Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY AND HORROR FILM SEQUELS, SERIES AND REMAKES

SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY AND HORROR FILM SEQUELS, SERIES AND REMAKES: An Illustrated Filmography with Plot Synopses and Critical Commentary. Volume 1. Kim R. Holston and Tom Winchester. McFarland; 1997. Foreword by Ingrid Pitt.

You gotta love a book that has a foreword by the one and only Ingrid Pitt of Hammer horror fame. But there's lots more to enjoy afterward, including synopses of hundreds of movies, along with a brief analysis of each film and interesting quotes from reviews both good and bad. There are also lots of photographs in this very thick volume, which covers everything (in more or less alphabetical order) from The Abominable Dr. Phibes to Zapped Again, with stops along the way to look at multiple versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the Halloween and Friday the 13th films, Roger Corman's Poe series, the many, many Frankenstein and Dracula movies, and a whole lot more, covering the classics up to the splatter period and beyond. The book is fun to read whether you go from front to back or pick out movies after you watch them. This is a reference book you will also enjoy reading from cover to cover. Holston also wrote Susan Hayward: Her Life and Films.

Verdict: Worthwhile look at genre films with many illustrations and solid info. ***.

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