BEYOND THE DARKNESS: Cult, Horror, and Extreme Cinema

But I have noted recently that your serious novels also seem, often, to be engaged in documenting the various forms of unhappiness human beings can cause each other - examples from recent novels read: This fits into a larger point. I think there has been a very pervasive artistic attitude, starting with Modernism in the late 19th century, to try to be more honest in all the arts, and especially in the narrative arts like novels, plays and movies. So much of human life was unprintable and unfilmable for decades. It forced writers and directors to lie about the nature of, for instance, violence, such as, that a single bullet kills a person clean as a whistle with no blood, like in Western movies, until Sam Peckinpah came along.

Emile Zola tried to be more honest in his novels but often toppled over into melodrama, which is another form of unreality. Upton Sinclair tried to show what happened really in one particular industry, Norman Mailer tried to show the actuality of World War II in Naked and the Dead and they made him modify the soldiers' language — Tallulah Bankhead: So you're Norman Mailer?

You're the young man who can't spell fuck? And we see what trouble a writer like James Joyce got into — for decades - when he put ordinary human activities into Ulysses — going to the toilet, masturbation, menstruation, nose picking! All considered profoundly offensive and worthy of censorship. The censors, up until the middle of last century, were united in saying that yes, all humans experience various bodily functions all the time but we must never talk about them between ourselves.

It's very interesting to note that sometimes it was the actual footage of actual ordinary events which got some horror films banned. In Cannibal Holocaust a couple of animals are slaughtered for real. In Men behind the Sun , real autopsy footage in used in one scene. In one of Nick Zedd's movies, an actual burns victim who was a friend of a cast member was used as an actor — this got the audience reeling.

Autopsies and slaughterhouses and burns victims are ordinary. But if you drag them into the spotlight and film them, they're extraordinary, just like Molly Bloom's thoughts.

These days, novelists revisit earlier periods of history and put in what the contemporary novelists were forced to leave out, such as The Crimson Petal and the White , or Sacred Hunger. And now a word from our sponsors: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of Mankind is Man.

Beyond the Darkness: Cult, Horror, and Extreme Cinema

He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest, In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast; In doubt his Mind or Body to prefer, Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err; Alike in ignorance, his reason such, Whether he thinks too little, or too much: Chaos of Thought and Passion, all confus'd; Still by himself abus'd, or disabus'd; Created half to rise, and half to fall; Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all; Sole judge of Truth, in endless error hurl'd: The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

So some might say that movies like Murder Set Pieces are the more-realistic depiction of what actual serial killers do and we shouldn't be sanitising this stuff like in most s-k stories. Well, of course, I would never wish to hinder the pursuit of self-knowledge. But there's this whole other thing going on — the gorehound's gleeful relish of cruelty. Sometimes the horror, the gruesomeness and the sleaze is reason enough to watch these films, and there is nothing wrong with that.

I've noticed that my dismay at the apparent female self-hatred displayed in Story of O, Topping from Below, and A Whiter Shade of BDSM in which women actively participate in men's desire to inflict pain on them, brings out my worst censorious attitudes, and I'm sure watching a few of the movies Phil Russell reviews in this book would have the same effect. I think everyone should see a couple of "transgressive" movies, to get the drift of what we're dealing with here. And they're not all the same kind of thing — Martyrs is not the same kind of thing as Tumbling Doll of Flesh Japan, — "none of the special effects are remotely convincing" says Phil or Lolita Vibrator Torture Japan, — "this wretched piece of celluloid crosses some serious boundaries" - that's Phil talking!

But these gorehounds, they watch hundreds. It makes me wonder if it isn't just sadism. Yeah, we're sadists — why shouldn't our tastes be indulged too? Outrageous fun from start to finish…Kenichi Endo is superb as the out-of-control rapist; the scene where he deflowers and tortures a first-time whore is dark, misogynistic, and funny as hell! What's wrong with that? View all 14 comments.

