Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
publications
the modern British horror film
- Price:£15 (approx)
- Year of publication: November 2017
- Edition Size: 30k words
- Binding: Hardback
- Pages: Approx 150
When you think of British horror films, you might picture the classic Hammer Horror movies, with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and blood in lurid technicolor. Yet British horror has undergone an astonishing change and resurgence in the twenty-first century, with films that capture instead the anxieties of post-Millennial viewers.
Tracking the revitalization of the British horror film industry over the past two decades, media expert Steven Gerrard also investigates why audiences have flocked to these movies. To answer that question, he focuses on three major trends: “hoodie horror” movies responding to fears about Britain’s urban youth culture; “great outdoors” films where Britain’s forests, caves, and coasts comprise a terrifying psychogeography; and psychological horror movies in which the monster already lurks within us.
Offering in-depth analysis of numerous films, including The Descent, Outpost, and The Woman in Black, this book takes readers on a lively tour of the genre’s highlights, while provocatively exploring how these films reflect viewers’ gravest fears about the state of the nation. Whether you are a horror buff, an Anglophile, or an Anglophobe, The Modern British Horror Film is sure to be a thrilling read.
Steven Gerrard clearly knows his subject well and does a very good job of linking the cycles he identifies (hoodie horror, outdoors horror, and the monster within) to the contemporary British social and political context.
Dr Steven Gerrard
Steve is Reader in Film who loves science fiction, horror, Doctor Who, Status Quo, Tintin, Jason Statham, James Bond, The Carry On Films. He lectures, supervises and writes. about James Bond, Jason Statham, Horror, Sci-Fi, Tintin, Comedy and many more!
