Film: styles and genres Books

Book SynopsisExamines how Tom Cruise's star image moves across genres and forms as a type of commercial product that offers viewers certain pleasures and expectations. Cruise reads as an action hero and romantic lead yet finds himself in homoerotic and homosocial relationships that unsettle and undermine these heterosexual scripts.

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Book SynopsisPresenting a social history of British crime film, this book focuses on the strategies used in order to address more radical notions surrounding class, politics, sex, delinquency, violence and censorship. Spanning post-war crime cinema to present-day "Mockney" productions, it contextualizes the films and identifies important and neglected works.Trade Review'In this excellent book on the British crime movie, a follow-up to his valuable studies of English-language and Scandinavian crime fiction, Forshaw interrogates the usual suspects, discovers many neglected pictures, and places them all in a larger social context. It's a work to read for pleasure and instruction, and then to keep on the reference shelf.' - Philip French, The Observer 'Crime fiction in films and literature is my meat. So Barry Forshaw's terrific book not only rekindled memories of films seen but provided clues to others yet to be revelled in. This rave has nothing to do with getting an honourable mention.' - Mike Hodges, Director, Get Carter 'An incredible work; so thorough, so informed and at the same time so very readable and entertaining.' - Peter James, Chair, Crime Writers' Association 'This book provides a much-needed shot in the arm for writing on British crime film. The colourful case-studies draw out the political complexities of this stalwart genre, opening up the films in insightful and often revisionary readings. Calling upon his compendious knowledge of the subject and injecting wit into his precise prose, Forshaw reinvigorates the field.' - Steven Peacock, Reader in Film and Television Aesthetics, Programme Coordinator MA Film and Television Aesthetics, University of Hertfordshire, UK 'Barry Forshaw has penetrated the locked-room mystery of the British crime film and brought it to book ... the verdict is "outstanding".' - Kim Newman, Author, Nightmare Movies 'Destined to become an essential volume on any self-respecting cinephile's bookshelf. Forshaw is bang-on about the British crime films you already know, but (even more importantly) makes you eager to track down and watch the lesser-known gems you haven't seen.' - Anne Billson, The GuardianTable of ContentsA Social History of the Crime Film The Age of Austerity: Post-war Crime Movies Class and Crime: Social Divisions Between Left and Right: Politics and Individuals Heritage Britain Shame of a Nation: Juvenile Delinquents and Exploitation The New Violence: The Loss of Innocence Scourging the Unacceptable: Censorship Battles Metropolitan Murder: London The Regions Breaking Taboos: Sex and the Crime Film Corporate Crime: Curtains for the Maverick Mockney Menace: The New Wave The Age of Acquisition: New Crime 21st Century Hybrids The Directors: Makers of Key Crime Films APPENDIX 1: The Directors: Makers of Key Crime Films APPENDIX 2: TV Crime APPENDIX 3: Crime and Espionage APPENDIX 4: Films, TV and Books Index

