Killing for Culture: An Illustrated History of Death Film

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating look at the "death" genre.
Review: "Killing for Culture" is a fascinating look at the subject of death in film and other media. Of particular note is the history behind the "Snuff" film, an urban legend that has persisted for years of movies where someone on-camera is murdered, for real. Of course, not one single frame of a snuff film has ever been uncovered, but that hasn't stopped the legend from appearing, and re-appearing, over time.

In addition to the sections on snuff, other areas of the death genre are explored, from the "Mondo" films of the 1960s, to the present-day "Faces of Death" style gore feasts. It makes for a fascinating, if gruesome, study of the various death genres of film and video.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating look at the "death" genre.
Review: "Killing for Culture" is a fascinating look at the subject of death in film and other media. Of particular note is the history behind the "Snuff" film, an urban legend that has persisted for years of movies where someone on-camera is murdered, for real. Of course, not one single frame of a snuff film has ever been uncovered, but that hasn't stopped the legend from appearing, and re-appearing, over time.

In addition to the sections on snuff, other areas of the death genre are explored, from the "Mondo" films of the 1960s, to the present-day "Faces of Death" style gore feasts. It makes for a fascinating, if gruesome, study of the various death genres of film and video.

Rating:
Summary: For the discerning film buff....
Review: A much-needed, carefully researched book that looks into the darkest of cinematic shadows. I especially like that they debunk the snuff film industry. Also commendable are the copious footnotes and the exhaustive index that lists movies by their alternate titles, directors, and years of production--very helpful when scouring the video stores for "Guinea Pig 2," "Man Behind the Sun," or even "Gimme Shelter." Certainly it gets into some stomach-churning descriptions, but I appreciate the dispassionate approach to a topic usually dealt with by pandering, slavering idiots. These Creation books, man I love 'em.

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Summary: where life is cheap
Review: Autopsies. Car crashes. Suicides. Executions. Horrible accidents. Human remains. Assassinations. Welcome to the horrifying and disturbing yet often weirdly fascinating world of death in film. Face it, most people are strangely attracted by images of violence and death - just like stopping and watching when an accident has happened.
KILLING FOR CULTURE concerns death in films. The book starts with the story of an obscure movie named SNUFF in 1976. Originally titled SLAUGHTER, this 1971 ultracheapo horror flick about a MANSON - style murder spree was considered unwatchable and remained unreleased for several years until movie producer Allan SHACKLETON got an idea: He shot a new ending, where an actress was seemingly "killed" on camera for real (though the basement special effects clearly proofed otherwise). Cleverly promoted with the slogan "shot in South America, where life is cheap" SNUFF turned out to be a huge success. This was how the concept of snuff movies (where people are killed for real) was introduced. Other feature films like EMMANUELLE IN AMERICA or LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET further elaborated on this concept. The authors review the above mentioned films and many more in great detail and with much knowledge.
Further chapters revolve around the socalled "mondo" (shockumentary) film and how this genre evolved, starting with MONDO CANE in 1962. Writers KEREKES and SLATER show in a very detailed way, how mondo directors faked and re-enacted death footage, which was allegedly "real". I found this making - of approach particularly interesting. Many of the horrifying mondo films (like THE KILLING OF AMERICA and the infamous FACES OF DEATH series) are dealt with in lengthy reviews. Considering the subject matter one might expect that the book is written in an exploitative way. This clearly is not the case.
Further chapters concern films where real atrocity footage was used - like the US porn movie FORCED ENTRY about a posttraumatic stress disorder suffering Vietnam veteran rapist, whose "activities" are interspersed with actual combat newsreel footage. The last chapter details how tabloid papers and feminists are propagating the urban legend of snuff films.
The sheer amount of facts concerning real reel death the authors have crammed in the relatively small book is amazing:
Hospital documentaries like the 6 hour long NEAR DEATH. Nauseating underground films. The famous ZAPRUDER amateur film of the assassination of president John F. KENNEDY. Autopsy films like THE ACT OF SEEING WITH ONE'S OWN EYES. Driver education films depicting the daily carnage on the streets. Incidents where people committed suicide live in front a camera - like Pennsylvania state treasurer Budd R. DWYER, who blew his brains out with a .357 revolver during a press conference after being convicted of bribery. The GIMME SHELTER concert film, where a camera by accident caught some Hell's Angels stabbing a man. (Please note that these are only a few examples of what to find in this excellent book.)
The book is illustrated with dozens of highly interesting pictures (video covers, stills, posters, ad material, newspaper clips).
And, yes, the infamous Japanese GUINEA PIG series is covered as well. On a lighter note, the authors also review a hoax autopsy film of a Roswell alien (!)
As you can image this book is disturbing, sometimes revolting and could be offensive to some. Clearly it is only for the most devoted fan of extreme and obscure cinema/film and the most hardened horror buff. But for these groups it is absolutely indispensable. I can't praise it high enough.

Rating:
Summary: Creation's best volume
Review: CREATION books has taken over the world of publishing books about cinema and this is the best one the have released. A very thourough, well researched and fascinating journey into the subterrainian world of the Mondo movie. David and David approach the subject with abject skill and make every word count even when describing films that would send the average person into a coma for years to come.

This book breaks the barriers and dispells the myths makig it an essential purchase for anyone interested in the darker regions of cinema.

Rating:
Summary: The most intriguing book I've ever read
Review: If you are sickly curious, this is a fabulous book. One of the best I've ever read, it is a very thourough documentation on "snuff" films (the murder of someone on camera for the purpose of selling for entertainment). It's chapters completely cover the subject of snuff in ficticious films, mondo, or "shockumentaries," and the actual myth of snuff. So good, it prompted me to write a research paper on it. If you can find a copy of this book, by all means read it, especially if you are fascinated by taboo films, don't have access to these films, or simply don't have the stomach for them.

Rating:
Summary: Best in the business
Review: This book is very well researched and often shocking. It dispells many myths that have been spread about death films. A good read even for those who are not interested in film.

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Summary: Perversely Entertaining
Review: Weird movies, splatter movies, mondo documentaries, snuff films, and psycho films are profiled and detailed with cast, credit and plot summaries. The focus is on movies which seem to glorify killing, or justify violence. The graphic descriptions and many photos are hard to stomach but written in a clever, dispassionate style with minimal judgements over the content. To their credit, the authors reveal their suspicions about many on-screen death and violence scenes, often revealing how the carnage may have been faked.

Rating:
Summary: Someone had to write this book!
Review: Well, someone had to write this book, and the authors have done a very admirable job. They look at all types of "death film", from snuff to mondo to mainstream films like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990) and Man Bites Dog (1992) and other "deadly" things like the "Faces of Death" movies and such. This appears to be the best if not the only book on this subject matter. No other book looks at some of these films the way Killing For Culture does. As much as we would like to turn away from many of these films they represent interesting extremes and often serve to remind us of what exists and what is always around the corner--death. Its representations in cinema are often striking, controversial, disturbing, and whether we like it or not, memorable.