Windthrop

David Pirie's updated version of his earlier book is well worth a read for anyone interested in the post-war British horror film cycle. I haven't read the earlier edition but I found it excellent on background detail as well as a critical appreciation of the films. The book inevitable focuses alot on Hammer but not to the exclusion of other studios and directors - Tigon, Amicus, Vernon Sewell etc.

Winner of'There Is Nothing Like A Dame' Quiz revealed

Lord Brett

I'll look out for that. The original is regarded as one of the classic texts on British Horror, and looked on with great affection by many on these boards,

dogstar

My copy of the original is virtually falling to bits so I'm glad there is the opportunity to replace it. For anyone who hasn't read it I would recommend it highly - its an eccentirc read but definitely none the worse for that. Particularly memorable is his description of a scene in Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire where OMR ( Arthur Lucan ) strips down to his uniderwear and stuffs himself with liver. You can almost feel Pirie shudder at the memory!

Although very different in tone Kim Newman's Nightmare Movies is also worth tracking down - it deals with horror films of the post-Hammer period ( he followed it with Western Movies, also good ).

Only a fool looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart....

m35541

Still the definitive read on the british horror film cycle 1957-76 although Jonathan Rigby's book English Gothic is also excellent.

The updated version is about 60% new material with new sections and each chapter revised. Its good at film theory etc although sadly lacking in any economic analysis explaining why so many of these films were made in the period (its an odd fact that left-wing film critics tend to ignore economics entirely when discussing movies). It is also marred by a large number of small factual and typographical errors - there are some especially bad ones in the filmography at the end. Could have also done in explaining more about the semiotic therories it talks about.

But nit is a great book.