BIBLIO WATCHDOG
HORROR AND THE HORROR FILM By Bruce F. Kawin
2012, Anthem Press,
www.anthempress.com 244 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016 252 pp., Softcover, $40.00
Reviewed by John-Paul Checkett
“I have a blood disorder similar to hemophilia, and my father was a hunchback. I came to the horror film naturally.”
With this Brother Theodore-like opening, Bruce F. Kawin commences one of the most unusual genre studies in recent memory. Described as an attempt to convey a “mature appreciation” for the genre, HORROR AND THE HORROR FILM sets out to explain the purpose and appeal of horror films, and to catalogue the various narrative elements, techniques, and devices employed to achieve that purpose. Kawin then offers a lengthy taxonomy of horror subgenres divided into three broad catego- ries: Monsters, Supernatural Monsters, and Hu- mans. The result is a highly readable introduction to genre studies rendered in a style that is novel for its precision and brevity, as well as its em- phasis on dispassionate observation rather than critical evaluation.
Kawin begins, helpfully, by clarifying that genres are not only defined by their elements, but also by the attitudes displayed toward those elements. He then asserts that the essential purpose of horror films is to horrify viewers—that is, to simultaneously evoke fear, loathing and wonder. This purpose exists in constant tension with the essential prob- lem of horror cinema: sustaining the viewer’s gaze and attention. Unlike horror literature, horror films—when conceived as a purely theatrical
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experience—are faced with the problem of audi- ence members averting their eyes from the horror depicted, disengaging from the work, and perma- nently disrupting the narrative structure. Thus, while on the one hand these films strive to shock and disturb the viewer, on the other they must
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