Creeping Flesh

Taking its cue from the horror film fanzines of yesteryear... Horror and fantasy cinema from around the world with a distinctive retro sensibility, Creeping Flesh focuses on obscure and vilified horror movies, the discovery of "lost" films, BBC telefantasy, and an appreciation of American and British exploitation. Book jacket.

From their first pairing in Hamlet (1948) to House of the Long Shadows (1983), British film stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing forged perhaps the most successful collaboration in horror film history. In its revised and expanded second edition, this volume examines their 22 movie team-ups, with critical commentary, complete cast and credits, production information, details on cinematography and make-up, exhibition history and box-office figures. A wealth of background about Hammer, Amicus and other production companies is provided, along with more than 100 illustrations. Lee and Cushing describe particulars of their partnership in original interviews. Exclusive interviews with Robert Bloch, Hazel Court and nearly fifty other actors, directors and others who worked on the Lee-Cushing films are included.

The seventies were a decade of groundbreaking horror films: The Exorcist, Carrie, and Halloween were three. This detailed filmography covers these and 225 more. Section One provides an introduction and a brief history of the decade. Beginning with 1970 and proceeding chronologically by year of its release in the United States, Section Two offers an entry for each film. Each entry includes several categories of information: Critical Reception (sampling both '70s and later reviews), Cast and Credits, P.O.V., (quoting a person pertinent to that film's production), Synopsis (summarizing the film's story), Commentary (analyzing the film from Muir's perspective), Legacy (noting the rank of especially worthy '70s films in the horror pantheon of decades following). Section Three contains a conclusion and these five appendices: horror film cliches of the 1970s, frequently appearing performers, memorable movie ads, recommended films that illustrate how 1970s horror films continue to impact the industry, and the 15 best genre films of the decade as chosen by Muir.

IN THE SPOOKLIGHT is a collection of 115 horror movie review columns by Stoker nominated author and film critic Michael Arruda, covering movies from the silent era up until today. The column "In the Spooklight" has appeared monthly in the pages of THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE HORROR WRITERS ASSOCIATION since the summer of 2000. If you love horror movies, you're sure to enjoy Arruda's take on the genre. It's informative, humorous, and most of all, it's a heck of a lot of fun. Make a movie monster happy.

When Sir Christopher Lee passed away at the age of 93 in 2015, it was truly the end of an era. He was the last of the great horror stars. This book is a comprehensive overview of Lee's work in the horror genre, including movies, books, audio recordings and video games. As well as providing in-depth production histories and critical analysis, new interviews have been conducted with Lee's co-workers (some of them speaking here for the first time), which shed fresh light upon the man and his work. Few actors spanned the generations with more lasting appeal than Christopher Lee. From his ventures with Hammer-whose swift gradation of flesh and blood into a staid 1950s cinema broke new ground-to his work, in the next century, on Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and numerous interactive formats, Lee was constantly abreast of advancements in his industry. Consequently, this book can be read not only as an alternative history of the Horror Film, but also of the myriad developments within cinema itself.

The leading journal devoted to all aspects of popular culture and cult media, Headpress 25 turns its attention to the Dream, or Flicker, Machine. Featuring interviews with William Burroughs and Paul Bowles, Headpress 25 also includes a detailed look at the neglected life and career of the late Luis de Jesus, a star of diminutive stature whose film appearances range from sadistic sidekick in the cult 1976 feature Blood Sucking Freaks, to numerous hardcore porn features, of which the most notorious is The Anal Dwarf.

The career of Christopher Lee has stretched over half a century in every sort of film from comedy to horror and in such diverse roles as the Man With the Golden Gun, Frankenstein's monster, Fu Manchu and Sherlock Holmes. From Corridor of Mirrors in 1948 to Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones in 2002, this reference book covers 166 theatrical feature films: all production information, full cast and crew credits, a synopsis, and a critical analysis, with a detailed account of its making and commentary drawn from some thirty hours of interviews with Lee himself. Two appendices list Lee's television feature films and miniseries and his short films. The work concludes with an afterword by Christopher Lee himself. Photographs from the actor's private collection are included.

A social history of the ‘video nasty’. In the early 1980s, video technology forever changed the face of home entertainment. The videocassette – a handy-sized cartridge of magnetic tape inside a plastic shell – domesticated cinema as families across Britain began to consume films in an entirely new way. Demand was high and the result was a video gold rush, with video rental outlets appearing on every high street almost overnight. Without moderation their shelves filled with all manner of films depicting unbridled sex and violence. A backlash was inevitable. Video was soon perceived as a threat to society, a view neatly summed up in the term ‘video nasties’. CANNIBAL ERROR chronicles the phenomenal rise of video culture through a tumultuous decade, its impact and its aftermath. Based on extensive research and interviews, the authors provide a first-hand account of Britain in the 1980s, when video became a scapegoat for a variety of social ills. It examines the confusion spawned by the Video Recordings Act 1984, the subsequent witch hunt that culminated in police raids and arrests, and offers insightful commentary on many contentious and ‘banned’ films that were cited by the media as influential factors in several murder cases. It also investigates the cottage industry in illicit films that developed as a direct result of the ‘video nasty’ clampdown. CANNIBAL ERROR, a revised and reworked edition of SEE NO EVIL (2000), is an exhaustive and startling overview of Britain’s ‘video nasty’ panic, the ramifications of which are still felt today.