Film: styles and genres

Famous for being deathly serious, the vampire genre has a consistent yet often critically overlooked subgenre--the comedic spoof and satire.

This book explores vampire narratives that have been expressed across multiple media and new technologies.

A chronological listing of the creative output and other antics of the members of the British comedy group Monty Python, both as a group and individually.

Few scary stories begin with a disclaimer that they are fictional.

The great American Westerns can be profoundly meaningful when read metaphorically.

Among the top-grossing Hollywood blockbusters of all time, Star Wars launched one of the most successful movie and licensing franchises in history.

During the 2010s, science fiction's immortal adversaries King Kong and Godzilla, representing our conflicts per Carl Sagan's "e;dream dragons"e; analogy, made comebacks in American cinema.

The Kaiju (strange monster or strange beast) film genre has a number of themes that go well beyond the "e;big monsters stomping on cities"e; motif.

The story of Star Trek's resurrection between the 1969 cancellation of the original series and the 1979 release of Robert Wise's Star Trek--The Motion Picture, has become legend and like so many other legends, it tends to get printed instead of the facts.

Much of 20th century science fiction foretold technological and social developments beyond the year 2000.

For millennia people have held folk beliefs about the existence of the doppelganger--"e;double walker"e; in German--a look-alike second self that is often the antithesis of one's identity and is usually considered an omen of misfortune or death.

Home, we are taught from childhood, is safe.

In recent decades, science fiction in both print and visual media has produced an outpouring of story lines that feature forms of simulated reality.

Twenty-first century American television series such as Revolution, Falling Skies, The Last Ship and The Walking Dead have depicted a variety of doomsday scenarios--nuclear cataclysm, rogue artificial intelligence, pandemic, alien invasion or zombie uprising.

What, exactly, makes us afraid?

"e;Wizard rock"e;--music based on the Harry Potter series by J.

Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend has spawned a series of iconic horror and science fiction films, including The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971) and I Am Legend (2007).

In sharp contrast to many 1960s science fiction films, with idealized views of space exploration, Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) terrified audiences, depicting a harrowing and doomed deep-space mission.

In 1944, Laird Cregar played Jack the Ripper in The Lodger, giving one of the most haunting performances in Hollywood history.

Controversial yet beloved among audiences, Christmas-themed horror movies emerged in the early 1970s and gained a notorious reputation with Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), depicting Santa as an ax-wielding maniac.

Directed by Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast, Birth) and starring Scarlett Johansson, the 2013 film Under the Skin contains elements of science fiction and fantasy, horror, mystery, and thriller.

He was Red Skelton's favorite director, and mentored Lucille Ball in the art of physical comedy.

Faith horror refers to a significant outcropping of mid-1960s and 1970s films and adaptative novels that depict non-Christian communities of evil doers and their activities.

The villain's journey is rare in popular culture--most characters are fully-formed tyrants with little to no story arc.

Set in the American Southwest, "e;desert terror"e; films combine elements from horror, film noir and road movies to tell stories of isolation and violence.

The original Star Wars trilogy famously follows Joseph Campbell's model for the hero's journey, making Luke Skywalker's story the new hero quest for a modern age.

Dark, dangerous and transgressive, Bram Stoker's Dracula is often read as Victorian society's absolute Other--an outsider who troubles and distracts those around him, one who represents the fears and anxieties of the age.

The media vampire has roots throughout the world, far beyond the shores of the usual Dracula-inspired Anglo-American archetypes.

The first of its kind, this guide to California filming sites covers five decades of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in chapter plays.

Hollywood studios were once eager to bring stand-up comedy king Richard Pryor's dynamic humor to the big screen--so much so that studio executives gave him full access to available resources and creative control to develop his own projects.

Think you know everything there is to know about Hammer Films, the fabled "e;Studio that Dripped Blood?

In 1965, 18-year-old Persis Khambatta became the third woman to be crowned Miss India.

After its publication in 1986, Stephen King's novel It sparked sequels, remakes, parodies and solidified an entire genre: clown horror.

Women are now central to many science fiction films--but that has not always been the case.

From the 1950s through the 1970s, disaster movies were a wildly popular genre.

British literature often refers to pagan and classical themes through richly detailed landscapes that suggest more than a mere backdrop of physical features.

Budd Boetticher (1916-2001) was a bullfighter, a pleasant madman and a talented journeyman filmmaker who could--with the right material and drive--create a minor Western film classic as easily as he could kill a bull.

An indispensable resource for students and researchers of paranormal myth and media, this book explores the undead and unholy in literature, film, television, and popular culture.

How does a culture respond when the limits of childhood become uncertain?

An auteur and the creator of multiple cinematic universes, James Wan has become one of the most successful directors in history, his films breaking box office records worldwide.

"e;Magick"e; as defined by Aleister Crowley is "e;the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.

The first of its kind, this study examines the exemplars of hardcore horror--Fred Vogel's August Underground trilogy, Shane Ryan's Amateur Porn Star Killer series and Lucifer Valentine's "e;vomit gore"e; films.

The theme of death is an essential component of film narrative, particularly in how it affects the hero.

Aliens: They have taken the form of immigrants, invaders, lovers, heroes, cute creatures that want our candy or monsters that want our flesh.

In the early 20th century, postcards were one of the most important and popular expressions of holiday sentiment in American culture.

Breaking box office records, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has achieved an unparalleled level of success with fans across the world, raising the films to a higher level of narrative: myth.

Andy Clyde starred in the second-longest series of shorts at Columbia Pictures (after the Three Stooges), with nearly 80 productions from 1934 to 1956.

Since 1966, the Star Trek television franchise has used outer space and the thrilling adventures of the crews of the U.

Charlie Chaplin the actor is universally synonymous with his beloved Tramp character.

From Faust (1926) to The Babadook (2014), books have been featured in horror films as warnings, gateways, prisons and manifestations of the monstrous.