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Book SynopsisMaternal Horror Film: Melodrama and Motherhood examines the function of the mother figure in horror film. Using psychoanalytic film theory as well as comparisons with the melodrama film, Arnold investigates the polarized images of monstrous and sacrificing mother.Trade Review"Arnold draws upon a wide scope of theoretical writing in psychoanalysis and film studies to explore the parallels between the mother's position in horror and melodrama, while also investigating the differences between Western and Japanese psychological analyses of the mother-child bond through a series of close readings of 'transnational' films. The book will make a vital contribution to both women's and film studies." - Lucy Fischer, University of Pittsburgh, USATable of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Good Mother 2. The Bad Mother 3. A Comparative Analysis of Motherhood in Recent Japanese and US Horror Films 4. Pregnancy in the Horror Film Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe digital broadcasting of performances to cinemas, or 'livecasting', burst onto the world scene in 2006. This book explores the reasons for its rise, examines the aesthetics of filming theatre and opera performances, and explores who the audiences are and what they want.Trade Review'A welcome addition to what the author correctly argues is a small body of existing work. This one has the distinct advantage of offering the reader both an excellent empirical perspective and a keen sense of the critical issues underpinning development.' - Stuart Hanson, De Montfort University, UK 'Barker's analysis deftly explores the difference between a staged presentation and the manner in which this is translated into a live video feed, as well as the cultural influences that such "livecasting" has on audiences. The book is short but insightful, part of the new Palgrave Pivot series of brief books that tackle key topics with brevity and style, published in hardcover at a reasonable price and also available as a digital download. Live to Your Local Cinema demonstrates how live video broadcasting has democratized culture for the masses, making hitherto elite, often unaffordable spectacles available to all.' - W. W. Dixon, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Choice (August 2013) 'Live to Your Local Cinema provides an excellent overview of the history of live broadcast and is also a valuable resource for cinema exhibitors wishing to develop their relationship and engagement with this quite different audience for the growing number and range of Alternative Content on offer. Since reading Live to Your Local Cinema we've put in place a number of changes that I know that those who chose, for whatever reason, to experience their 'high culture' on screen in the cinema will appreciate. It seems that the livecast is here to stay and as the first book to make Alternative Content its main focus, we look forward to Martin's questions in the final chapter being answered and the debate around 'liveness' continuing.' - Jaki McDougall, CEO, Glasgow Film: GFT and Glasgow Film FestivalTable of ContentsThe Success-Story With No Name The Aesthetics of Livecasting A Portrait of Livecasts' Audiences The Many Meanings of 'Liveness' Livecasts' Audiences Talk about 'Liveness' The Cultural Status of Livecasts The Next Research Tasks? Bibliography

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Book SynopsisBarry Forshaw celebrates with enthusiasm the British horror film and its fascination for macabre cinema. A definitive study of the genre, British Gothic Cinema discusses the flowering of the field, with every key film discussed from its beginnings in the 1940s through to the 21st century.Trade Review'As always, Barry Forshaw brings his knowledge, intelligence and, above all else, passion to a volume that expertly offers fresh insights into an often neglected sub-genre of British cinema.' - Stephen Jones, award-winning horror writer and editor 'Once again, Forshaw gets under the skin of a topic, revealing new layers of underappreciated and well-known works. The writing is accessible and informed, dripping with detail, drawing on often surprising, striking and illuminating literary comparisons. At last, through Forshaw's critical insight, British Gothic cinema is brilliantly re-animated.' - Dr Steven Peacock, Reader in Film and Television Aesthetics, University of Hertfordshire, UK 'An invaluable overview of the Gothic tendency in British cinema, full of fresh perceptions and quirky insights that draw on Barry Forshaw's considerable cultural range.' - Ramsey Campbell, writer (The Grin of the Dark), film critic and editor 'This unapologetic assessment of homegrown screen Gothic celebrates with not only suitably pugnacious writing but the necessary affection for the dark and vivid made flesh. As perceptive and entertaining as it is exhaustive, Barry Forshaw's study marries erudition with a genre fan's obvious relish, and leaves no coffin lid unturned, no bosom unheaved.' - Stephen Volk, screenwriter (Ghostwatch, The Awakening, Gothic) 'A red-blooded history of British horror film, hats off to Barry Forshaw, who in British Gothic Cinema describes what we are in fact best at which is circuses of horrors, houses that dripped blood, and beasts in cellars.' - The Times 'A celebration of the UK's horror film industry out in time for Halloween. Forshaw traces the genre from the Forties through such films as Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, Witchfinder General, 28 Days Later and Kill List. Vampires, werewolves and spectres abound. And of course there's the rise of the Hammer Studios from the coffin of obscurity.' - Daily Express 'British Gothic Cinema is well-informed and breezy, mapping the territory from the literary origins of the Gothic inventions most beloved of cinema, Dracula and Frankenstein, to the present day resurgence.' Splice 7.1 (2014)Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Gothic Fiction: English Terror and Carnality 2. Through American Eyes: Stoker and Shelley in US Cinema 3. Undermining British Cinema: Gothic Horror in the 1930 and 1940s, Censorship 4. Bloody Revolution: The Worldwide Impact of Hammer's Cottage Industry 5. Beyond the Aristocracy 6. The Sexual Impulse 7. The Rivals: On Hammer's Coat-tails 8. Nights of the Demon: The English Supernatural Story and Film 9. One-shots and Short Runs: The Black Sheep of Gothic Cinema 10. Fresh Blood, Exhaustion: The 1970s to the Turn of the Century 11. The Legacy: Gothic Influence on Television 12. The Modern Age: Horror Redux Appendix: Interviews