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Enthusiastic writing, covering many favourites - and I picked up quite a few film tips from the darker side of cinema. Jul 28, Zarb rated it really liked it. The fact of the matter is there will only ever be two kinds of books written about this topic. The first will be written by a young academic keen to explore virgin territory and get published, while the second will be written by a fan. Who else would bother treading into territory such as this? Books by fans can obviously be littered with bad grammar and poorly structured opinions, but they can also be filled with enthusiasm and the kinds of fascinating titbits that only accrue in the mind of th The fact of the matter is there will only ever be two kinds of books written about this topic.

Books by fans can obviously be littered with bad grammar and poorly structured opinions, but they can also be filled with enthusiasm and the kinds of fascinating titbits that only accrue in the mind of the enthusiast over many years. I think this book is mostly in the latter camp and overall it's a great little read that spans across the various extreme sub genres evenly. The format reflects the books blog origins, each "chapter" containing a synopsis of a single film, along with a bit of context and a smattering of facts and observations. The extra chapters on topics such as censorship, film theory and cultural context are perhaps weaker and generic, but I'm fine with that because they only comprise a tiny fraction of this book and we always have those somnambulistic academic texts when we desire that sort of thing.

Sep 17, Daniel DeLappe rated it it was amazing. Hope it is updated one day.

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Great finds to watch in future. Apr 30, Pearce added it. It took me a long time to get through this book, as I kept dipping in and out of it. The writer is a knowledgeable and enthusiastic fan of extreme horror with a lot to say, but he's at best a mediocre writer and could really use an editor - or at least a proof reader. Typographical errors, spelling mistakes and missing punctuation are rife. It's not punk rock, it's just sloppy. The writer's attempts at deep thought are also quite uninteresting.

He usually seems more interested in defending our be It took me a long time to get through this book, as I kept dipping in and out of it.

Beyond the Darkness: Cult, Horror, and Extreme Cinema - Phil Rusell - Google Книги

He usually seems more interested in defending our beloved genre from the censorious than in looking into trends, subtext and the way the genre has been shaped often unconsciously by social pressures. I personally think that horror movies are most interesting because they ask the question, "What are people afraid of here and now? The section on horror movies in the twilight of Franco's Spain was also interesting to me, as I did not know that high-brow art movie directors had been camouflaging their political statements in horror movies.

It's cheap though, at least in ebook format, and if you yearn for the days when Chas Balun's columns passed for decent genre commentary you might find Phil Russell's tome nostalgic.

Mar 14, Jeremiah rated it it was ok. A little too much fanboy-ish for my tastes, it nevertheless covers a pretty wide swath of extreme cinema. I was surprised at the inclusion of many movies that I consider quite mainstream. There are some uninteresting entries that the author rambles and rambles on but still others that I am super interested in only to see them given a page or two only. It's too bad there weren't more interviews and maybe more research into the context of some of these movies.

Still, it was okay, and if nothing el A little too much fanboy-ish for my tastes, it nevertheless covers a pretty wide swath of extreme cinema. Still, it was okay, and if nothing else you can learn about some new movies to seek out. And helpfully he mentions the names of the companies that have recently released some of these obscure movies Why Shop With Us? Customer Support We answer within 48 hours!

Cult,Horror and Extreme Cinema. Paperback The author of this book is an independent author. Description "Fans of hardcore horror would fair well with this compendium" - Horrornews. Along with plot synopsis, analysis, and background on the directors and actors, there are also details on censorship and the controversy sparked. Everything from big budget mainstream films to arthouse oddities and obscurities and underground flicks are covered.

With more than films covered it's a must-read for anyone interested in the darkside of cinema. You may also like: Horror off the screen An Introduction to the Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Authenticity Shipping Payment Returns Support Authenticity All the books, movies and music discs sold in our store are authentic. Shipping We offer combined postage for additional items at no extra charge.

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