Books about cinema - Guides and more

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

The Aurum Film Encyclopedia's (Horror, Sci-Fi, Western, Gangster) are/were amazing. Pre-internet, they were an eye-opener for many a foreign film title ( including lengthy alternate titles!). Always hoped Phil Hardy would get around to updating then, but he sadly passed away a couple of years ago . . .

The horror one was invaluable to my education, but it was sometimes frustrating because of the massive spoilers in the reviews. It must be said that Hardy was pretty snobby as well. He gave more bad reviews than good, plus he dismissed a lot of great films.

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

Some more essential guides:

The Phantom of the Movies' VideoScope - Joe Kane
Sleazoid Express - Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford
Bleeding Skull! A 1980s Trash-Horror Odyssey - Joseph A. Ziemba and Dan Budnik
DVD Delirium series - Nathaniel Thompson

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

The horror one was invaluable to my education, but it was sometimes frustrating because of the massive spoilers in the reviews. It must be said that Hardy was pretty snobby as well. He gave more bad reviews than good, plus he dismissed a lot of great films.

The book included some lavish praise for Jean Rollin's film, as I recall, however.

David Pirie's A HERITAGE OF HORROR is another book that very much influenced me when I read it as a teenager.

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

I wish they'd collect his Delerium magazines together, I don't have the 1970-75 issue. That was such a valuable resource before the internet exploded and these films became so easy to research.

I wish I had more issues of Delirium, I have the 1975-79 guide and issue 5 (TENEBRE cover) but that's all. They're compulsively re-readable to this day.

[Gary Banks Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gary Banks]

Any book by Rigby is a great addition.

[Cinephagous Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cinephagous]

This is still my go-to giallo guide. I don't think a better book on the genre exists. Tons of posters and stills in color.

This looks very good! :up:

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

The book included some lavish praise for Jean Rollin's film, as I recall, however.

Yep. Hardy also turned me on to BELL FROM HELL, which is an all-time favourite.

[Cinephagous Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cinephagous]

The horror one was invaluable to my education, but it was sometimes frustrating because of the massive spoilers in the reviews. It must be said that Hardy was pretty snobby as well. He gave more bad reviews than good, plus he dismissed a lot of great films.

Yes, completely agree, spoilers in the reviews should be avoided.

[Cinephagous Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cinephagous]

Sword and sorcery in cinema: Conan and other barbarians: A filmic guide

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089CL1G6M...=UTF8&qid=&sr=

"Adventures in remote times and lost continents, beyond history as we know it, is a fascinating subject that has excited the imagination of many authors. One of these writers was Robert E. Howard (1906-1936), creator of Conan the Barbarian.

Later, Marvel decided to profit from the enormous potential of Conan's stories by bringing the barbarian into the world of comic-books.

In 1982 the long-awaited film by John Milius arrived, adapting the adventures of this surly and frowning warrior of the misty Cimmeria to the big screen.

The success of this epic blockbuster, with a clear Nietzschean stamp, catapulted Conan to international fame. Some sequels would come to light, and countless apocryphal adaptations and films inspired by the charismatic and Herculean Cimmerian were made in the following years. And this is precisely what we are dealing with in this book.

The purpose of this volume is to show a journey through sword and sorcery films, from the blockbuster "Conan the Barbarian" (John Milius, 1982) to the most unknown and bizarre imitations, many of which came from Italy, where a new sub-genre of the "exploitation" kind was being developed. Some of these films, which are technically cheesy, are not without interest. And several of them, as you will see, have a very special charm."

(Book description)

[Jack J Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jack J]

This is still my go-to giallo guide. I don't think a better book on the genre exists. Tons of posters and stills in color.

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"Style, sex and savagery are the main ingredients of Italian giallo cinema, a highly salacious art form which thrives on fetishist images of beautiful, scantily-clad females being menaced by knife-wielding maniacs - often for the most obscure of motives! Now this lavish book from the publishers of the best-selling "Video Nasties!" brings you the definitive guide to this much-maligned and rarely chronicled movie genre. Entertainingly and informatively written by Adrian Luther-Smith, Blood And Black Lace contains full reviews, and exhaustive cast and credit Information (including video, laserdisc and DVD release details) on over two hundred giallo movies, most of which have never been listed in any other movieguide !"

Tim Paxton and his Weng's Chop posse put out a couple of books on giallo. I haven't bought them, though. Do any of you know how they hold up to this book (which I've got)?

[Jack J Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jack J]

Still have my copy. Its a great read. Mondo Macabro was fine too if not as compulsively readable.

