English Gothic (Hardcover)

The British horror film is almost as old as cinema itself. From its 19th-century beginnings to the present day, this expanded and updated history of the rise and fall of the genre encompasses the lost films of the silent era, the Karloff and Lugosi chillers of the 1930s, the lurid Hammer classics, and the explicit shockers of the 1970s. Jonathan Rigby applies his incisive scrutiny to a selection of 100 crucial movies from the genre's boom period--1954 to 1975--before considering more recent titles such as "Shaun of the Dead." Filled with film posters, stills, and behind-the-scenes shots, this entertaining and revealing study sheds new light on British cinema's most successful--and most misunderstood--export.