vampire film topics (e.g., individual actors, blaxploitation, Renfield), over 75 black-and-white photos, a guide to vampires on the Internet, a guide to video distributors, and four indices (alternate titles, cast, director, category). The book is a bit thin on European and Asian films, and doesn't have much critical analysis, but that's nit-picking.

Product Details

• Paperback: 335 pages
• Publisher: Visible Ink Pr; illustrated edition edition (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578590027
• ISBN-13: 978-1578590025
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,350,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J. Gordon Melton is the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History at the Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, and the Director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion also based in Waco, Texas.

He is the author of more than 35 books, the great majority reference works or scholarly texts in American religious history, including the "Encyclopedia of American Religions" (eighth edition, 2009), and most recently "Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances and Spiritual Commemorations" (2011). He has also written several reference books in Dracula and vampire studies including the award winning "The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead" (third edition 2010).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Exhaustive but flawed, August 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Videohound's Vampires on Video (Videohound (Series).) (Paperback)

Anyone with an interest in vampire film should have this on hand. However, it's partially undone by some careless spelling errors (count the number of times "its" is used instead of "it's"), the most hilarious of which has Dracula being destroyed by a bolt of "lightening"! Another problem is the reviews themselves. They're far too, well, positive! Sure, they're being judged by a different standard, but few fans of the genre find that much redeeming in the Langella "Dracula", which is here given four bones!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars MORE VAMPIRIC MISH-MASH FROM MELTON, July 13, 2000

By 

Daniel Cziraky (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Videohound's Vampires on Video (Videohound (Series).) (Paperback)

Melton starts off the book with a major mistake! In his review of ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, he states Dracula (Bela Lugosi) is killed by sunlight! DUH! Hey, WATCH THE MOVIE! Dracula is killed by the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.), as they both plunge off a balcony into the sea, Dracula (as a bat) clutched in the Wolf Man's claws. This just goes to show how sloppily researched and error-laden ALL of Melton's vampire books are. Buyers beware -- you can't trust the information in these books!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST FOR VAMPIRE MOVIE FANS, November 11, 1998

By 

Hilde H. Helseth "norseembla" (Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Videohound's Vampires on Video (Videohound (Series).) (Paperback)

I love vampire and other horror films, and each time I come across a vampire film I check it out in this book. I've also found lots of films that I going to buy, if I can find them.