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Book Synopsis1. Introduction.- 2. Lord Dunsany: The Conquering Hours.- 3. E. R. Eddison: Bearing Witness to the Eternal.- 4. J. R. R. Tolkien: More than Memory.Trade Review“This is an important study of two critically undersubscribed authors and an impressive look at a third who benefits from reconsideration in relation to them. It is not the last word on any of its subject texts, but it serves as a robust contribution to a weighty, potentially inexhaustible debate.” (JosephYoung, Gramarye, Issue 19, 2021)“Fantasies of Time and Death makes us hungry to return to the primary worlds it discusses.” (Sarah R.A. Waters, Mythlore, Vol. 39 (2), 2021)“One of the greatest strengths of this study overall is Vaninskaya’s extensive familiarity with the work of each author … . The volume is particularly well suited as a reference for readers who are already well-versed in the works of one or more of these three authors. … Overall, it is a thorough and thoughtful work which will be of value for studies of all three authors.” (Holly Ordway, Journal of Inklings Studies, Vol. 10 (1), October, 2020)“Vaninskaya’s attentive, detailed, and well-supported claims, which remain strong through the entirety of the text, will likely be a welcome addition to the shelves of academics interested in the subjects of time and death or these authors, as well as libraries looking to expand their selection of volumes on the same.” (R. J. Murphy, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, Vol. 31 (3), 2020)Table of Contents1. Introduction.- 2. Lord Dunsany: The Conquering Hours.- 3. E. R. Eddison: Bearing Witness to the Eternal.- 4. J. R. R. Tolkien: More than Memory.

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Book Synopsis1. Introduction: Six Theses on Plant Horror; or, Why Are Plants Horrifying?.Dawn Keetley.-2. The Pre-cosmic Squiggle: Tendril Excesses in Early Modern Art and Science Fiction Cinema.Agnes Scherer.-3. Seeds of Horror: Dominance and Sacrifice in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Wicker Man, and Children of the Corn.Angela Tenga.-4. The Mandrake's Lethal Cry: Homuncular Plants in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.Keridiana W. Chez.-5. Green Hells: Monstrous Vegetations in Twentieth-Century Representations of Amazonia.Camilo Jaramillo.-6. What We Think about When We Think about Triffids: The Monstrous Vegetal in Post-War British Science Fiction.Graham J. Matthews.-7. The Revenge of the Lawn: The Awful Agency of Uncontained Plant Life in Ward Moore's Greener Than You Think and Thomas Disch's The Genocides.Jill E. Anderson.-8. Vegetable Discourses in 1950s US Science Fiction Film.Adam Knee.-9. Sartre and the Roots of Plant HorrorRandy Laist.-10. WTable of Contents1. Introduction: Six Theses on Plant Horror; or, Why Are Plants Horrifying?.Dawn Keetley.-2. The Pre-cosmic Squiggle: Tendril Excesses in Early Modern Art and Science Fiction Cinema.Agnes Scherer.-3. Seeds of Horror: Dominance and Sacrifice in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Wicker Man, and Children of the Corn.Angela Tenga.-4. The Mandrake’s Lethal Cry: Homuncular Plants in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.Keridiana W. Chez.-5. Green Hells: Monstrous Vegetations in Twentieth-Century Representations of Amazonia.Camilo Jaramillo.-6. What We Think about When We Think about Triffids: The Monstrous Vegetal in Post-War British Science Fiction.Graham J. Matthews.-7. The Revenge of the Lawn: The Awful Agency of Uncontained Plant Life in Ward Moore’s Greener Than You Think and Thomas Disch’s The Genocides.Jill E. Anderson.-8. Vegetable Discourses in 1950s US Science Fiction Film.Adam Knee.-9. Sartre and the Roots of Plant HorrorRandy Laist.-10. What Do Plants Want?.Gary Farnell.-11. Monstrous Relationalities: The Horrors of Queer Eroticism and “Thingness” in Alan Moore and Stephen Bissette’s Swamp Thing.Robin Alex McDonald and Dan Vena.-12. “Just a Piece of Wood”: Jan Švankmajer’s Otesánek and the EcoGothic.Elizabeth Parker.-13. An Inscrutable Malice: The Silencing of Humanity in The Ruins and The Happening.Jericho Williams.-14. The Sense of the Monster Plant.Matthew Hall

