Book Review: THE MONSTER SHOW: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF HORROR by David J. Skal

Writer David J. Skal is one of the best writers that the horror genre has.  His books Hollywood Gothic and V is for Vampire are some of the best books out there.  His book The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror is one of the very best on horror’s significance to film culture and our understanding of the horror genre. 

Although this book is mainly concerned with classic horror cinema and its significance to film and culture, readers of all generations can appreciate the depth to which Skal has gone to show his love and appreciation of classic cinema (so that others can as well).  His chapters “Tod Browning’s America” and “Dread And Circuses” take a look at some of the horror genre’s more misinterpreted moments in history, whereas his chapter “’I Used to Know Your Daddy’: The Horrors of War, Part Two” delve into the war’s effect on the genre and what audiences were interested in.  He also delves into drive-in culture (“Drive-Ins Are a Ghoul’s Best Friend: Horror in the Fifties”) and even the phenomena that is Stephen King (“The Dance of Dearth”).  Skal leaves no stone unturned as he delves into some film, moment, or incident that helped defined that time in history and culture and how it affected the films being made and the people’s tastes.

The great thing about Skal’s writing is that he is very detailed with his research and writing but he has a great way of presenting his “academic” material for the regular reader.  He may at times touch upon things that other writers already has but in this book he not only touches upon each moment or decade in history but also lets you look at the whole picture in order to understand and comprehend just how important the horror genre has had an effect on our culture.  The horror genre is more than just scares and monsters and horrifying stories; it’s a way in which people’s fears and anxieties are reflected back at them in a safe manner.  Skal’s book takes a hard look at this and he succeeds in spades.

Book Review: AUDITION by Ryu Murakami

When the title “Audition” is mentioned the first thing that usually comes to mind is the acclaimed cult film from director Takashi Miike.  You are forgiven if you did not know that Miike’s film is based on the popular novel by Ryu Murakami.  Murakami is the author of several renowned novels such as Almost Transparent Blue and In the Miso Soup, to name a few.  With the success of the film version of Audition, Murakami’s novels were translated into even more languages and his popularity has grown even here in the US. 

In Audition, Murakami decides to tell the entire story from the point of view of Aoyama, a lonely widow who decides that it is finally time to enter back into the dating game in hopes of finding a new wife.  With his best friend Yoshikawa, he hatches a scheme to find a new wife by conducting a series of auditions for a fake film that he and his company never plan on ever making.  It is through these auditions that Aoyama becomes infatuated with a timid young actress by the name of Yamasaki Asami, a former ballerina with a mysterious past.  Aoyama begins to draw closer to Asami as he realizes that they have more in common than he originally thought leading him down a path of ecstasy that leaves him blind to all of Yoshikawa and his son Shige’s warning about a woman with too many questions without answers.

Aoyama slowly delves into a relationship that threatens to unravel should he learn too much about Asami’s mysterious past and Asami is not a woman to be taken lightly as she has ulterior motives that may run contrary to Aoyama’s.

Those looking for the quirky atmosphere and impending dread of Miike’s film will be disappointed as since Murakami’s novel is told from only Murakami’s perspective you only see events unfold as he witnesses them.  This actually works in favor for Murakami’s story as the reader is just as anxious for Asami to return to the story as he is and like Aoyama, we know that there is a slight mysterious allure to Asami but it doesn’t override the story until those final moments which pack just about as much punch as the film does (although in a slightly different manner).

Murakami is very adept at creating mood and atmosphere which Audition is very much filled with which is why his work is so popular and well regarded.  He is an author worth taking a look at.

Book Review: CLIVE BARKER’S NIGHTBREED CHRONICLES

Monsters are nothing new to cinema but when writer/director Clive Barker concocted his twisted fantasy about the creatures and monsters of Midian in his second feature Nightbreed  audiences would experience a whole new world of the fantastic like never before seen.  In the book Clive Barker’s Nightbreed Chronicles Barker and co-authors Murray Close (photographer) and Stephen Jones (editor) have brought the monsters from the film into the pages of this book where the reader gets to know a little bit about all the characters of the film many of which were only glimpsed at in the theatrical version (as it has become public knowledge that there was much of the film left on the cutting room floor). 

A brief look at the film Nightbreed in which a race of monsters, known as the Breed, who have lived in secret for centuries find their lives uprooted when a stranger by the name of Boone (played by Craig Sheffer) finds his way to their sanctuary called Midian.  His presence in Midian disrupts the lives of the Breed and threatens their very existence when the local police catch wind of them hiding out and decide to destroy each and every one of them.  Now Boone must decide how he can help The Breed whose lives he has put in jeopardy while also trying to maintain a life with his girlfriend who is not part of The Breed.

