Pleasure And Pain Of Cult Horror Films (Hardcover)

The horror genre is known for its persistent popularity, but it also harbours a number of films too bold or bizarre to succeed with mainstream audiences. Despite their lack of box office success, these same movies garner groups of devotees and remain perennially popular among those who recognise and appreciate their unique, startling and often groundbreaking qualities.

Beginning with Victor Sjostrom's "The Phantom Carriage" in 1921, this book tracks the evolution and influence of underground cult horror over the ensuing decades, closing with William Winckler's "Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove" in 2005. The features that define a cult film, cult trends, recurring symbols and changing iconography within the genre are explored through insightful analysis of 88 movies.

Included are works by popular directors who got their start with cult horror films, including Oliver Stone, David Cronenberg and Peter Jackson.