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Book SynopsisHere for the first time is the incredible true story of the making of Chinatownthe Holy Grail of 1970s cinema.IN Sam Wasson's The Big Goodbye, the story of Chinatown becomes the defining story of the most colorful characters in the most colorful period of Hollywood history. Here is Jack Nicholson at the height of his powers, as compelling a movie star as there has ever been, embarking on his great, doomed love affair with Anjelica Huston. Here is director Roman Polanski, both predator and prey, haunted by the savage death of his wife, returning to Los Angeles, the scene of the crime, where the seeds of his own self-destruction are quickly planted. Here is the fevered dealmaking of The Kid Robert Evans, the most consummate of producers. Here too is Robert Towne's fabled script, widely considered the greatest original screenplay ever written. Wasson for the first time peels off layers of myth to provide the unvarnished account of its

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Book SynopsisHere, Darren Elliot-Smith examines how alternative sexualities have recently emerged from the shadows in horror films and television programmes, with directors and producers employing an overtly queer horror aesthetic that unequivocally references homosexuality. Elliot-Smith case studies consider many forms of the queer horror genre: independent exploitation films ( A Far Cry from Home ), slashers ( Hellbent ) and even the representation of contemporary gay zombies in LA Zombie . Elliott-Smith deviates from analyzing the monster as a symbol of heterosexual fear and focuses instead on queer anxieties within gay male subcultures. Furthermore, he examines key works to reveal gay men's concerns about their assimilation into Western culture, their continuing association with the feminine, and the perpetuation of gay shame.

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Book SynopsisThe Holocaust has been the focus of countless films in the United States, Great Britain, and Europe, and its treatment over the years has been the subject of considerable controversy. When finally permitted to portray the atrocities, filmmakers struggled with issues of fidelity to historical fact, depictions of graphic violence, and how to approach the complexities of the human condition on all sides of this horrific event. In Hollywood and the Holocaust, Henry Gonshak explores portrayals of the Holocaust from the World War II era to the present. In chapters devoted to films ranging from The Great Dictator to Inglourious Basterds, this volume looks at how these films have shaped perceptions of the Shoah. The author also questions if Hollywood, given its commercialism, is capable of conveying the Holocaust in ways that do justice to its historical trauma. Through a careful consideration of over twenty-five films across genresincluding Life Is Beautiful, Cabaret, The Reader, The Boys fTrade ReviewGonshak is responsible in debating his predecessor critics and eloquent in meditating on the ethical responsibilities of those who produce Hollywood films. Even though Gonshak is flexible in his aesthetics—comedy can work, historical accuracy is not necessarily required—most Hollywood films (which here include X-Men, 2000) do not have anything substantial to say about the Holocaust. Hollywood veers too often toward kitsch, and in his conclusion the author expresses the wish that Hollywood could learn from the more substantial Holocaust documentaries and fiction films produced in Europe. Insdorf discussed both Hollywood and European films, which ultimately makes for a more satisfying project. Yet Gonshak’s selection allows each film more depth, and he takes full advantage of this opportunity by staging one scrupulously crafted discussion after another. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE *Hollywood and the Holocaust offers an important look at Hollywood's ongoing representations of the Holocaust aimed at a general readership not usually addressed by volumes on this subject. * Dillon Tribune *By what standards should we judge films about the Holocaust? That’s the provocative question that hangs over Hollywood and the Holocaust by Henry Gonshak, an English professor at Montana Tech. In examining older films, Gonshak rightly puts them in the context of their times. . . . In joining the growing shelf of books on the subject of the Holocaust and movies, Gonshak offers some insights as to how far we’ve come. * The Jewish Advocate *

