We're Back...

Well, things have been quiet here for the past few months. The main reason for this is that I've been finishing writing up my PhD thesis, on Deleuzean Hybridity in the films of Leone and Argento. I'll be submitting it on Monday and so should then be in a position to start writing and reviewing again :-)

Prior to that I was working on an article on Italian Gothic and Giallo. If the abstract sounds of interest to you send me your email and I'll send you the PDF:

Italian horror cinema is commonly divided into two periods and genres. An initial classical Gothic period spanned the years from 1956 to 1966 and was followed by a modern giallo (thriller) period from 1970 to 1982. Whilst accepting this broad distinction, this paper seeks to add nuance by considering the hybrid elements of three key films by three of the most important directors working in the giallo and horror area, namely Riccardo Freda with I Vampiri (1956), Mario Bava with The Girl Who Knew too Much (1963) and Dario Argento with Deep Red (1975). Drawing in particular upon Nöel Carroll’s idea of “fearing fictions”, I contend that Freda’s film, the first Italian horror movie since the silent era, is notable for being a distinctively modern vampire film; that Bava’s film, a foundational giallo, may be seen as having a palimpsest in Jane Austen’s Gothic parody Northanger Abbey; and that Argento’s film, while often taken as the paradigmatic giallo, has supernatural horror elements that push it in the direction of the Gothic.

Laughable article in the Daily Heil

Psychology Professor Craig Jackson on media violence - writing in the Daily Heil

His article includes this little gem:

One of the most infamous examples was the torture and murder of James Bulger in 1993. For his killers, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, were said to be enthusiasts of the macabre horror film Child’s Play 3 about the murderous doll Chucky who comes to life.

What he fails to mention, of course, is that there is no evidence that Venables and Thompson ever saw Child's Play 3; that this was just an unsubstantiated claim made by the sensationalist gutter press such as the very newspaper his article appears in.

I hope Martin Barker chimes in and tears this guy a new one...