Peter Normanton - Mammoth Slasher Movies

[dem bones]

Peter Normanton - The Mammoth Book Of Slasher Movies (Robinson, 2012)

Cover Design: Carlos Castro. Cover Image: Paramount Pictures/ The Kobal Collection

Introduction: A Born Again Slasher
Blood On The Walls: An Overview Of Sixty Years Of Blood And Guts

An A–Z Of Slasher Movies

The Directors: Blood On Their Hands
The Video Nasties They Tried To Ban
Chronology Of Movies
Index Of Directors

Blurb:
YOU CAN SCREAM ALL YOU WANT BUT IT WON'T MAKE THEM STOP

A thrilling A–Z of over 250 slasher and splatter movies spanning sixty gloriously gory years and 23 countries, from Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh Eaters to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later.

Peter Normanton's encyclopaedic round-up is prefaced by an overview of the peaks and troughs of six decades of blood and guts in school dormitories, college campuses, shopping malls and deep, dark woods. It concludes with a look at the key directors, from Argento to Romero, and a chronology of over 500 movies.

Each movie listing gives cast and production details along with a splatter rating detailing the level of gore, from essentially `splatter-free' to 'symphony of gore'. The book also includes the list of video nasties the UK government tried to ban.

Yet another imminent release from Robinson, a premeditated assault on the wallets of genre fans for sure, but also holds considerable appeal to those who'd rather read about these bloodbaths than sit through them. Peter Normanton takes 1916 and Intolerance as his starting point, though the detailed synopses begin with an entry on the Luis Buñuel-Salvadri Dali collaboration Un Chein Andalou (1929). There are precious few further outbreaks until the late 'fifties and Hammers' censor-baiting if not quite slasher Dracula and The Revenge Of Frankenstein. Two years later, the release of Psycho, Peeping Tom et al, with their kinky killers operating in a modern-day setting, paved the way for a glut of increasingly excessive shockers, culminating in the 'video nasty' hysteria of 1981-1984.

Mr. Normanton cites the 'late seventies through the early eighties as the 'golden age', by which time the average inmate of a medieval torture chamber had a higher life expectancy than a nubile co-ed on Prom Night, or bullying Jock during Hell Week, as every ostracised college weirdo in the US pulled on a scary mask, grabbed themselves a knife/ hatchet/ chainsaw/ pitchfork, and sliced and diced the hapless teenage couple copping off in the woods/ abandoned beach-house/ on the Principal''s desk, etc. The author is the first to admit that the A-Z - the real meat of the book - barely scratches the surface; his researches unearthed closer to a thousand titles for consideration.

Read through the plot outlines, and there's maybe an argument to be made that the slasher has more than a little in common with the most bastardy of the shudder pulps, notably the masterpiece of mindless sadism that is 'Russell Gray's justly notorious Fresh Fiancés For The Devil's Daughter. It's also something of a mystery why nobody thought to adapt a stack of Richard Laymon novels for the big screen treatment.

[franklinmarsh]

Having got a copy, I really think this a good book, especially as I have been watching some Italian films from the 1980s, such as the Lucio Fulci Gates Of Hell trilogy (mind you have only seen City Of The Living Dead in bloodless form) and the very wonderful Zombie Creeping Flesh, immortalised in song by Peter & The Test Tube Babies. In keeping with this theme, my brother bought me a Driller Killer t-shirt for Crimble. Suppose I should watch that again.

[ripper]

In the early 1980s you couldn't open your local paper without seeing an advert for the latest slasher, and only a fairly small subset of the films produced ever made it to our local cinema, so it was only on video that a lot could be viewed, if at all. This sounds a fascinating book and I am sure that there will be many titles listed that I have never heard of, so I think that I shall have to get a copy of this one :-).

I remember renting Zombie Creeping Flesh in the days prior to the Video Recordings Act, as well as Zombie Flesh Eaters, Nightmares in a Damaged Brain, Cannibal Apocalypse, and a host of other italian horrors.

[dem bones]

John McCarty - The Official Splatter Movie Guide (St. Martins, 1989)

Cover design by George Corsillo

Blurb:
The Good, The Bad, And The Gory

The Official Splatter Movie Guide is a splatter aficionado's dream come true. John McCarty, author of the classic Splatter Movies: Breaking the Last Taboo of the Screen, examines more than 400 of the most gory, bizarre, violent films ever to assault the silver screen — from mainstream hits like Aliens and Friday the 13th to such obscure classics as Dr Butcher, M.D., Hatchet for a Honeymoon, and Theatre of Blood. The capsule reviews provide cast lists, plot summaries, and expert evaluations, written with a dash of humor and a serious eye to the splatter moviegoer's demands. If you're a fan, a splatter professional, or just looking for a good movie, this handy book will tell you which ones to trust — and which ones to watch out for!

"McCarty knows what he's talking about." — Fangoria
"To have not only the strong stomach, but also the wit and good taste to cover this subject well is an amazing accomplishment. John McCarty is the John Simon, the Leonard Maltin, the Siskel and Ebert of carnography." — Edward Bryant

An earlier, slimline (approx 150 page) alternative to Peter Normanton's epic from the man who reputedly coined the term 'Splatter Movie'. To John McCarty's eye, Splatter is a very broad church encompassing such strange bedfellows as Cannibal Holocaust and Countess Dracula, Bloodsucking Freaks and God Told Me To. Entries are brief, frequently funny and again, of appeal to those who'd rather read about these bloodbaths than sit through them. A few almost bear out earlier 'shudder pulp on video' stab in the dark, case in point, 1981's Dr. Butcher, M.D. from Aquarius Releasing Inc., featuring Ian McCulloch (??), Alexander Cole, Sherry Buchanan and Donald O'Brien.

"Moreau-style jungle doctor performs backwards brain surgery on still-conscious victims, stifling their screams by severing their vocal chords prior to each operation. But wait, that's not all: there are also cannibals running amok, gobbling up the tourists. Tourists? The M.D. stands for 'medical deviate'. As graphic as they come. Looks like a film by Lucio Fulci, but director Frank Martin is actually Francesco Martino."

Illustrated with b/w reproductions of vhs cover artwork and several very silly stills.

[ripper]

I have a copy of the Official Splatter Movie Guide and very good it is, too. I haven't seen Dr Butcher, but I have seen Bloodsucking Freaks, and it was originally titled the Incredible Torture Show, which is rather apt :-).