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Book SynopsisDan Torre is a lecturer in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He has written widely on animation, media and popular culture.Trade ReviewIn this book focusing on animation processes, Dan Torre makes a significant contribution to animation philosophy and theory. Its value is enhanced by the clarity of Torre's writing style, his useful references to animation history, and the applicability of his analysis to animated methods of all types. It should be of interest to not only theorists, but also practitioners seeking a deeper view of their art. * Maureen Furniss, Director of Experimental Animation, California Institute of the Arts, USA *Animation: Process, Cognition, and Actuality brilliantly applies pressure to the question of ‘how something became’ in order to track process in the inverse direction, to reconsider the initial conditions for animation. Torre’s tour de force lies in the discovery of a fundamental bifurcation between movement and form at the heart of the animation process, which enables a far-reaching discussion of a dazzling array of procedures of animating and forms of animation. Animation, after Torre, is neither illusion nor representation; it is experimentation and transformation of actuality. * Thomas Lamarre, Professor, East Asian Studies and Communication Studies, McGill University, Canada *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Note on Text Introduction Part One: Process and Animation 1. Processing Animation 2. Cycled and Recycled Animation Part Two: Cognition and Animation 3. Cognitive Animation Theory 4. Reading Animation Part Three: Animation and Actuality 5. Non-Fictional Animation and the Transformation of Actuality 6. Investigative Animation 7. Animating the Real World Conclusion Notes Bibliography Animation/Filmography/Other Media Index

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Book SynopsisLike many national cinemas, the French cinema has a rich tradition of film musicals beginning with the advent of sound to the present. This is the first book to chart the development of the French film musical. The French film musical is remarkable for its breadth and variety since the 1930s; although it flirts with the Hollywood musical in the 1930s and again in the 1950s, it has very distinctive forms rooted in the traditions of French chanson. Defining it broadly as films attracting audiences principally because of musical performances, often by well-known singers, Phil Powrie and Marie Cadalanu show how the genre absorbs two very different traditions with the advent of sound: European operetta and French chanson inflected by American jazz (1930-1950). As the genre matures, operetta develops into big-budget spectaculars with popular tenors, and revue films also showcase major singers in this period (1940-1960). Both sub-genres collapse with the advent of rock n roll, leading Trade ReviewPhil Powrie and Marie Cadalanu’s book categorically disproves the cliché about French cinema having no musical tradition, with the one exception of Jacques Demy. In this ground-breaking volume, the authors reveal the extraordinary wealth and diversity of the musical tradition in French cinema since the coming of sound. Encompassing popular and auteur film, they demonstrate that, if there is not one ‘musical genre’ in France, there are myriad ways in which French film interacts with a wide range of cultural traditions, from cabaret, music-hall, chanson réaliste, operetta and opera to jazz bands and pop music, in an unbroken line from René Clair to François Ozon and Christophe Honoré, via Josephine Baker, Charles Trenet, Edith Piaf and Johnny Hallyday. * Ginette Vincendeau, Professor in Film Studies, King’s College London, UK *Powrie and Cadalanu excavate the vibrant and varied tradition of the French film musical from the early sound musicals of René Clair to the recent nostalgia-inflected revival of the form. The authors illuminate the genre’s iconic performers, Edith Piaf and Josephine Baker, but weave fresh figures into the story, notably fou chantant Charles Trenet, crooners Tino Rossi, Luis Mariano, and Georges Guétary, and big band powerhouse Ray Ventura and his Orchestra. Especially welcome is the information on the French film musical’s production contexts from the 1930s through the 1950s, when the genre embraced jazz, big band, and operetta. The authors rightly identify the musicals of Jacques Demy as a turning point from popular to auteur-inflected work and provide welcome attention to the musicals of Godard, Varda, Akerman, and Resnais. Wisely avoiding the argument that the French film musical died with the birth of yéyé and youth culture, the authors instead reveal the never-ending transformation of the genre, emphasizing its nostalgia for community and its productive recycling of earlier forms of entertainment. * Kelley Conway, Communication Arts Partners Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA *Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. Multi-language Versions 3. The French Operetta 4. Pills and Tabet and the Marseille Operetta 5. Fréhel and Édith Piaf 6. Josephine Baker and Charles Trenet 7. The Classical Music Film 8. The Big Band Film 9. The Musical Sketch Film 10. Tino Rossi 11. George Guétary and Luis Mariano 12. D’où viens-tu Johnny? and the Transition to the Modern Musical 13. Jacques Demy and the New Wave 14. The Opera Film and the Modern Classical Music Film 15. The Modern Musical 16. Nostalgia 17. Conclusion Filmography References Index

