Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture: Horror Films and American CultureMovie audiences seem drawn, almost compelled, toward tales of the horrific and the repulsive. Partly because horror continues to evolve radically—every time the genre is deemed dead, it seems to come up with another twist—it has been one of the most often-dissected genres. Here, author Kendall Phillips selects ten of the most popular and influential horror films—including Dracula, Night of the Living Dead, Halloween, The Silence of the Lambs, and Scream, each of which has become a film landmark and spawned countless imitators, and all having implications that transcend their cinematic influence and achievement. By tracing the production history, contemporary audience response, and lasting cultural influence of each picture, Phillips offers a unique new approach to thinking about the popular attraction to horror films, and the ways in which they reflect both cultural and individual fears. Though stylistically and thematically very different, all of these movies have scared millions of eager moviegoers. This book tries to figure out why. |
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Contents
| 1 | |
1 Dracula 1931 | 11 |
2 The Thing from Another World 1951 | 35 |
3 Psycho 1960 | 61 |
4 Night of the Living Dead 1968 | 81 |
5 The Exorcist 1973 and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974 | 101 |
6 Halloween 1978 | 123 |
7 The Silence of the Lambs 1991 | 145 |
8 Scream 1996 | 163 |
9 The Sixth Sense 1999 | 181 |
Conclusion | 195 |
Notes | 199 |
| 215 | |
| 219 | |
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| Title | Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture: Horror Films and American Culture |
| Author | Kendall R. Phillips |
| Publisher | ABC-CLIO, 2005 |
| ISBN | 0313017964, 9780313017964 |
| Length | 240 pages |
| Subjects | › › Performing Arts / Film / General Social Science / Popular Culture |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |