In the early years of the 21st century, an obscure sub-genre of horror suddenly exploded in popularity. 'Road horror' had its roots in Hitchcock's Psycho and Tobe Hooper's classic Texas Chain Saw Massacre – but why this, and why now?
In this study, critic and screenwriter Toby Venables (His House) tracks the origins of the phenomenon, showing how US filmmakers broke away from Gothic, European roots to create a uniquely American – uniquely gory – form of horror cinema, spurred by traumatic, real-world events.
What starts in familiar territory – the Old World Universal horror movies of the 1930s and 1940s – becomes a twisted road trip through an array of distinctly American landscapes, from the frontier lands of the Western and the claustrophobic cities of film noir, to the irradiated deserts of 1950s creature features, and with an unexpected stop at the home of the man who unwittingly inspired the whole sub-genre: murderer and grave robber, Ed Gein.
In this study, critic and screenwriter Toby Venables (His House) tracks the origins of the phenomenon, showing how US filmmakers broke away from Gothic, European roots to create a uniquely American – uniquely gory – form of horror cinema, spurred by traumatic, real-world events.
What starts in familiar territory – the Old World Universal horror movies of the 1930s and 1940s – becomes a twisted road trip through an array of distinctly American landscapes, from the frontier lands of the Western and the claustrophobic cities of film noir, to the irradiated deserts of 1950s creature features, and with an unexpected stop at the home of the man who unwittingly inspired the whole sub-genre: murderer and grave robber, Ed Gein.
Used availability for Toby Venables's American Dream - American Nightmare