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Book SynopsisTraversing the Fantasy: The Dialectic of Desire/Fantasy proposes a new and comprehensive model of spectatorship at the heart of which it draws an analogy between the ethics of Lacanian psychoanalysis and the ethics of narrative film. It demonstrates how spectators engage with narrative film, undergoing unconscious processes that generate a shift in the adherence to fantasies that impede assuming responsibility for one''s fate and well being. The authors discuss the affinities that the ontology and aesthetics of narrative film share with subjective, unconscious processes, offering new insights into the popular appeal of narrative film, through three film corpora, analyzed at length: body-character-breach films; dreaming-character films; and gender-crossing films. With a range of case studies from the old (Rebecca, Vertigo, Some Like it Hot) to the new (Being John Malkovich, A Fantastic Woman), Sandra Meiri and Odeya Kohen Raz build on psychoanalytic ideas about the Trade ReviewTraversing the Fantasy is an epochal engagement with the ethics of cinemagoing. By elaborating on the central role that fantasy has in the cinema, Sandra Meiri and Odeya Kohen-Raz make clear the ethical stakes in play every time we see a film. By taking fantasy as the starting point, they produce an ethical system that permits spectators how a given film asks them to relate to their own desire. The final result of Traversing the Fantasy is a psychoanalytic conception of cinema that allows us to completely reimagine what is at stake when we see a film. * Todd McGowan, Professor of Film, University of Vermont, USA *Traversing the Fantasy is the finest book on psychoanalysis and cinema I have read for many years. Meiri and Kohen-Raz propose a remarkable range of original arguments on the nature of cinematic desire. In doing so, they offer an engaging critique of the current orthodoxies of film theory. Of particular note is the authors’ championing of narrative cinema as generator of intersecting conflicts in which viewers engage with fantasy and desire in ways that are captivating, confronting, and potentially liberating. * Richard Rushton, Lancaster University, UK *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: Body-Character-Breach Films Chapter 1 – Desire, Fantasy, and the Ontology of Film Chapter 2 –Traversing the Fantasy: Body-Character-Breach Films Part II: Dreaming-Character Films Chapter 3 – Dreams in Films and Implicit Reflexivity Chapter 4 – Cinematography, Subjectivity, and Guilt Part III: Gender-Crossing Films Chapter 5 – This Gender That is Mine: Feminine Enjoyment and Self-Creation Chapter 6 – From “Inherent Transgression” to the Body as “Semiotc Chora" Appendix Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisIn 1896, Maxim Gorky declared cinema "the Kingdom of Shadows." In its silent, ashen-grey world, he saw a land of spectral, and ever since then cinema has had a special relationship with the haunted and the ghostly. Cinematic Ghosts is the first collection devoted to this subject, including fourteen new essays, dedicated to exploring the many permutations of the movies’ phantoms. Cinematic Ghosts contains essays revisiting some classic ghost films within the genres of horror (The Haunting, 1963), romance (Portrait of Jennie, 1948), comedy (Beetlejuice, 1988) and the art film (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, 2010), as well as essays dealing with a number of films from around the world, from Sweden to China. Cinematic Ghosts traces the archetype of the cinematic ghost from the silent era until today, offering analyses from a range of historical, aesthetic and theoretical dimensions.Trade ReviewThere is much to interest readers and the book will (dare I say it) leave them in good spirits ... A thoughtful and entertaining addition to any film or religion studies collection, whether for personal or professional purposes, at undergraduate or postgraduate level. * Alphaville *The stand out feature of this collection is the diagnostic links between the content of ghost films and the ghostly techniques through which they are shot, a level of connection that puts Leeder’s text a step ahead of other purely thematic approaches to ghosts and haunted cinema. Cinematic Ghosts is just as much about ghostly cinematics, adding appeal to scholars of film production and spectral narratives alike. * Gothic Studies *Cinema has always been a ghostly medium. Now we finally have a book that explores film’s relation to ghosts with the breadth and depth it deserves, moving deftly across historical periods, genre classifications, and national origins. This is a rich and varied collection that will haunt – in all the right ways – a broad range of readers, scholars, and students. * Adam Lowenstein, Associate Professor of English and Film Studies, University of Pittsburgh, USA, and author