As I was always way more into worldweird stuff it's actually the other way round to me: the MM book was the compulsively readable book to me! xD

[Cinephagous Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cinephagous]

“Lone Wolf and Cub”: ...and other samurai stories from cinema and TV

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084QKYQJQ/

"This book contains reviews and commentaries on the six films in the "Lone wolf and cub" saga, the "Oshi samurai" television series and the "Hanzo the Razor" trilogy.

The six films in the "Lone Wolf and Cub" saga tell the story of a disgraced ronin who becomes a fugitive and travels around Japan with his little son on a cart.

The series "Oshi samurai" has as main character a mute bounty hunter looking for revenge.

And Hanzo's trilogy narrates the adventures of an incorruptible shogunate police officer, using expeditious and very unorthodox methods.

The "Lone Wolf" and the "Mute Samurai" are embodied by Tomisaburo Wakayama (1929-1992), one of the most representative and charismatic actors of the chambara. Hanzo is played by Shintaro Katsu (1931-1997), famous above all for giving life to the blind swordsman "Zatoichi" in an extensive saga of 26 films. "Hanzo" and "Zatoichi", despite being played by the same actor, could not be more different characters. The only thing they have in common is their skill with the katana; but their personalities are completely opposite.

As we did in the book dedicated to Zatoichi, the purpose of this volume is to serve as a guide for fans of chambara, honouring those three masterpieces of the genre."

(Book description)

[Cinephagous Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cinephagous]

Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography

https://www.amazon.com/Hammer-Films-...dp/B00GU1G1X8/

"Though best known for its horror films, Hammer produced a wide variety of movies in many genres. The British studio was famous for its exciting stories and expert action--all on very small budgets and short shooting schedules.
From The Public Life of Henry the Ninth (1935) to The Lady Vanishes (1978), this is the definitive work on Hammer's 165 films. Complete filmographic data are provided for each film, including release dates in both the United Kingdom and the United States, running time, length, distributor, complete cast and production credits, and alternate titles. These data are followed by an extensive plot synopsis, including contemporary critical commentary and behind-the-scenes information from many of the players and crew members."

(Book description)

[Cinephagous Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cinephagous]

Italo-western and more...: A filmic guide

https://www.amazon.de/Italo-Western-...dp/B08FH3RJ6P/


"The American western launched great icons like filmmaker John Ford, or his namesake actor John Wayne, into stardom. The success of these films also reverberated in Europe. From the 1960s onwards, it was the Italians in particular who revived and renewed the western genre. Sergio Leone, specially, brought out true masterpieces. His Dollar Trilogy, which brought fame to the famous Clint Eastwood, caused such a sensation that in the following years the "spaghetti-western" trend would develop. Leone, Eastwood and Morricone (direction, acting and music, respectively) are the most prominent names in this European appendix of "cowboy" cinema set in the "wild west" but shot in the Old Continent.

The Italian-style western, whose pioneers had been Leone and Corbucci, would become even more popular than the original American western in some respects. For it was more violent, more raw, more direct, with less dialogue and more visual power, without so much idealization, without a clear distinction between good and evil. In other words: more realistic. For in the "Wild West", as its name suggests, there was not much room for scruples.

In this book you will find reviewed several of the most emblematic Italo-Western films. From the classics of Leone or Corbucci to lesser-known feature films, which, without matching the works of the masters, follow the storylines and stylistic patterns of the sub-genre, sometimes contributing some innovations.

In addition, we include as an appendix some western films that, without being Italian, have the same patterns of "spaghetti-western" (i.e.: amorality, violence, black humor...). Among those other films included in this guide, a special mention deserves "El Topo" by Alejandro Jodorowsky, which, besides being formally a western (clearly inspired by the Italian style), has a deep mystical-initiatic content.

The purpose of this book is to serve as a guide for Italo-Western fans, compiling the most important and famous films of the subgenre, and including, as a curiosity, others that are less known or that, without being strictly Italo-Western, have similarities with that kind of cinema in terms of stories and style. "

(Book description)

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

As I was always way more into worldweird stuff it's actually the other way round to me: the MM book was the compulsively readable book to me! xD

It's a while since I read 'em, and I don't have them in front of me now, but from memory they were structured quite differently. I'm thinking that Mondo Macabro had an approach of running through a lot of titles and giving a quick paragraph on each while Immoral Tales was more conversational. I wound up with a lot of films to wath from MM but I believe I had a lot more fun with the Immoral Tales approach.