James Rose

Recently Published

2012-01-14T10:42:00.004Z

My essay on Stephen Volk's notorious BBC drama hoax Ghostwatch has just been published in the January 2012 edition of Electric Sheep. The text examines the genesis of the program and how it used the codes and conventions of the live broadcast coupled with elements 'borrowed' from other programs such as Crimewatch to create an intensely real drama that convinced the nation's audience that not only was a house really haunted but also that popular TV presenter Sarah Greene was trapped alone with the restless spirits...

Here is a brief extract:

This graphic escalation of events should have been enough of an indicator to the audience that Ghostwatch was indeed fake, but such was the quality of the programme’s verisimilitude that the spectral events sustained the illusion of reality instead of breaking it. Herein lies the programme’s greatest strength: it mimics the visual language of reportage television so fluently that its fiction is, in some way, successfully incorporated into the illusion. The expected unsteady camera work, the poorly composed images as the cameraman adjusts his framing, the use of cutaways, vox pop and live calls all function to create a genuinely frightening work of fiction while simultaneously declaring it as real. It is the perfect synthesis of technical craft and concept, a true perversion of the language of television.

To read the full text, follow this link.

Recently Published

2011-12-11T08:27:00.005Z

My article Girl Power: The Politics of the Slasher Movie has just been published in the December 2011 edition of MediaMagazine. Here is a brief extract:

As can be seen from this selection of endings, The Final Girl uses her weapon to cut off body parts and/or impale the male killer. Given the nature of the sexualised murders throughout the film and the weapons used by The Final Girl, it can be suggest that the climatic death of the killer is a symbolic castration – The Final Girl not only kills the killer but ‘removes’ their masculinity before doing so by either disarming them or cutting off their limbs or heads. Because of this, it can be argued that the repressed virginal Final Girl is freed at the narrative’s conclusion because she has given vent to her (sexual) repressions and emerges from the narrative having killed the symbol of male dominance and sexual threat. Consequently, she becomes her adult herself – capable, in charge and powerful, both feminine and masculine, entering into the adult world on her terms, making her choices and succumbing to no one.

To order a copy of this edition of MediaMagazine, click here.

Recently Published

2011-11-27T10:56:00.005Z

My essay on Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker has just been published in the Autumn/Winter edition of Splice. The text provides a critical overview of the film and examines its place in Post 9/11 cinema before engaging in a comparative analysis of two of the film's central characters - Sergeant Matt Thompson (Guy Pierce) and Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner). Here is a brief extract:

The Hurt Locker: War is a Drug

The Hurt Locker begins with, and is wholly contextualised by, a quote from Chris Hedges’ book War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002). ‘The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction for war is a drug’. After a few moments, the majority of the text fades away leaving only the last four words, ‘war is a drug’, and remains there for a further few moments. Bigelow defines the meaning of the quote through her description of the book, explaining it as one in which Hedges

talks about that you’re looking today at a volunteer military and one of the many things he confronts is war’s dirty little secret in [that] some men love it. This isn’t everybody; it’s just a particular type of psychological state with some men. There’s a psychological allure that combat creates, some kind of attractiveness, and it does create an almost additive quality that you can’t replicate in any other way and are lost in any other context. (Axmaker, 2010)

As a context for the film, the quote becomes quite literal for it clearly defines James’ emotional and psychological relationship to his employment as a bomb disposal expert – he is addicted to all aspects of this role: disposing bombs in an increasingly dramatic (and perhaps theatrical) manner, saving lives of both his men and civilians, acting alone in order to continually push himself and, ultimately, to be good enough each time to ‘cheat’ death once more. As a consequence, the quote, quite literally, states that James’ is addicted to war but, on a more complex level, indicates that James’ is addicted to a repeated confrontation with his mortality. Each IED to be disarmed challenges him to gamble, with the highest stakes possible, his skill and ability to perform under pressure against both an incredibly violent but inanimate object and an equally threatening but unseen enemy.

This edition of Splice can be ordered from Auteur Publishing by following this link.

Recently Published

2011-10-29T13:51:00.004+01:00

Interview with Marc Price, the director of Colin

My interview with Marc Price, the director of the British low-budget zombie film Colin has just been published online at Offscreen. Here is a brief extract...

When did your interest in filmmaking begin?

It’s a difficult one to sort of pin down. I think the big thing that happened was that when I was younger I watched movies like Superman 2 and the Star Wars movies – and this is just me speculating – my dad took me to the cinema to see… I can’t remember! I kind of like that I don’t know! I don’t know whether Superman 3 or Return of the Jedi came out first? I went to see one of those movies in the cinema and there was something about seeing characters that I was familiar with on a gigantic screen with loads of people reacting to what was happening. I think maybe something kind of got me there so film was obviously the exciting medium for me. I was raised up on blockbuster and genre films specifically so it started off as entertainment but then as I got older I started to discover other films as well. I didn’t turn my back on genre; I think genre is a really important type of film with an awful lot to offer.

Did any of these films influence you when you were writing and directing Colin or was it zombie cinema in more general that influenced you?

In a way I think they are all wired in but I think when it came to Colin I think it owes a lot more to King Kong than any other zombie film specifically. It obviously references Bub from Day of the Dead – a character I am clearly attracted to. What I really liked about Kong was the connection between Kong and the audience is only said between Kong and the audience. The other characters in the film don’t accept him in quite the same way. I kind of thought, that’s a really amazing thing that an audience is so capable of making that connection. I thought that would be the way to go so the idea with Colin was to find ways to put on the audience the awareness of any danger that Colin would be in that that character wouldn’t be aware of because of the lack of cognitive thought. That was the idea really, to look at the audience’s relationship with the character and to find a way to make that work in the same way that it did for me with King Kong.

To read the interview at Offscreen, follow this link.

Recently Published

2011-09-14T13:39:00.000+01:00

World Film Locations: London

World Film Locations: London is an exciting visually focused tour of a diverse range of films shot on location in London. This volume will contain concise but knowledgeable reviews of carefully chosen film scenes and evocative essays about key directors, themes, ideas and historical periods that explore London's relationship to cinema. This book will be illustrated throughout with scene-specific screengrabs, stills of filming locations as they appear now and city maps that include location information for those keen to investigate the cinematic landmarks of London. The individual scene reviews, theme specific essays and illustrations will collectively offer up their own wider questions relating to London itself and how cinema shapes our view of the city. Covering the periods of the Victorian era via the swinging 60s through to the post 7/7 atmosphere of modern day London and seen through the eyes of the full range of communities that have been portrayed onscreen World Film Locations: London will illuminate all corners of this richly diverse and cinematically fertile city.

Edited by Neil Mitchell and published by Intellect, my contribution examines the relationship between the London Underground and the horror film, including Quatermass and the Pit, Death Line and An American Werewolf in London.

You can buy the book online at amazon by following this link or direct from Intellect Books by following this link.

Recently Published

2011-09-07T14:53:00.004+01:00

The latest edition of MediaMagazine (September 2011) features my extended essay analysing the Omaha Beach Landing sequence at the start of Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. Accompanied by a one-page frame-by-frame illustration, the text examines the rationale behind the sequences Vérité style and the shift in the meaningful value of the shots used by Spielberg. Here is a brief extract:

For Miller, the slow motion functions as a representation of how he is witnessing the events for it visualises the horror of his experience - he is surrounded by a chaos of noise and movement, seeing not only death but the dreadful massacre of his men, all of which is too much for him to comprehend or bear witness to. The effect of the slow motion amplifies the horror by fragmenting its depiction into briefly frozen moments; but it also implies that Miller himself is trying to edit out the intensity of the violence by 'missing out' certain frames of action.

To order a copy of this edition of MediaMagazine, click here.

Forthcoming Publication

2011-09-02T14:59:00.008+01:00

I recently wrote an essay for World Film Locations: London. Edited by Neil Mitchell and published by Intellect, my contribution examined the relationship between the London Underground and the horror film, including Quatermass and the Pit, Death Line and An American Werewolf in London.

As described on the Intellect website, the book

is an exciting visually focused tour of a diverse range of films shot on location in London. The volume will contain concise but knowledgeable reviews of carefully chosen film scenes and evocative essays about key directors, themes, ideas and historical periods that explore London's relationship to cinema. The book will be illustrated throughout with scene–specific screengrabs, stills of filming locations as they appear now and city maps that include location information for those keen to investigate the cinematic landmarks of London. The individual scene reviews, theme specific essays and illustrations will collectively offer up their own wider questions relating to London itself and how cinema shapes our view of the city. Covering the periods of the Victorian era via the swinging 60s through to the post 7/7 atmosphere of modern day London and seen through the eyes of the full range of communities that have been portrayed onscreen World Film Locations: London will illuminate all corners of this richly diverse and cinematically fertile city.

World Film Locations: London (ISBN 9781841504841)
will be published on 12th September 2011.

Order your copy through the following links:

Intellect Publishing

Amazon.co.uk

Recently Published

2011-06-15T20:17:00.005+01:00

My essay A Good Man, Dreadfully Punished: Frank Darabont's The Mist, has just been published in the first Electric Sheep Anthology, The End. The text is a 'fictional' adaptation of the events leading up to the downbeat conclusion of The Mist, examining what the end of the narrative signifies for the film's protagonist as well as the other minor characters within the film.

Here is a brief extract...

'It's the End of Days,' murmurs Mrs Carmody. The mist, dreadful in its density, rolls against the glass frontage, pressing against it as if it wrre a solid mass, sealing off the customer's view and stranding them in the supermarket. The large panes, reinforced, may later bow, crack, splinter and break but for now, at least, they hold.

The book is available via Strange Attractor Press by following this link.

Online Publications

2011-05-28T17:29:00.008+01:00

A resume of my online publications has just been added to the right-hand navigation bar - scroll down just past the magazine cover images to find the hyperlinked list. Click on the underlined journal titles to read the various texts. Here is a small selection, all concerning film director Richard Stanley...

Between the Dust and the Devil: An Interview with Richard Stanley at The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies

The Light and the Darkness: Myth in the Films of Richard Stanley at Senses of Cinema

Reading the Darkness: The Documentary Films of Richard Stanley at Vertigo

Recently Published

2011-04-12T18:24:00.004+01:00

My essay Quid Pro Quo: Visiting Doctor Lecter has just been published in the April 2011 edition of MediaMagazine. The text examines the collaborative partnership that occurs between trainee FBI Agent Clarice Starling and imprisoned cannibal Dr Hannibal Lecter and how this relationship may lead to a mutual attraction ...

...the quid pro quo develops to such an extent it becomes apparent that Lecter and Starling may be, in some way, attracted to each other. This is not necessarily sexual but more through a shared interest in the other's psychology: Lecter's interest in Clarice can be read as one in which he attempts to heal her psychological problems while Clarice's interests in him allows him the opportunity to express his intellect and demonstrate his great skill in profiling. Consequently, their collaboration simultaneously functions not only to construct a profile of Buffalo Bill but also to allow each other to explore the other's psychology.

To order a copy of the April 2011 edition of MediaMagazine, click here.

Recently Published

2011-04-09T10:33:00.003+01:00

My short essay on Tim Burton has just been published in the latest edition of Electric Sheep - Being Tim: Alienated Biography in the Cinema of Tim Burton examines the relationship between Burton and his protagonists and how they make manifest the condition of alienation...

This idea of alienation shaping a persona’s interaction with the world is evident in Burton’s protagonists: the animated Vincent Malloy channels the everyday world through his imagination and transforms it into a tragic rendering of Poe’s work; Lydia Deitz would rather be dead than endure her parents Technicolor world and so sides with the ghostly Maitlands; orphaned as a child, the young Bruce Wayne evolves into an isolated figure bent on revenge that he hopes will positively transform the world he is apart from; Edward’s experience in ‘normality’ not only highlights his difference but enhances his emotions and creativity; Jack Skellington’s desire to be Sandy Claws not only leads to chaos and destruction, but also to the realisation that he is better off doing what he does best – ruling the land of which he is king. The connections and parallels sustain themselves throughout Burton’s oeuvre to the extent that, in the end, perhaps Tim Burton’s films are a unified project because they are a repeated filmic attempt at a constructed and now expected self-portrait.

To read the full essay,please follow this link - Electric Sheep - and leave a comment!

Recently Published

2011-03-10T18:49:00.005Z

My essay, A Very British Doctor, has been published in the February issue of MediaMagazine as part of their Culture special. The essay examines representations of Britishness in the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who, taking in a (albeit brief) history of Torchwood along the way. I wrote quite an extensive examination, some of which had to be edited out. Here's a snippet of what fell to the cutting room floor...

…Torchwood’s Yvonne Hartman, by the end of Doomsday, transgresses her xenophobic attitude: although been upgraded into a Cyberman herself, she holds on to her human identity and, in a final act of defiance against the Cybermen, overcomes her programming and fights against them. With gun in hand she kills numerous Cybermen, all the while chanting a mantra of “I fought for Queen and Country”. Her final act is one of defending the borders but not of Torchwood’s Victorian ideals but of contemporary Britain – Hartman’s destruction of the Cybermen indicates it is better to be individual and diverse than to be one and the same.
Such an attitude is extended into the character of Captain Jack Harkness, the leader of Torchwood Three, who acts as the bridge between both Doctor Who and Torchwood. As an Ominsexual, Harkness shares and later embodies the Doctor’s attitude to diversity and difference. Harkness seeks to rework Torchwood for within, changing its agenda and forcing it to protect and serve the populace instead of empire building.

Recently Published

2011-03-06T20:40:00.002Z

Earlier this week I received my Contributor Copy of The Unsilent Library. The book, published by The Science Fiction Foundation, is a collection of ten essays about the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who. My contribution, titled Conflict, Hybridity and Forgiveness examines the series' narrative arc of the Time War and how this affects the Doctor and his experinces with alien threats, most notably the Daleks.

The book is avaible from both The Science Fiction Foundation and Amazon.

Beyond Hammer Review

2011-01-16T09:25:00.004Z

I recently came across a review of my first book, Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema Since 1970 in Morpheus Tales: reviewer Adrian Brady said:

"This is the sort of book that all film students should read... For me it was an enjoyable and insightful experience, as a horror film fanatic there are those rare treats of film books, and this is definitely one of those."

My thanks to Adrian for such a fantastic review.

Studying The Devil's Backbone Review

2010-12-23T11:52:00.005Z

This morning I received another review for my second book, Studying The Devil's Backbone: published by the MEA (Media Education Association), the review is, as with the previous review by Mary Birch, a thorougher and concise review of the text:

"This book has a real academic feel to it and it has clearly been extremely well researched... a detailed look at the eight page filmography and bibliography makes it clear that James Rose has really done his research."

"James Rose has also clearly done some very in-depth research into the Gothic and its influence on del Toro's work as a whole... James Rose has done an excellent job at communicating the key information of this film and his work on analysing it makes it an invaluable resource."

My thanks to Andrea Joyce for taking the time to read the book and to provide such a positive review.

Studying The Devil's Backbone Review

2010-12-21T10:57:00.005Z

Issue 48 of the Media Education Journal (Winter 2010/2011) has published a lengthy review of my second book, Studying The Devil's Backbone, by Mary Birch. The review examines the book in some detail and so provides an extensive means by which to critique the text:

"The film is essentially a Spanish horror film and the writer, James Rose, has an impressive background in analysing this type of genre, having written for a number of international journals as well as being the author of Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema Since 1970."

"As well as renewing my desire to see and study this film again, I personally found that Rose’s book afforded new facts both about del Toro and the Spanish Civil War."

"I believe this book to be an accessible text both for student and teacher. Explanations of terminology are woven into the analysis in a light-handed manner and the writer demonstrates a scholarly grasp of his material."

Overall a fantastic review and my thanks to Mary Birch for taking the time to thoroughly read the book and to provide such an impressive critique of the text.

Recently Published

2010-11-01T13:35:00.003Z

My first piece of Travel Writing has just been published in the November edition of Rue Morgue. Appearing in the Travelogue of Terror section of the magazine, my text is a tour of Gothic Whitby via the Whitby Dracula Walk. The article explores the influence of Whitby upon Dracula author Bram Stoker through the various locations that appear within that text and, along the way, reveals some interesting facts... such as the Russian schooner that brings Dracula to English shores was based on a real life incident involving The Dimitry - floundering off the coast of Whitby, the boat shed its cargo of coffins. For days after the coffins and/or the decomposed bodies were washed up on the shores of Tate Hill Sands.

Simeon Halligan Interview Published in Scream Magazine

2010-10-01T15:00:00.001+01:00

The interview I conducted with UK director Simeon Halligan about his debut horror film, Splintered, has just been published in the first edition of Scream magazine. During the interview, Simeon discusses the production of the film, the conceptual background to the narrative and the post production process.

To order a copy of Scream, please visit:

Scream magazines official website

Interview Extract

2010-08-13T12:06:00.004+01:00

A while back I interviewed UK director Simeon Halligan about his debut feature, Splintered, a psychological horror film due for cinema release from the 3rd September 2010. While the full interview is still under negotiation with potential publishers, Simeon's production company, Not a Number Productions, have posted a short extract on their site. To read the extract, please visit:

Interview Extract

To find out more about Splintered , please visit Splintered the Movie.

Recently Published

2010-08-10T13:40:00.004+01:00

My essay on James Mangold's remake of 3:10 to Yuma has just been published in the latest edition of Splice: Western Myth, Historic Truth provides a critical examination of the triangular relationship between protagonist Dan Evans , his son William and the outlaw Ben Wade through the idea of the Western as a journey and through the failure of the father.

Here is a brief extract:

It could be argued that the Western is a dying genre. With its most successful period long over and contemporary popular audiences constantly desiring to see the next spectacle of high-concept cinema, the Western now seems like an outdated form of film. Its location within the past denies any sense of the special-effects driven spectacular as its physically dramatic moments relying on bar brawls, horse chases and cattle rustling, bank robberies and gunfights as opposed to interstellar combat, technological weaponry and fantastical creatures. Yet, regardless of this, the genre continues to develop, shifting and changing, responding not to the audiences visual needs but to their times. Consequently, the Western has shifted from a ‘heroic’ vision to one that is gritty, dirty and dark, a ‘truth’ as it were. In these new narratives the eternal conflict between the sheriff and the outlaw, the oppressor and the oppressed, Good and Evil, are played out in an intimate and dramatic fashion as ordinary people – as tangibly real as they get on screen – fight for their families, livelihoods, beliefs and the ‘truth’. One such film is James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma (2007). Contemporary Westerns, such as Yuma, elicit a powerful affect upon the viewer. They are concerned with the small but violent incidents of human interaction, morality plays in which the concerns of society are often played out. They affirm not just the ‘truth’ of the past but also the ‘truth’ of ourselves, albeit one that is safely located in the past. In essence then the contemporary Western is eclipsed by the constant roll of blockbusters, their powerful and evocative moments dismissed in favour of throw-away images, paper-thin plots and cardboard characters. To watch 3:10 to Yuma now, to discover it for the first time, is a refreshing change and a challenge to the blockbuster for it presents a tangible plot, believable characters and a tragic outcome. To ignore it would be to deny the Western one of its greatest qualities – to show us who we are and what we may become.

The Mist - Electric Sheep Anthology

2010-08-01T10:31:00.004+01:00

Electric Sheep have just announced on their website their forthcoming anthology The End to which I have contributed:

"Taking ‘The End’ as its theme, this new anthology includes essays on the bad endings of bad girls, low-end sounds in Lynch’s films, personal and collective apocalypse in Ingmar Bergman’s work, the ending of road movies, French master Henri-Georges Clouzot’s unfinished masterpiece Inferno, a graphic piece on The Night of the Living Dead and an image-based recollection of Decasia. "

My contribution is a 'fictional' adaptation of the events leading up to the downbeat conclusion of The Mist, examining what the narrative end signifies for the film's protagonist as well as the other minor characters within the film. Here is a brief extract...

The end of this story begins with a single gunshot. A murder in a supermarket, by the checkouts. There is a calling out for blood, holy justice through sacrifice. A child, blond and innocent, is first singled out and then the woman who holds him close to her. A fevered mob descends upon them both as others try to defend them. There is a lashing out with fists and makeshift weapons. As fights break out, the only armed man in the supermarket takes his pistol out from behind the waistband of his trousers, takes careful aim and slowly squeezes the trigger. The dull thud of the single shot echoes along the aisles. The bullet breaks through the milk bottle that a woman holds and enters her stomach. The fighting stops; silence as the woman falls to her knees. Her blood spills out, a deep copper red blossom that soaks into the floral pattern of her dress.

For more information and publication date, please visit Electric Sheep's News page here:

THE END

Amazon Author Page

2010-07-08T10:44:00.002+01:00

Amazon.com have recently set up an Author Page for me:

James Rose - Amazon Author Page

Here you will find out more information about myself and my books, all of which are available to buy through Amazon's ordering service.

Beyond Hammer Review

2010-07-01T15:01:00.007+01:00

I recently found out that the November 2009 edition of Rue Morgue published a review of Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema since 1970. Reviewer Justine Warwick commented that it is "an in-depth and eclectic study" and that it "is smashing stuff!" In particular, Warwick comments on the chapter concerning Shaun of the Dead, stating that "let's just say by reading [the chapter on] it you'll probably pick up a few self-referential jokes you missed on the first, sixth or even tenth viewing"!

To purchase Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema since 1970 please follow one of these links:

Amazon.co.uk

Columbia University Press

Play.com

Auteur Publishing

Forthcoming Publication

2010-05-23T09:56:00.008+01:00

I have just received an email from Chris Hansen, the editor of one of the books that I am in - Ruminations, Peregrinations and Regenerations: A Critical Approach to Doctor Who - to tell me that it has just gone to press and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. The book, as a whole, considers all aspects of the series with my chapter examining the uncanny nature of the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who, analysing in particular the Gothic and uncanny qualities that the Cybermen embody.

The book can be pre-ordered from both Amazon UK and US by following either of these links:

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

Current Publications

2010-05-19T16:39:00.004+01:00

I have over the past few months been working on a wide range of commissions, all of which are soon due for submission and publication:

The Director Series: Kathryn Bigelow
Book for Auteur Publishing

British Horror Cinema
The Directory of World Cinema: British Cinema, Intellect Publishing

The Mist
Electric Sheep

3:10 to Yuma
Splice

Body Horror
MediaMagazine

In addition to these publications I will be delivering a paper concerning Doctor Who at a conference in June (University of York) and have a travelogue piece due for publication in Rue Morgue.

Recently Published

2010-04-01T16:25:00.000+01:00

My article on E4's Misfits has just been published in the April 2010 edition of MediaMagazine. The text explores what it means to be both an outcast and superhero and how these qualities relate to the humorous nature of the series.

To order a copy of this edition of the magazine or to subscribe to MediaMagazine, click here.

Recently Published

2010-03-09T08:28:00.002Z

My essay Vincent and Victor: Two Early Shorts by Tim Burton has just been published in the Winter 2009-2010 edition of Splice. The text examines the shorts as a point of origin of Burton's auteuristic traits, critiquing visual style and elements on influence throughout the two short films. As I state in the opening paragraph to the text...

"Vincent Malloy is a seven year old boy with long black, wiry hair who fantasises that he is Vincent Price. He also imagines that he conducts arcane electrical experiments on his dog in a castle perched high on a craggy hill and dreams of dipping his aunt in a vat of molten wax. Another boy, Victor Frankenstein, is older than the first. He resurrects his deceased dog after it has been knocked down by a car and together they cause havoc in the middle-class suburbia in which they live. These are two different boys but both of them grew up into one man, Tim Burton."

For further information and ordering pleas visit Auteur Publishing.

Recently Published

2010-02-28T18:13:00.006Z

My article, Reading the Apocalypse, has just been published in this quarters edition of Media Magazine: the text examines the history of the apocalypse narratives in British film and television, including The War Game, Threads and the recently revived series of Survivors. Here is a brief extract...

Throughout the steadily evolving history of the Post-apocalypse genre, those narratives based within Britain, be that film or on broadcast television, have a dominating preoccupation with two concerns: the contextual/political background to the story more often than not reflects the nation’s contemporary anxieties whilst its drama focuses on the plight of one or two families. When combined, this family becomes a metaphor for all families and so, in effect, come to represent the national experience in the face of real-world concerns. Perhaps predictably, these issues have a tendency to shift only slightly, fluctuating between the horrific consequences of a full-scale nuclear assault on mainland Britain to viral pandemics devastating the populace. In both scenarios, the causalities will be extremely high, its impact irreversibly changing the nation. And whilst these narratives are horrific, they function as a means of chronicling the social and political modes and shifts with the country. In this respect, these films and programmes of fiction becomes very clear works of fact for they respond clearly and without hesitation to the fears of the nation. With such destructive threats, the family – or at least what remains of it after the initial assault or outbreak – also shifts, from a normal functioning family unit to one that is at the mercy of a collapsing society: failing law and order, civil unrest, lack of food, fresh water and sanitary systems alongside looting, martial law, vigilante law and rape. Out of all these elements emerges a further recurrent element within the British post-apocalyptic narrative: in terms of its representation, these films and television serials have a clear preoccupation with realism. Instead of showing the consequences of assault or pandemic in abstract terms, they are shown in clear, brutal and graphic images, each time the camera lingering on the dire impact of a national catastrophe. Within these visual texts then the horror not only parallels but as warns us of our possible futures.

To order a copy of this edition of the magazine or to subscribe to MediaMagazine, click here.

Notebook Extract

2010-01-20T18:32:00.002Z

The Fly

For most of Cronenberg's male protagonists, sexual contact results in disease and / or mutation. Personal identity and notions of the self disintegrate as Cronenberg represents the infected male as a womb in which the abstracted life form gestates. Often unable to cope with this transformation the male relies upon the strong female of the narrative in order to rectify the status quo. After his disastrous teleportation, Seth Brundle slowly transforms into a hybrid of human and fly, resulting in a breakdown of the human form into Brundlefly. Unable to deal with the consequences of his actions, Brundle retreats into science, cataloging his decay and keeping his rejected body parts in specimen jars. Accepting his mutation with a rational mind, Brundle's clinical approach emphases his self-alienation. As such Brundle becomes another Cronenberg male: obsessional, incapable of dealing with emotions and alienated from those who surround him.

Notebook Extract

2010-01-10T18:29:00.001Z

The Silence of the Lambs

Buffalo Bill is not endowed with supernatural powers nor does he require the use of specialist tools to aid him in his killing. He is simply human but one who has been constructed through years of systematic abuse. He exists on the periphery of the narrative, shrouded in partially darkness. The viewer sees only fragments - a hand, an angle on his face; they hear his unusual voice. The viewer only fully sees him when he chooses to present himself to them through his own video camera.

Jame Gumb's desired transformation gives The Silence of the Lambs a two fold rite of passage subtext. Both protagonist and antagonist desire change, a shift that will align them with their opposite sex. By realigning their gender this way both can overcome the traumas of the past and accept themselves into society.

Recently Published

2009-12-29T12:23:00.002Z

I have two pieces published in Issue 7 of The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies: Between the Dust and the Devil: An Interview with Richard Stanley and a review of Marc Price's low-budget British zombie film Colin. Extracts below and please click on the titles to be directed to the full texts:

Between the Dust and the Devil: An Interview with Richard Stanley

Rose: Your films and documentaries tend to feature strong women – Jill in Hardware, Wendy in Dust Devil, Edelle in The White Darkness. There is also the female cowboy who reveals herself near the close of The Preacher Man promo. Why is this character prevalent in your work?

Stanley: My parents separated when I was four years old and I was raised by my mother and two older sisters. Accordingly women tend to dominate my life and work whereas guys tend to come off as schmucks and ne'er do wells. On a wider level you could say its representative of my undying faith in the restorative power of the Goddess over patriarchal order and the sort of repressive dogma espoused by the Holy Roman Church and the other monotheisms. The Goddess rules.

Rose: Can you tell us a little about your intentions for Jill’s role in Hardware.

Stanley: Jill descends from a long line of embattled heroines, a combination of the 'last girl' of the slasher era and the lead character from a Super 8 movie I started shooting when I was fifteen. I saw her as a sort of 'everywoman' - hence her name which is drawn from Jill's America – the main theme on Morricone's Once Upon A Time In The West album – outsider artist, lover, big sister, 21st century cyber warrior and post technological cave girl all rolled into one. She was initially intended not only as the heroine of Hardware but as a continuing character in her own right.

Colin

Working with low-budgets often forces filmmakers to rule out certain genres and narratives and instead forces them to work with a limited cast, a limited crew and equally limited locations and effects. While these parameters may seem restrictive, they can often work to the benefit of the film itself, making the writer and director focus their narrative and work creatively with what is available in order to achieve a film of quality. With this in mind, choosing to make a zombie film – a genre which is heavy on zombie extras, requiring varied locations which should, preferably, be empty of people, and a whole host of realistic and gory effects – initially seems an ill-fated endeavour. Yet Price’s debut film takes the genre and gives it new life by positioning the film from the titular zombie’s perspective. The premise is this: for an unspecified reason, the undead are returning to life and consuming the flesh of the living. Zombies roam the streets as survivors either barricade themselves within their homes or form large groups to hunt down and slaughter the undead hordes. While fighting a zombie in his home, Colin (Alastair Kirton) is bitten and soon dies. Returning from the dead, he joins the undead masses and stumbles along the streets looking for flesh, encountering other zombies, violent survivors and, eventually, his sister (Daisy Aitkens). As Colin’s undead life unfolds, fragments of his human life are revealed alongside the barbaric acts of the survivors, culminating in a film that subtly meditates on the emotional impact of death and subsequent mourning.

Recently Published

2009-12-29T11:54:00.007Z

Studying the Devil's Backbone

Just before Christmas I received one of my Author Copies of my latest book, Studying the Devil's Backbone:

The Devil’s Backbone (2001) is a Gothic film written and directed by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, 2006). The story centers on a ghost that haunts an isolated orphanage during the Spanish Civil War. Studying The Devil's Backbone explores the narrative of the film in relation to central concerns, such as genre, theme, iconography, representation, and film language. Through these elements, the volume reads the film’s unique blend of literary Gothic, Western, and War film and the use of bombs, ghosts, and color as visual signifiers. It critiques the central characters and compares their representation of women, monsters, and political context against an examination of mise-en-scene, sound, and special effects. In addition, the author provides a critical biography of del Toro, an analysis of his auteurist traits, and an in-depth bibliography and filmography.

The book is available from the following outlets:

British Film Institute: BFI Filmstore, Columbia University Press, Amazon UK and Amazon.com - click on any of the names to be directed to the book's order page.

Recently Published

2009-12-15T12:31:00.003Z

My article on the Horror Mockumentary has just been published in the December edition (Issue 30) of MediaMagazine: initially charting the rise of the sub genre, the text then goes on to provide in-depth textual analysis of films such as Cannibal Holocaust, The Blair Witch Project, Dairy of the Dead and Clovefield. The text concludes with an exploration of how the 'real' in these films is marketed to potential audiences.

