Devouring whirlwind : terror and transcendence in the cinema of cruelty
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Devouring whirlwind : terror and transcendence in the cinema of cruelty
（Contributions to the study of popular culture, no. 21）
Greenwood Press, 1988
- : lib. bdg. : alk. pap
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Note
Bibliography: p. [189]-195
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
As the popularity of the genre increases and special effects are pushed to greater extremes of terror and cruelty, more and more people have begun to wonder, what is the attraction of horror films? Do they have any socially redeeming features? Rockett offers some surprising and provocative answers to these questions in his analysis of the cinema of cruelty. First commenting on our fascination with experiences that transcend the world of ordinary reality, he looks at film as a means of expressing the dark side of human nature. Next, he examines the essential ingredients that go into the making of a horror film, the variations that are found within the genre, and the links between the best horror cinema and Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty. Echoing Artaud, Rockett argues that human beings are attracted to horror in films because of an unconscious craving for a reality in which the demonic supernatural acts as a living whirlwind, devouring the darkness and bringing viewers closer to the transcendence they are actually seeking. The final chapter shows how the finest works in the horror genre achieve this underlying aim. He discusses filmmakers such as Roman Polanski, who have been able to provide the realism and artistic quality that contemporary audiences demand while preserving the ambiguity and terror necessary to experience the power of transcendent force. Rockett's skillful and imaginative exploration of the subject will be appreciated by scholars and general readers concerned with popular culture, film, literature, drama, and contemporary social issues.
Table of Contents
Introduction The Unhealthy Postulate and Transcendence The Unhealthy Postulate The Attractions of Horror The Ways of Transcendence The Cinema and Transcendence A Cinema of Cruelty The Horror Canon The Varieties of Horror Fear, Horror, and Terror The Unheimlich and the Fantastic The Theatre of Cruelty and the Cinema of Cruelty The Mise-en-Scene of the Cinema of Cruelty The Transcendental Style: Realism and Atmosphere Dramatic Setting Character: Humans and Monsters Dramatic Structure and Convention Films of the Cinema of Cruelty Bibliography Index
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