There are many art books out there from Clive Barker showcasing his artwork and paintings but this is one of the few showcasing his work in film especially in terms of the creatures that populate the film and give a purpose to the background of the characters which is either lacking in the film or unnecessary (especially in terms of all the background characters in the film that are touched upon in this book).    Barker gives a brief Introduction to the book before getting into what the fans or the film and the readers of the book really want which is more info on the monsters.

Barker gives a brief background to the creatures of Midian in many cases explaining how they came to find themselves in this world.  This is the most interesting part of the book since Barker is known for populating the worlds of his books with many characters from many different backgrounds and this film is no different.  Close provides a plethora of photos of each of the monsters in the book both production stills from the film and photos crafted specifically for the book so there is plenty here that has not been seen in other books or publication.  Overall, fans of Barker’s will want to add this book to their collection like so many of his other great books.

Book Review: CLIVE BARKER’S NIGHTBREED: THE MAKING OF THE FILM

For those wanting to know more about the debacle of what became of author and director Clive Barker’s infamous film Nightbreed then look no further than his book Clive Barker’s Nightbreed: The Making of the Film which he wrote the Forward for and contains the screenplay within.  Nightbreed, being Barker’s second feature film and one with a significant budget increase, the final version of this film was hampered by Studio politics.  In Barker’s Forward he hints at some of this but more importantly he wants audiences to step into the world that he has created and sympathize with the monsters of Midian.  The book contains what appears to be the script for the final theatrical version of the film rather than Barker’s complete original screenplay as it indicates places where scenes were cut or missing (but there is no differentiation from scenes cut from the final version of the film verses those never filmed). 

An Introduction by Mark Salisbury and John Gilbert allows some of the stars of the film to give their take on the experience of making the film.  This allows readers an inside look at the making of the film (especially before reading the screenplay).  Not only does the book contain the screenplay but there is a plethora of production stills and behind the scenes stills as well as stills of the cast & crew just chilling on the set and having a good time.  At over 230 pages the book has a wealth of added bonus to the reader.

The book will be a great addition for any Barker or Nightbreed fan whereas the book is just a curiosity for all others especially those who find reading the screenplay to a film a tad boring but this being said there are a lot of pictures contained within that you will not have seen anywhere else.    Barker also spreads much of his artwork for the film throughout its pages so it can also be seen as another one of his art books so there is a lot to be said for this book.

Book Review: KILLING FOR CULTURE by David Kerekes & David Slater

There will be few people that will pick up the book Killing For Culture: An Illustrated History of Death Film From Mondo to Snuff with other than complete distaste and disgust because of its subject matter.  It is, in fact, a book dedicated to the death film and culture as depicted in mondo and snuff films.  The book is written by David Kerekes and David Slater and it leaves no stone unturned when describing the history and influence of mondo and snuff films on culture and the film industry as a whole.

Originally the mondo film was a collection of realistic and horrifying incidents caught on film and showcased for the enjoyment of an audience.  Snuff films were films that depicted the real torture and killing of innocent people for the enjoyment of an audience.  The rise of the mondo film can be seen in such classic hardcore films as The Last House on the Left (1972) and Peeping Tom (1960) when audiences began to experience violence in a different way.  These led filmmakers to believe that if fake violence could draw in an audience then so could real life violence and atrocities.  This gave rise to films such as Faces of Death (1978) and Mondo Cane (1972) and Mondo Bizarro (1966), all well as a plethora of others.  This book outlines the rise and fall of the mondo and snuff films starting with the influence of those early films to the oversaturation of these films in the marketplace up until the video boom (in which these films thrived when they could no longer command an audience at the underground and drive-in theaters).

The real treat of the book whether you are interested in these types of films or not is the fact that Kerekes & Slater do an amazing job presenting the films and facts in chronological order and how they affected the film industry and genre as a whole.  The book doesn’t dwell on the contents of each of the films but does give an overview of each of the films to help illustrate the market for such films especially during its downfall when most of the films comprised of recreated material instead of actual real footage.  There is nothing that is sacred in mondo film as not only violence but sex, racial discrimination, and other atrocities become cannon fodder.

This book is presented as a historical reference for the genre and doesn’t glorify any of the films or filmmakers mentioned because unlike the films themselves this book tries to present “just the facts.”  The chapters on snuff films are rather light considering that officially no authority has ever recovered an authentic snuff film, but just simulated snuff films.  This does not deter the fact that there is an audience out there for snuff films to begin with which just delves into the darker recesses of humanity.

This book is an intelligent read but the subject matter may only be for the film historian and analysts and not the casual movie goers.