Saturday, October 20, 2012

Review - The Mammoth Book Slasher Movies


The Mammoth Book Slasher Movies 
An A-Z Guide to More than 60 Years of Blood and Guts
By Peter Normanton
Publisher: Running Press
ISBN: 978-0762445967
Pub. Date: October 23, 2012
Pages: 512
Buy Link: The Mammoth Book of Slasher Movies

For twenty-three years, I have been a diehard horror fan ever since my grandma let me watch the horror classic John Carpenter's Halloween. It was the censored version that aired on network television, but it was my first introduction to the horror genre. Of course I was excited when I learned that Running Press was releasing a new book about slasher films. Running Press nicely sent me an advanced review copy earlier this month in exchange for this review.

Author and Editor Peter Normanton compiled the best slasher movie from 1916 to 2011 into one nifty guide for horror fans, starting with 28 Days Later and ending with Zombie Flesh Eaters. You might be thinking “Why is there zombie movies listed in a slasher book?” as that was the exact question that popped into my mind when I began reading it. The tagline on the front cover does say "An A-Z Guide to More Than 60 Years of Blood and Guts," and the back cover does mention that book contains more than 250 slasher and splatter movies. So that explains the zombie flicks, such as Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Return of the Living Dead and a few others.

"Blood on the Walls" opens up the mammoth book and gives a history lesson on horror cinema throughout the years, followed by an A-Z listing of each movie containing a synopsis and several facts about the movie.

The movies listed are:

28 Days Later, 28 Months Later, 30 Days of Night, A Bay of Blood, A Blade in the Dark, A Night to Dismember, A Nightmare on Elm Street, A Tate of Blood, Absurd, Aenigma, After Death, Aftermath, Alien, Alone in the Dark, American Nightmare, American Psycho, Amsterdamned, And There Were None, Angustia, Antropophagus, April Fool's Day, At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, Audition, Basket Case, Battle Royale, The Beyond, The Birds with the Crystal Plumage, Black Christmas, Black Sunday, Blood and Black and Lace, Blood Cult, Blood Feast, Blood Song, Blood Tracks, Bloody Birthday, Bloody Moon, Boarding House, The Boogeyman, Braindead, Burial Ground, The Burning, Cabin Fever, Camp Blood, Candyman, Cannibal Apocalypse, Cannibal Campout, Cannibal Ferox, Cannibal Holocaust, Cannibal Man, Cannibal Terror, Cat in the Brain, Child's Play, Chopping Mall, Christmas Evil, City of the Dead, Cold Prey, Color Me Blood Red, Communion, Contamination, Creep, The Curse of Frankenstein, Curtains, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Dead and Buried, The Dead Next Door, Dead Snow, Death Line, Death Proof, Death Screams, Deep Red, Delirium, Dellamorte Dellamore, Demons, Der Weg nach Eden, Deranged, The Devil Hunter, The Devil Rejects, Diary of a Serial Killer, Don't Answer the Phone, Don't Go in the House, Don't Go Into the Woods Alone, Don't Go Near the Park, Don't Look in the Basement, Don't Open Till Christmas, The Dorm that Dripped Blood, Dr. Giggles, Dr. Lamb, Dracula, The Driller Killer, Dying Breed, Eaten Alive, The Ebola Syndrome, Edge of the Axe, El Tren de la Bruja, Evil, The Evil Dead, Evilspeaks, Expose, Eyes of a Stranger, Eyes Without a Face, Faces of Death, Fatal Games, Final Exam, The Final Terror, Flesh for Frankenstein, Forest of Fear, Friday the 13th, Frightmare, Frontier(s), Frozen Scream, The Funhouse, The Ghastly Ones, Girls Nite Out, Graduation Day, The Guard From the Underground, Guinea Pig, Halloween, Happy Birthday To Me, Hatchet, Haute Tension, He Knows You're Alone, Hell Night, Hellraiser, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Hills Have Eyes, Hospital Massacre, Hostel, The House by the  Cemetery, The House on Sorority Row, The House on the Edge of the Park, The House That Screamed, I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Saw the Devil, I Spit on Your Grave, Ichi the Killer, In My Skin, The Incredible Torture Show, Inferno, The Initiation, Inside, Intruder, Island of Death, The Janitor, Jigoku, Juan de los Meurtos, Just Before Dawn, Killer Nun, Killer Party, The Last House on the Left; Lisa, Lisa; The Living Dead at The Manchester Morgue; The Long Island Cannibal Massacre; Lucker the Necrophagous; Madhouse; Madman; The Man From Deep River; Maniac; Maniac Cop; Mardi Gras Massacre; Martyrs; Microwave Massacre; Mortuary; Mother's Day; Murder-Set-Pieces; The Mutilator; My Bloody Valentine; The Nail Gun Massacre; Nattevagten; Nekromantik; New Year's Evil; The New York Ripper; Night Ripper; Night of the Bloody Apes; Night of the Demon; Night of the Living Dead; Night School; Night Train Murders; Night Warning; Nightmare City; Nightmare in a Damaged Brain; Oasis of the Zombies; Opera; Peeping Tom; Philosophy of a Knife; Pieces; Pledge Night; Possession; The Prey; Primitive Desires; Prom Night; Psycho; Rabid Grannies; Re-Animator; Reeker; The Return of the Living Dead; Rooms of Tourists; Santa Sangre; Saw; Scanners; School's Out; Schramm; Into the Mind of a Serial Killer; Scream; Scream Bloody Murder; Sentenced to Hanging; Severance; Shaun of the Dead; Silent Night, Deadly Night; Silent Scream; Slaughter Hotel; The Slayer; Sledgehammer; Sleepaway Camp; The Slumber Party Massacre; Snuff: Sorority House Massacre; Splatter University; Stagefright: Aquarius; Strait-Jacket; Strange Behavior; Suspiria; Tenebrae; Terror Train; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; Thirteen Women; Three On a Meathook; To All a Goodnight; To Let; The Toolbox Murders; Tormented; Tourist Trap; Two Thousand Maniacs!; Un Chien Andalou; Unhinged; The Untold Story; Untraceable; Urban Legend; Valentine; Victims; Video Violence; Violent Shit; Visions of Suffering; Visiting Hours; We Are What We Are; Wedding Slashers: The Werewolf and the Yeti; What Have You Done to Solange?; The Witch Who Come From the Sea; The Wizard of Gore; Wolf Creek; The Woman Eaters; Wrong Turn; Xtro; Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key; Zombie Bloodbath; Zombie Creeping Flesh;  & Zombie Flesh Eaters.

Being a horror fan I appreciate the release of a book that contains most of my favorite horror movies. I'm somewhat disappointed that there wasn't more about the sequels to Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and a few others. Sure the sequels are named, but that is it. Surprisingly, there were several movies that I had never heard of before, but I'm glad that I know about them now. Overall, I think it is a great companion book to any horror fan.


1 comment:

  1. I came from Cym Lowell's Book Review Party Wednesday (BRPW).

    I am not a horror fan but my sister is and she might just enjoy this :)

    Thanks for sharing!

    Cherry Mischievous
    www.cherrymischievous.com

    ReplyDelete

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