To order a copy of this edition of the magazine or to subscribe to MediaMagazine, click here.

Recently Published

2009-12-08T11:27:00.003Z

The Winter 2009 edition of Electric Sheep features my text The Law of the Gun, an essay on the Vigilante film in US cinema, featuring Death Wish, Dirty Harry and Escape from New York.

Notebook Extract

2009-12-02T15:04:00.002Z

INT. KAHIKA PALMS MOTEL, ROOM No.2 – MID AFTERNOON

Otis turns Gloria around and whilst holding her neck he gently caresses her shoulder blade with the barrel of his gun. She is drawing short and panicked breaths, looking down at her husband. CUT. The side of his face and neck are splattered in congealing blood. He looks back up at her, helpless, knowing what is going to happen. He slowly drops his head and covers his face with his hat, unable to watch this humiliation. CUT. Otis continues to stroke Gloria’s body, trailing the barrel of the gun down her chest, between her breasts, pushing it beneath her bra. He whispers in her ear: “You like this don’t you. Say yes I do.” He pauses and then levers the cup of the bra off, exposing Gloria’s right breast. CUT. Otis grins. He continues to move the gun further down Gloria’s body, pressing himself against her as he pushes the gun into her panties and then between her legs. Gloria inhales sharply. Otis cocks the hammer of the gun and then begins to kiss Gloria, occasionally looking across at her husband.

“At the end of the day nothing really happens. It’s more just verbal abuse and mental intimidation but it’s so much worse than if he did anything”

Rob Zombie

Otis’s torturous act is carried out as a double performance and for a double audience. For Otis there is the dual pleasure of sexual arousal and the pleasure of humiliation. The gun – for Otis and the audience – is clearly a violent phallic symbol. As an extension of Otis is represents his power and authority whilst simultaneously allowing him the opportunity to indulge his perverse sexual needs. Pushing the gun between Gloria’s breasts, caressing her nipple with the barrel and then forcing it between her legs are all blatantly sexually aggressive actions, ones which simultaneously render her husband impotent and him as the powerful, dominant male.

The observers of this torture are both Gloria’s husband and friends and the audience themselves. Standing in front of the three hostages (and the camera), Otis carries out his humiliating actions. The characters watch as the audience watch, unable to move or act for fear of the consequences.

Although Zombie does not use any Point of View shot within this sequence (in fact, he rarely uses any POV shots throughout the entire film) he does force the audience into viewing the intimacy of the violation though using sustained close-up images. These are predominately of the sexual aggressive moments – a close up of the barrel pushing Gloria’s bra away to expose her breast, where the camera lingers on her erect nipple, all bleached out by the coarse sunlight filtering into the room and a further close-up of the gun being forced between her legs. So intense is this scene that these images take on the powerful connotations of the Point of View shot. Acting as a surrogate for this type of image, these close-ups highlight both the violation of Gloria and represent what her husband is seeing.

Given this, the torture itself becomes a double for just as Gloria must undergo the physical violation, her husband and friends must undergo a psychological torture: they can only sit and watch Gloria’s humiliation, bound by the knowledge that if they attempt to help her their actions will either get Gloria or themselves killed. Given Otis’s controlled sense of violence, it is likely that he would kill them both. This sense of character incapacitation finds itself reflected into the audience. Given the beginning of the film, the audience is aware that Otis is not just a psychopath but also a necrophile. The first time he is seen in the film is in ariel shot, lying in bed with both arms wrapped around the corpse of a naked cheerleader. His sadistic touching of Gloria can only lead to one conclusion – her rape and her death, with the order of these events remaining ambiguous. As the viewers gaze remains upon the lingering shots of Gloria’s exposed body the tension mounts as this inevitable conclusion draws near. This awful knowledge is in their eyes and that too is reflected in the eyes of Gloria’s husband. Seemingly aware of this, Zombie allows Otis further time to revel in the moment, making the scene a painful protraction for both the four innocent characters and the audience. And, just as they all think the inevitable is about to happen, Otis pushes Gloria away and tells the men they have work to do.

Beyond Hammer - Press Reviews and Recent Acquisitions

2009-11-18T18:17:00.004Z

Since its publication in May 2009, Beyond Hammer has been reviewed in Sight & Sound, Empire, Filmstar, Total Film, SFX and Deathray: Kevin Stuart, in his review for Filmstar, states the book is "well-written and enlightening, managing to tread that difficult line between academic depth and easy readability" whilst in Total Film the book is described as "a genre primer that lucidly skin-peels four decades of scares and subtexts". Deathray's review comments that the chapter on Hellraiser is interesting, a comment reflected in the Stuart review. Other chapters singled out for commentary included The Descent, which Nigel Floyd, in his review for Sight & Sound states "Saving the best for last, however, the essay on Neil Marshall's The Descent is cogent and insightful".

Beyond Hammer has also been recently acquired by the BFI National Library and Harvard University.

Notebook Extract

2009-11-18T18:08:00.004Z

Whilst writing the Reading the Apocalypse article for MediaMagazine, I looked through my notebooks and found a text regarding Jimmy T. Murakami's When the Wind Blows. Here is the notebook entry, in full:

In addition to The War Game and Threads, a further Cold War/ Post-apocalyptic narrative would emerge from Britain: based on the graphic novel by Raymond Briggs, When the Wind Blows is an animated film that recounts the effect of a nuclear strike on the UK from the perspective of an elderly couple, Jim and Hilda Bloggs. Like its predecessors, the film depicts narrative events from an extremely realistic point of view - Jim and Hilda’s radiation sickness brings about both calming hallucination and terrible sickness, their lack of food and water steadily starving them until, eventually, both die in their sleep. The film’s sense of tragedy is compounded not just by the simple metaphor that Jim and Hilda represent but because of their very lack of knowledge of how to cope in the situation they are forced into. Throughout the film Jim and Hilda recount there experiences of the Second World War, describing it as a violent period but one in which the threat was known and one in which society pulled together as a unified whole to overcome this shared enemy. The war, for them, was in another country, far, far away. From these experiences emerges their unwavering faith in the government. As Jim and Hilda drink cups of tea, Jim assures his wife that everything will be alright and that he is sure the government is working effectively to bring everything back to normal. For all his faith, Jim fails to realise that there probably is not a government and that although they have survived the nuclear blast, they are now subjecting themselves to fallout and radiation poisoning. Whilst the film shifts towards its extremely bleak ending, there are moments of stark humour that contrast sharply with the stark reality the film depicts, culminating in a film that is as poignant as it is terrifying.

Recent Commissions

2009-11-10T18:40:00.002Z

I recently completed a commissioned article for the February Fantasy themed edition of MediaMagazine: Reading the Apocalypse is an overview of British post-apocalyptic film and television, covering The War Game, Threads, and both versions of Survivors. In the original draft there was a section concerning 28 Days Later but this was, eventually, cut due to the required word count.

Never one to waste words, it is included here...

28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)

While a nuclear assault destroys the physical landscape, a viral pandemic only destroys the populace, leaving in its deadly wake a litter of corpses but buildings, shops, and homes all still standing and untouched. Such a quality allows filmmakers to create desolate images of familiar locations, poignantly creating the horror of the consequences of a viral outbreak. The potential for these images to be so dramatic is validated by 28 Days Later: having woken from a comma, young bicycle courier Jimmy (Cillian Murphy) finds the British population virtually eradicated by the accidental release of the Rage Virus: stumbling outside, he finds a very familiar London totally devoid of people. There no corpses, just the empty streets, an overturned bus, and bank notes blowing in the wind. As he wanders through he streets, Jimmy passes familiar landmarks – Tower Bridge, the London Eye and Cenotaph – that are all rendered as if grave markers to the deceased population.

