Paul Blaisdell, Monster Maker


Book Description

Paul Blaisdell was the man behind the monsters in such movies as The She Creature, Invasion of the Saucer Men, Not of This Earth, It! Terror from Beyond Space and many others. Working in primarily low-budget films, Blaisdell was forced to rely on greasepaint, guts and, most importantly, an unbounded imagination for his creations. From his inauspicious beginning through The Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959), the construction of Blaisdell's monsters and the making of the movies in which they appeared are fully detailed here. Blaisdell's work in the early monster magazines of the 1960s is also covered.




Cinefantastique


Book Description




Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide


Book Description

About 2,500 genre films are entered under more than 100 subject headings, ranging from abominable snowmen through dreamkillers, rats, and time travel, to zombies, with a brief essay on each topic: development, highlights, and trends. Each film entry shows year of release, distribution company, country of origin, director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, cast credits, plot synopsis and critical commentary.




Grande Illusions


Book Description

Tom Savini's Grand Illusions I and Grand Illusions II books have changed the special effects industry. Now this new Grand Illusions book combines both books into one ultimate special effects guide. Learn the art of molding a head, punching hair, casting teeth and much much more. Forward by: Stephen King, George Romero and the grand father of modern day makeup Dick Smith.




The Search for Bridey Murphy


Book Description

The story of Ruth Simmons, who while under hypnosis recants the story of the life of Bridey Murphy under the care of one of the leading hypnotherapist of the day.




Herschell Gordon Lewis, Godfather of Gore


Book Description

Without a big budget, special effects team, or professional actors and crew members, Herschell Gordon Lewis created films that he himself admits were trash. Yet, while Gordon's softcore porn (The Adventures of Lucky Pierre) and heavy-duty gore (The Gruesome Twosome) were never blockbuster films, they were popular drive-in fare in the sixties and seventies. They have had a strong influence over more recent productions, and they have created for Lewis his own special niche in the world of exploitation and horror film. The history of Lewis the man and the filmmaker is a surprising one. Behind titles like Blood Feast and The Gore-Gore Girls is a warm and friendly gentleman whose road to his own brand of film glory was paved with disappointments, surprising successes, and lots and lots of fake blood. His career is examined in detail, with personal anecdotes and insights into making really gross movies on really small budgets. A filmography is included, and photographs, many of them rare, complement the text.




Tech-noir


Book Description

This critical study traces the common origins of film noir and science fiction films, identifying the many instances in which the two have merged to form a distinctive subgenre known as Tech-Noir. From the German Expressionist cinema of the late 1920s to the present-day cyberpunk movement, the book examines more than 100 films in which the common noir elements of crime, mystery, surrealism, and human perversity intersect with the high technology of science fiction. The author also details the hybrid subgenre's considerable influences on contemporary music, fashion, and culture.




The Great Monster Magazines


Book Description

This work provides a critical overview of monster magazines from the 1950s to the 1970s. The term monster magazine is a blanket term, which, for the purposes of this study is used to describe both magazines that focus primarily on popular horror movies and magazines that contain stories featuring monsters which are illustrated in comic book style but printed in black and white.




We Belong Dead


Book Description

A look at the Frankenstein Monster in film.