Legendary Horror Films: Essential Genre History, Offscreen Anecdotes, Special Effects Secrets, Ghoulish Facts and Photographs

Rating:
Summary: Filled with errors and lack of knowledge
Review: I was shocked to find this booked riddled with simple errors and basically a lack of knowledge about the horror genre. There are plenty of comments and remarks made by the author which really shows that he doesn't know squat about the horror genre. So if you want book that gives you lots of wrong info, here you go.

Rating:
Summary: Terrifyingly Amazing
Review: The book was excellent. It explained to me everything about tons of horror films of the past. It was extremely informational and I loved reading the book. I have watched almost all the horror films mentioned in the book and everything in the book matched the movies. Anyone who insults the book is wrong because it was an amazing book. I loved every page.

Rating:
Summary: Witty and entertaining look at the horror genre
Review: This colorful volume investigates the horror movie genre, including its history and the early pioneers like Lou Chaney and Peter Lorre. It covers all aspects of interest, including themes like the evil genius, the mad scientist, aliens and beasts, animals gone wild, insect attacks, killer plants, cults, etc.

Lavishly illustrated with color and black & white photographs, the amusing and informative text contains a feast of fascinating facts, trivia, revealing quotes and quizzes plus a look at special effects.

The chapter titled Old Masters Of Mayhem looks at inter alia the movies Der Golem, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu and the Phantom Of The Opera, whilst the Frankenstein and Dracula movies are discussed in the chapter Universal's Golden Age, which also contains a Dracula family tree listing the original movie and all its offshoots.

King Kong, Godzilla, The Fly, Altered States, the Thing, The Man Who Fell to Earth and Aliens are amongst many film discussed under the title Science Has Its Pitfalls, while in Unnatural Nature movies like The Birds, The Swarm, The Stepford Wives, Demon Seed and others are investigated.

The other chapters are Human Monsters (Halloween, Night Of The Hunter, Psycho, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, etc.) and Dark Roads Are Better Left Untraveled (The Shining, Poltergeist, Exorcist, Omen, Rosemary's Baby, etc.)

This witty and entertaining look at horror films as a popular cinematic form concludes with a bibliography and an index. The book is a great read and an indispensable reference guide to casual fans of this genre.