As Jimmy’s story of survival unfolds, the theme of family very quickly comes to the fore: being chased by a group of the Infected, Jimmy is saved by Selena and Mark. Taking him to their underground hideout, Jimmy is informed of the current national (if not global) situation. The three seem to form a family unit, but it is one cut very short when Selena thinks Mark might be infected and quickly – and rather brutally – kills him. From this act it would seem that the notion of the family has been totally voided by the pandemic but as the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that the film is not just about surviving in a post-apocalyptic world but starting a new and better family in this new world. As a consequence, Jim’s personal narrative trajectory becomes the search for a father figure, which leads him into encounters with two ‘families’ – the normal domestic of past offered by Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns) and that of the future represented by a military outpost. Soon, Jim has to make his choice between the two and, in a violently cathartic conclusion, takes on the role of the Father himself to eradicate the threat presented to him and those he cares for. For a violent and pessimistic film, 28 Days Later ends on a perversely optimistic end: the three survivors – Jim, Selena and Hannah – are seemingly rescued as the Infected slowly die of starvation.

The film’s writer, novelist Alex Garland, has stated that the influences upon 28 Days Later ranged from the classic texts by Wells and Wyndham as well as more recent American cinema, particularly the zombie films of George A. Romero. Using the realist elements of these texts to guide him, Garland created the fictional Rage Virus – a seemingly genetically engineered disease - as a blood borne disease. With such a construct, the Rage Virus becomes an obvious metaphor for the nation’s fears of Ebola, SARS, Avian Flu as well as the sustained awareness of AIDS.

Current Commissions

2009-11-01T12:31:00.003Z

October has been a very busy month, hence the complete lack of posts . I have been working hard on multiple projects, all now complete and with their respective editors awaiting publication:

I finished the final amendments on The Devil's Backbone Study Guide and signed off the final proofs. The book is now set for publication and should be with the printers this week.

The article on Horror Mockumentaries is now finished and ready for publication in the next edition of Media Magazine.

The text on Vigilante Cinema has now been completed. A few minor changes were made and is now ready for publication in the Winter edition of Electric Sheep.

The essay on Tim Burton's early shorts - Vincent and Frankenweenie - is due for publication in the next edition of Splice.

The interview with Colin director Marc Price has been conducted, transcribed and formatted ready for publication in a forthcoming edition of Offscreen.

And finally, the interview with Hardware and Dust Devil director Richard Stanley is due for publication in this month's edition of The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies.

Personal Project Extract

2009-11-01T12:19:00.004Z

I have, for the past year, being working on a personal project exploring traces and evidences of the Uncanny within the work of Guillermo del Toro. As personal research, this has fed directly into the writing of the forthcoming Study Guide on The Devil's Backbone as well as generating three potential texts for publication. What follows is a very rough draft from the conclusion of one of these essays, concerning the uncanny interrelationship between The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth.

"Inherently integrated into all these elements is the possibility of the uncanny. Because del Toro works consistently within the genres of horror and fantasy – genres that specifically attempt to generate the uncanny feelings of fear and dread – it is perhaps very easy to suggest that the uncanny is indeed a more subtle but overarching auteuristic trait. Yet such a conclusion seems arbitrary and clumsy. A more focussed analysis would, of course, prove this either way, but for the purposes of this conclusion it is worth noting that the uncanny elements embodied by Jacinto and Carmen reverberate throughout del Toro’s oeuvre: this is most explicitly seen in Pan’s Labyrinth, a sequel of sorts to The Devil’s Backbone: in many respects the two films are uncannily related because they double themselves (almost to the point of déjà vu, of being a copy of each other) and bear similarity in character. Carmen, from The Devil’s Backbone, not only has her name doubled in Pan’s Labyrinth but also her castrating quality is echoed in Pan’s Labyrinth's Mercedes as she also emerges from her narrative as an uncanny woman: victimised and then nearly tortured by antagonist Captain Vidal, Mercedes assaults him with a paring knife, not only repeatedly stabbing him but inserting it into his mouth and slicing open his cheek. This injury, like the one Carmen inflicted upon Jacinto, is not only a physical attack but also a castrating assault upon Vidal’s beauty and sense of masculinity. Throughout the film he is seen to be continually preening himself, forever looking clean, smart and in control. This appearance becomes a physical manifestation of his anger, violence, and power over the narrative’s other characters and so embodies a perversely ugly image of masculinity. Moments before Mercedes slices open his cheek, he verbalises this power by telling his officers to leave him and Mercedes alone. When questioned, Vidal spits out “For God sake, she is only a woman”. As he speaks, Mercedes draws her knife (a phallic weapon that mirrors Carmen’s equally phallic walking cane), ready to attack.

It seems logical that if Carmen is reflected in Mercedes, then Jacinto should be reflected in Vidal. As already stated, Vidal, like Jacinto, presents an image of masculinity that is, on the surface, attractive yet that very same masculinity is vile and thoroughly evil within that same person. Whilst Jacinto and Vidal share this quality, they also share a similar preoccupation with their past and in particular their childhoods: whilst Jacinto wants to destroy his past, Vidal is desperately trying to live up to his: throughout the film he is seen to be examing the watch his father held at the moment of his death. It preoccupies him, torments him, setting itself as a standard to be achieved. In his final moments, when faced by a group of armed Republicans, Vidal takes out his own pocket watch and crushes it, doubling his father’s actions at the moment of his own immanent death."

Current Commissions

2009-09-27T10:33:00.003+01:00

I have just been commissioned to write a text for the next edition of Electric Sheep: I will be writing about US Vigilante films of the early 70's to the late 80's. The article will take a broad approach to the vigilante theme and so will include films such as Death Wish, Dirty Harry, Taxi Driver and First Blood.

My second book, Studying The Devil's Backbone, is with the copy editors, bringing it a step closer to publication.

Recently Published

2009-09-08T11:08:00.005+01:00

Two of my essays have been published at the start of this month: the first is a critical analysis of the BBC Three serial Being Human, published in MediaMagazine (Issue 29) and the second is a comparative analysis of Requiem and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, published in Electric Sheep (Autumn 2009).

Electric Sheep can be purchased from the newsstands whilst MediaMagazine is available from their website: http://www.mediamagazine.org.uk/

Notebook Extract

2009-09-02T15:42:00.001+01:00

Candyman

For sociology research student Helen the academic world is clearly dominated by men, a situation which her thesis seeks to undermine by proving the invalidity of existing texts concerning urban legends – all seemingly authored by men. This male domination extends into both her family life (her husband is a university professor) and into the illusionary world created by the supernatural element of the Candyman: the Gothic ‘other’ world created by his hypnotic presence lulls Helen into a hallucinatory state and so makes her an instrument of his murderous desires. She becomes, quite literally, an extension and/or physical embodiment of the antagonist’s desire for violent and murderous actions. In this respect Helen’s submission to the threatening male could be interpreted at a much more complex level, with the narrative itself potentially being in conflict: the male presence of the Candyman can be seen as means of repressing the Female Gothic narrative trajectory by forcing the female protagonist into a typical male narrative, making her a character driven not by emotion and understanding but by base instinct which results in externally aggressive actions.

Regardless of how this interpretation is perceived, at a basic narrative level Helen is forever trapped in a male dominated world, be that in the tangible world of the university or the hallucinatory one created by the Candyman. This oppression culminates into total domination and control, with Helen being simultaneously attracted to and repulsed by the two men in her life. Although she loves her husband, Helen not only suspects him of having an affair with an undergraduate student but is also, unconsciously, jealous of his academic success. As she struggles to deal with these conflicting emotions, her (possible) hallucinations of the Candyman represent a projected externalisation of these anxieties: handsome, well spoken and rich, the Candyman offers Helen immortality if she will be his victim. With his calm voice and promises of power and dominion, Candyman is essential a seducer, a tempter whose own dominance is reinstated by the death of each of his victims.

Unable to distinguish between what is real and what is not, Helen seemingly slips into a state of madness and fully enters into the delusion world the supernatural element may or may not have created. As the film reaches its climax, Helen attempts to save the baby Candyman requires as a final sacrifice. Although she rescues the baby and kills the Candyman, Helen herself dies. But, given the Gothic intensity of the film, death is never the end and in the narrative's final twist, Helen returns from death and using her husband’s lover as Candyman used her, murders him.

