THE VAMPIRE FILM: UNDEAD CINEMA
In the recent glut of books trying to cash
in on the vampire craze, The Vampire Film: Undead Cinema stands out as a refreshing attempt to treat bloodsuckers in film seri- ously, with barely a mention of that Twi- light nonsense. This book is number 48 in Wallflower’s “Short Cuts” series, which is designed to provide concise overviews of significant cinematic topics, taking an ap- proach that is both academic and popu- lar. After successfully dealing with The Rocky Horror Picture Show (in Wallflower’s series “Cultographies”), author Jeffrey Weinstock sinks his teeth into vampire cinema with commendable success. His study is based on the following prin-
ciples: 1) The cinematic vampire is always about sex; 2) The vampire is always more interesting than those who pursue it; 3) The vampire always returns; 4) The cine- matic vampire is an overdetermined body, condensing what a culture considers ‘other’; 5) The cinematic vampire is al- ways about technology (including the cin- ema itself); and 6) The vampire film genre does not exist. The latter contention is based on the fact that the vampire film tradition is defined by generic hybridity, and that there are way too many devia- tions from the norm to talk about a clearly defined genre. The Vampire Film is organized around
three main chapters, dealing with vampire sex, technology and otherness, respec- tively. The analysis is insightful and well supported, although it appears that the in- cluded films were chosen not so much for their overall quality or cinematic signifi- cance but rather for their fitness to support the author’s theses. This means that poor or mediocre films (Blacula, Blade: Trinity, Underworld, The Breed) get a lot of space, while some great or at least influential
RM56 T H E N I N T H C I R C L E
ones are mentioned only in passing (Near Dark, The Lost Boys, Fright Night). However, a major part of the book provides clever
readings of classic titles and subgenres, particularly the analysis of “lesbian vampires,” such as those in Vampyros Lesbos, a film which exploits the male gaze while also showing it as vampiric and destructive. No matter how seemingly distant from the real world titles such as Blade: Trinity or Van Helsingmay appear, We- instock unveils their ideology (e.g., Van Helsing as “an extremely conservative ‘family values’ film that reaffirms the sanctity of the traditional nuclear family”). Only Cronenberg’s Rabid remains re- sistant to the author’s preconceptions: his in- sistence on “ethically questionable medical experimentation” is mistaken because, simply, no fetus was used for the procedure, and as such the the accusations of “unapologetic mi- sogyny” remain unconvincing. Nevertheless, even for those who have seen
most movies of this ilk, The Vampire Film is certain to provide a novel, penetrating look
through the layers of meaning surrounding the blood- sucking undead.
DEJAN OGNJANOVIC HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN If you’re a horror fan, you’ve probably been asked,
at some point, to explain your fascination with the genre. If you’re a female horror fan, you’ve almost cer-
tainly been asked to defend it. Kier-La Janisse never takes that bait in House of Psychotic Women. Without falling into the trap of apologizing for her tastes, Janisse offers a thoughtful, moving dissection of her – and, by extension, the reader’s own – connection with horror and violent exploitation films. House is structured as a chronological account of its
author’s chaotic life. Janisse uses her own struggles as springboards to discuss films that echo whatever emotional turmoil she was experiencing at the time. In its first section, “Wound Gatherers,” House examines the twisted familial bonds between the female char- acters in flicks such as The Corruption of Chris Miller and The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (the book takes its name from that film’s alternate title); in a later chap- ter called “All Safe and Dead,” Janisse sees the spectre of her own deeply troubled mother in the guilt-ridden hero- ines of Let’s Scare Jes- sica to Death and The Haunting of Julia. Though it’s an emo-
tionally gruelling read, it’s also an entertaining one. Janisse, a film pro-
grammer and writer who has contributed to Rue Morgue and penned the 2007 book A Violent Profes- sional: The Films of Luciano Rossi, approaches the ma- terial with self-deprecating humour. She writes: “As a child, any deliberate self-injury was limited to scab- picking and other means of interfering with the natural
ON THE HILL OF ROSES Stefan Grabinski
Hieroglyphic Press This lovingly-pro- duced hardcover is only the second collection by early 20th-century Pol- ish author Stefan Grabinski to be translated into Eng- lish. This highly literary, undeniably poetic volume brims with tales of un- dead women, evil-inducing places, doomed protagonists, alien intruders, ominous shadows and Satanic nuns, and, if that doesn’t sell you, it’s tonally similar to the dense, philo- sophical horror of Thomas Ligotti. DEJAN OGNJANOVIC
OREGON WYLDES Rob Deborde St. Martin’s Griffin Zombies and cowboys – ’nuff said! Portland- town combines the two concepts to create a rich, histor- ically based story about an old Mar- shall and his son-in-law. When the Marshall retires to Portland to spend time with family, his unsavory past follows him, pitting his loved ones not only against rising floodwaters but also the resurrected dead. A poten- tially pulpy story that author Rob De- borde keeps serious, even while indulging in undead ass-kicking. DAVID KRAUSE
PORTLANDTOWN: A TALE OF THE
THE ULTIMATE DEAD
BABY JOKE BOOK Unearthed Books For those of us not already going to Hell, there’s always this surefire one- way ticket (possi- bly printed on the skin of dead in- fants) mass au- thored by the folks from cult horror DVD imprint Un- earthed Films. Most of the quips swaddled into these 140 poorly edited pages are stillborn themselves, but the occa- sional offside zinger is sure to fatten up your cruel collection. TREVOR TUMINSKI
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