of Dreaming of Cinema: Spectatorship, Surrealism, and the Age of Digital Media *Ghosts have haunted film from its earliest years to the present day, as this volume admirably demonstrates. It is impressive for its chronological and geographical range, and for the consistent quality of the contributions. Breaking new ground in exploring the interlinked theoretical, cultural and national stakes of cinematic haunting, this invaluable collection is certain to be a standard reference point for all future work in the field. * Colin Davis, Research Chair in French, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, and author of Haunted Subjects: Deconstruction, Psychoanalysis and the Return of the Dead *Murray Leeder’s strongly focused collection adds another exhilarating twist to the spectral turn by providing a welcome opportunity to reflect on the enduring notion of cinema as a haunted/haunting medium. Asking where non-figurative cinematic ghosts have been and where they might be going, a series of engaging contributions systematically charts the changing narrative, visual and sonic modes of haunting from the silent era to the digital age. Throughout, Cinematic Ghosts shows great sensitivity to the ghost’s cultural and historical specificity and, in terms of the films discussed, effectively–and fittingly–combines the expected with the unexpected. * Esther Peeren, Associate Professor in Globalisation Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and co-editor of The Spectralities Reader *Whether you've accepted a dare to spend one night in a haunted house or just have an interest in ghosts on the silver screen, Murray Leeder's Cinematic Ghosts is essential reading. Ranging from the origins of cinematic ghosts in nineteenth-century phantasmagoria to twenty-first century "glitch gothic," and from classic Western hauntings such as the The Innocents to the Asian onryo, this broad and engaging collection of essays--the first such collection specifically on cinematic ghosts--offers a lively, much-needed analysis of the history and appeal of movie phantoms. International in scope and historicist in approach, Cinematic Ghosts brilliantly showcases the depth and richness of supernatural film and will haunt all subsequent approaches to the topic. Ghostbusters, step aside. Murray Leeder is now the one to call if there's something strange in your neighborhood! * Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, Professor of English, Central Michigan University, USA *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Murray Leeder, University of Calgary, Canada Ghosts of Pre-Cinema and Silent Cinema Chapter 1 Phantom Images and Modern Manifestations: Spirit Photography, Magic Theater, Trick Films and Photography’s Uncanny Tom Gunning, University of Chicago, USA Chapter 2 “Visualizing the Phantoms of the Imagination”: Projecting Haunted Minds Murray Leeder, University of Calgary, Canada Chapter 3 Specters of the Mind: Ghosts, Illusion, and Exposure in Paul Leni’s The Cat and the Canary Simone Natale, Humboldt University, Germany Chapter 4 Supernatural Speech: Silent Cinema's Stake in Visualizing the Impossible Robert Alford, University of California, Berkeley, USA Cinematic Ghosts from the 1940s through the 1980s Chapter 5 Bad Sync: Spectral Sound and Retro-effects in Portrait of Jennie René Thoreau Bruckner, University of Southern California, USA Chapter 6 “Antique Chiller”: Quality, Pretention and History in the Critical Reception of The Innocents and The Haunting Mark Jancovich, University of East Anglia, UK Chapter 7 Shadows of Shadows: The Undead in Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema Maurizio Cinquegrani, University of Kent, UK Chapter 8 Locating the Spectre in Dan Curtis’s Burnt Offerings Dara Downey, University College Dublin, Ireland Chapter 9 The Bawdy Body in Two Comedy Ghost Films: Topper and Beetlejuice Katherine A. Fowkes, High Point University, USA Millennial Ghosts Chapter 10 “I See Dead People”: Visualizing Ghosts in the Horror Film Before the Arrival of CGI Steffen Hantke, Sogang University, Korea Chapter 11 Spectral Remainders and Transcultural Hauntings: (Re)iterations of the Onryo in Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema Jay McRoy, University of Wisconsin – Parkside, USA Chapter 12 Painted Skin: Romance with the Ghostly Femme Fatale in Contemporary Chinese Cinema Li Zeng, Illinois State University, USA Chapter 13 “It’s Not the House that’s Haunted”: Demons, Debt and the Family in Peril in Recent Horror Cinema Bernice M. Murphy, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland Chapter 14 Glitch Gothic Marc Olivier, Brigham Young University, USA Chapter 15 Showing the Unknown: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano, Carleton University, Canada Afterword: Haunted Viewers Jeffrey Sconce, Northwestern University, USA

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