Current Commissions

2009-08-28T16:26:00.002+01:00

Currently working on the second draft of the Doctor Who essay for Cambridge Scholars Publishing and in the process of organising interviews with Splintered director Simeon Halligan and Marc Price, the director of Colin.

Beyond Hammer

More reviews of my first book Beyond Hammer have appeared on the newsstands: Empire awarded the book three out of five stars commenting that it was an "engaging" read for its target audience whilst Total Film also awarded the book three out of five stars, stating that it was "a genre primer that lucidly skin-peels four decades of scares and subtexts, from The Vampire Lovers to The Descent."

2009-08-20T11:40:00.000+01:00

The Summer 2009 edition of Electric Sheep features my text I Robot. I Revolt, an essay on the popular sub-genre of homicidal technological revolt in Hollywood cinema, featuring Westworld, Blade Runner, The Stepford Wives and RoboCop.

Current Commissions

2009-08-16T10:35:00.003+01:00

Now that the First Drafts of the Doctor Who chapters have been completed and sent to their respective editors, I have been working on the Second Draft of the Studying The Devil's Backbone book alongside viewing films for my next essay in MediaMagazine, a text chronicling the history of the Horror Mockumentary.

Beyond Hammer

A review of my first book, Beyond Hammer, has been published in the August 2009 edition of the magazine Filmstar: rated three and a half stars out of five, the reviewer states that the book is

"all well-written and enlightening, managing to tread that difficult line between academic depth and easy readability."

They also state that it is "good to see Shaun of the Dead being taken seriously... it does, after all, provide the essence of Blighty; a strange, funny, but, in the end, a messed-up patriarchy where everyone goes and hides down the pub and tries to pretend it's not happening."

Filmstar, August 2009. p.148

Current Commissions

2009-08-03T15:17:00.003+01:00

The second Doctor Who text is now finished and with the publisher whilst my article on Requiem and The Exorcism of Emily Rose has now been signed off by the editor of Electric Sheep and will be published in the September 2009 edition.

Beyond Hammer

My first book, Beyond Hammer, has received its first customer review on Amazon: the reviewer gave the book 5 out of 5 stars and commented: "With the international success of recent British films such as 28 Days Later and The Descent, this academically-rigorous but highly readable book is a timely account of just how far the genre has progressed since Hammer's final film in 1976. An impressive debut."

The book was also ranked 24 (out of 100) on Amazon's best seller list for books on horror cinema.

Personal Project Extract

2009-07-27T12:28:00.001+01:00

Rewriting Barbara: Night of the Living Dead (1990)

...In Romero’s revisions, the 1990’s Barbara begins the narrative in a similar manner to her 1969 counterpart but, instead of regressing into catatonia, she is becomes a positive force, an active, capable and strong person. The 1990’s Barbara becomes a continuation of the character Sarah from Day of the Dead (1985): as a scientist Sarah is written as someone who is fully aware of the situation, one who has a strong ethical stance and is driven to search for a practical solution to the undead threat. As an individual person, Romero writes her as a mature, sexual and capable woman. And, when the undead attack or bite, she proves herself to be an aggressive and effective survivor. The 1990’s Barbara demonstrates all of these qualities, consistently proving herself and consistently proving that for all the protective and macho posturing of Ben and Cooper, she is the most mature and masculine of them all.

Romero begins his remake in the same way as his original, with Johnny driving Barbara to the cemetery. As they drive through the desolate landscape, brother and sister bicker about their deceased mother. As the argument develops, Johnny accuses Barbara of being afraid of their mother. She immediately denies this but Johnny pursues the accusation by commenting that “She damn near drove you into a convent” and then “When was the last time you had a date?” Johnny’s implication of repression becomes all the more apparent when Barbara steps out of the car: bespectacled, she wears a blouse buttoned up to the collar over which she wears a pink knitted cardigan. Her heavy woollen skirt hangs below her knees.

As they approach their mother’s grave, Johnny continues his taunts until, inevitably, the first of the undead attacks, grabbing then clawing at Barbara. Both fall to the ground, Barbara’s glasses knocked from her face as they do so. As she tries to defend herself, Johnny attempts to pull the zombie off but his attempts are hampered by Barbara who, throughout the brief struggle, manages to both accidentally kick her brother’s face and stab his hand. As the struggle continues Barbara loses her cardigan, the top buttons of her blouse come undone and her shiny black shoes come off. The attack ends with Johnny managing to drag the undead person off his sister only to slip on one of her lost shoes and, as he falls, breaks his neck on a tombstone.

This opening sequence, although reasonably similar to the original, has great importance to the revised Barbara. Her life, up until this point, has clearly been dominated by her mother to the extent that her confidence and sexuality have been suffocated. During the opening struggle the clothes of her repression – the glasses, the cardigan, and the concealing blouse – are all stripped from her and her brother killed. Symbolically the dead have inadvertently undressed her of her repressed state.

Current Commissions

2009-07-20T09:20:00.002+01:00

In the final stages of the First Draft of the Doctor Who chapter for The Science Fiction Foundation and have taken some time out from commissions to work on a long-term personal project concerning Guillermo del Toro...

Current Commissions

2009-07-12T11:27:00.003+01:00

Completed the Doctor Who chapter for the Cambridge Scholars commission and have now begun work on the Emily Rose short essay for Electric Sheep: the text will examine the real-life events behind The Exorcism of Emily Rose and discuss their depiction in this film and Requiem. Preliminary texts have also been drafted for the second Doctor Who chapter for The Science Fiction Foundation publication.

Notebook Extract

2009-07-12T11:22:00.002+01:00

30 Days of Night

The sense of the vampire group functions as a family is reflected in the survivors and highlights their deficiency in the face of the Other: whereas the vampires are an organised collective and have trust in their leader, Marlow, the humans are disorganised and continually question their assumed leader, Eben. A further disparity occurs in the sense of relationships that occur within each group: the humans are survivors, familiar to each other only as friends and neighbours whilst the vampires, although from completely different families, are a family that is quite literally blood related through the contaminating bite of the vampire. As the film progresses, Marlow’s relationship with the dark haired female vampire suggests that they are, in some sense of the word, a couple. They respect each other, share victims and Marlow’s allows this ‘partner’ chance and opportunity to attack and kill before the others. In this state, they function as a normal couple, a further instance of difference that highlights the deficiency in the humans as this relationship is reflected in Eben and Stella: whereas the vampires suggest a healthy, mutual and equal relationship, Eben and Stella are clearly unhappy with each other to the extent that their relationship has collapsed and the pair have split up.

Interview Extract

2009-07-02T10:09:00.003+01:00

Rendering Nature: An interview with Richard Bell, Background Artist on Watership Down

Based upon Richard Adams best-selling novel Watership Down (1972), Martin Rosen’s animated adaptation (1978) is a remarkable achievement. As James Clarke suggests, “Watership Down is a seminal moment in British animation, building on the tradition set by Halas and Bachelor with Animal Farm as well as, in more general terms, showing that classical animation could be produced in Britain.” (2004, p.103) Part of the film’s sustained popularity lies in its ambiguity towards the audience: although one expects a film about rabbits to be aimed at children, the narrative and animation combines to create an ‘adult’ world, one which projects brutal images of violence and bloodshed alongside a commentary on the value of the landscape and humanity’s inherent need to destroy it.

Production on the film began in 1975, with producer Rosen employing Disney veteran John Hubley as director. Hubley worked on the film for a year but his desire to move away from animated realism contrasted with Rosen’s idea that for Watership Down needed to be as realistic as possible. By the end of the first year, Hubley had left the production and Rosen took over as director. Regardless of this early departure, commentators have suggested that Hubley’s approach is evident in the mythical prologue that opens the narrative as well as in the final scenes where Hazel is confronted by the rabbit’s harbinger of death, The Black Rabbit of Inlé.

