Investigates how horror films have rendered the human body as a media artifact, dramatically dis-figuring it with optical effects and visual fragmentation
Demonstrates how a range of different horror subgenres depict bodily mediation, from the vampire's association with optical effects to the use of editing, colour and sound to blur or fragment bodily forms
Argues that horror films do not merely reflect 'anxieties' regarding contemporary media technologies, but rather produce distinctive conceptual framings of the body and/as media
Covers a wide range of subgenres spanning the history of the genre, addressing classic horror films alongside popular and innovative contemporary works
Balances theoretical engagement with readability, and incorporates close readings of specific films
Horror cinema grants bodies and images a precarious hold on sense and order: from the zombie's gory disintegration to the shaky visuals of 'found footage' horror, and from the vampire's absent reflection to the spectacle of shattering glass in the Italian giallo. Addressing classic horror movies alongside popular and innovative contemporary works, Visceral Screens investigates how they have rendered the human form as a media artefact, dramatically dis-figuring it with optical effects, chromatic shifts, glitches and audiovisual fragmentation. Conducting their own anatomies of the screen, cutting into the matter of cinema, horror films revel in the breakdown of frames, patterns and figures, undermining subjectivity and meaning.
- ISBN10 1399511246
- ISBN13 9781399511247
- Publish Date 25 January 2023
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Edinburgh University Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 216
- Language English