In effort to explore the depths of this production, I contacted Richard Bell, one of the film’s Background Artists. Working as an artist with a considerable interest in natural history, Bell seemed like the ideal choice in relation to the film’s inherently realistic depictions of nature.

How did you come to be involved in Watership Down?

A painter friend of mine who had graduated a year ahead of me at the Royal College had gone to see the Watership Down people. She didn’t want to do it but she referred them to me. So I went to an interview with John Hubley. That was about a year after I’d graduated from college. They liked my work.

Once you were offered the job, did you visit the real Watership Down?

When I heard I got the job, I said, right, what I would like to do is go and see the place for myself and so they paid for my expenses. (Richard reaches across the table and picks up a sketchbook. He briefly leafs through it and then shows me a drawing of the landscape near Sandleford Warren.) I thought this is the sort of thing I should be drawing because I know they [the rabbits] have to cross this stream. Of course in the film its more of a river than that – you have to add a bit of drama. I actually found a lad who had caught a rabbit down in the valley here and I kept that in a homemade rabbit hutch but I felt so sorry for it that I soon let it go back down in the valley. (Richard flips through his sketchbook and finds the pages he is looking for, the spread of line drawings of rabbits.) Those are my versions of the main characters from Watership Down. The problem with making the rabbits naturalistic is that it is difficult to tell the difference between them so they had to be humanised to some small extent: if Bigwig was a big rabbit then he really was big and if Fiver was a little rabbit he really was scrawny.

Can you tell me about your interview with Hubley?

John Hubley looked through my sketchbooks and he said “I can see how we could use that” and there was a picture of May blossom and he said “I’d like to use something like this so that it would just be cut to white like a sketchbook page and you would have my shaky pen and ink drawing of this May blossom and then the rabbit would come in below.

So the rabbit would enter from off-screen onto the sketchbook page in order to step into the imaginary world of the drawing…

Hubley obviously had this playful sort of way he would have liked to have done it but I suspect that he could see that Watership Down was part of that English tradition of natural history illustration and he could obviously see that I was part of it too. He took me on. A couple of my painter friends came for interviews but, although I was accepted, by the time it came to decided on my pals working on it things had changed a lot at Watership Down. It became a different film…. It’s quite remarkable what Martin Rosen did with it but there’s this kind of lost film there that was never made, a concept film that never got made.

Recently Published...

2009-06-28T12:59:00.005+01:00

My first book, Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema since 1970 was published mid May this year by Auteur Publishing:

Though they are often critically neglected, British horror films make up a significant and steadily growing body of genre works within a nationally grounded cinema. Deeply rooted within the Gothic tradition, these post-Hammer Studio films place their antagonistic threats within contemporary Britain, allowing werewolves to roam the Moors and isolated islanders to practice Pagan sacrifice, hiding a family of cannibals behind the white tiled walls of the Underground, or unleashing a virulent plague that causes zombies to stumble through middle class suburbia. The juxtaposition between these unreal elements and the vivid Britishness of characters and locations has led to a collaborative body of work that examines the modern fears of contemporary Britain. Accessible to the general reader, Beyond Hammer provides new critical readings of classic, contemporary, and lesser known films of the post-Hammer British horror canon. Chronologically ordered, these chapters feature new and engaging readings of The Wicker Man, Death Line, An American Werewolf in London, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Hellraiser, 28 Days Later, The Last Horror Movie, Shaun of the Dead, and The Descent.

The book is currently ranked 24 (out of 100) in the Amazon Best Sellers list for books on Horror Cinema.

To purchase Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema since 1970 please follow one of these links:

Amazon.co.uk

Columbia University Press

Play.com

Auteur Publishing

Current Commissions

2009-06-25T12:25:00.003+01:00

Recently completed the Tim Burton essay for Splice and that has now been forwarded onto the editor. The second draft of the Alien 3 chapter is now finished and awaiting proof reading before being sent to the publisher. Have begun work on the Doctor Who chapter for the Cambridge Scholars publication.

Notebook Extract

2009-06-21T12:12:00.002+01:00

I always carry a notebook and pen with me. When travelling, waiting to meet someone or just sitting enjoying a cup of coffee, the notebook comes out and is used to jot down ideas, sentences, paragraphs and memos for possible commissions and personally instigated texts. What follows is a recent extract from my current notebook...

The Dark Half: King and Romero in Crisis

The Dark Half continues Stephen King's 'writer in crisis' concept as a means of exploring the act of authoring horror fiction: The Shinning and Misery (and to some extent Desperation) have as their protagonist a novelist who is trapped within a remote environment: Jack Torrance and his family are trapped within The Overlook Hotel whilst the severely crippled Paul Sheldon of Misery is held hostage by his 'Number One Fan', Annie Wilkes. As Torrance immerses himself deeper into insanity to sustain himself, so Sheldon uses his fear to write what turns out to be his best novel to date.

Of the two novels, The Dark Half bares the strongest resemblance to Misery: In both narratives the novelist kills off their best selling character (Sheldon's Misery Chastain and Beaumont's pseudonym George Stark) in order to write more 'serious' literary works. Their literary deaths are, however, short lived as each returns, in one form or another, to punish their creator. One cannot help but see these texts as King critiquing (and fearing) his own success - the paranoia of reprisal from the established audience (let alone a critical response) as well as the anxiety of how one is perceived as the creator of disturbing and violent acts: In Misery Sheldon writes for an audience of one, Annie Wilkes, yet as his 'Number One Fan' she is representative of all of Sheldon's fans (implying that readers of such fictions are as deranged as those within the novels) where as George Stark represents that dark secluded part of the writers personality that enables them to produce such horrific works of fiction.

As the threat to each writer increases, those around them are systematically killed and so implicate a sealing of the fate of the writer. Their only chance for survival ironically remains in their ability to write: Sheldon is aware that if he continues to write Wilkes will not kill him and so provides him with the opportunity to conceive of an escape plan where as Beaumont must confront his alter ego and write with him in order to prove that the dark and violent acts of the George Stark novels come from him and not his alter ego.

Within the novel King provides the reader with a multi layered text, one that is symbolically written in an almost schizophrenic style as it shifts from placid descriptions of the Beaumont's family life to the graphic descriptions of Stark's murders. As a novel of seemingly two halves one cannot help but continue to draw comparisons with the author himself, one who opted to publish some of his darker, more violent texts under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman.

Whilst King's critique is internalised and centred upon the self, Romero often presents an externalised analysis, using his characters and their isolated entrapment to deftly examine contemporary cultures decline into consumerist violence. Whilst doing this Romero, like King, makes use of images of extreme violence and gore to emphasise his point: the grotesquely decaying zombies of the Dead trilogy are the ultimate consumers, explicitly indulging in acts of mindless cannibalism.

Current Comissions

2009-06-21T12:06:00.003+01:00

Final Draft of Alien 3 chapter nearly finished. It just needs few descriptive details adding for coherence and the film dialogue quotations checked. Tim Burton essay proof read and needs very few, very minor changes. Commissioned earlier this week to write a text for Electric Sheep for their forthcoming issue: a comparative text between Requiem and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Recently Published

2009-06-16T11:35:00.000+01:00

The Spring 2009 edition of Electric Sheep features my DVD review of The Carnival of Souls.

Current Commissions...

2009-06-11T15:01:00.004+01:00

Completed the First Draft of Vincent and Victor: Two Short Films by Tim Burton for the Short Films edition of Splice (due for publication Winter 2009) yesterday. Whilst waiting for this text to be proof read, work will begin on the Final Draft of This is the place where everyone dies: Reading the Gothic in David Fincher's Alien 3 for the Gothic Science Fiction publication with Napier University.

Welcome

2009-06-11T13:43:00.000+01:00

Welcome to James Rose’s blog, a repository for his published works, current commission news, ongoing projects and general observations on Horror and Science Fiction film and television.

James Rose

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