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Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business,
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Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953-1968 Hardcover - 2004

by Kevin Heffernan


From the publisher

The Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Tingler, the Mole People--they stalked and oozed into audiences' minds during the era that followed Boris Karloff's Frankenstein and preceded terrors like Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Chucky (Child's Play). Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold pulls off the masks and wipes away the slime to reveal how the monsters that frightened audiences in the 1950s and 1960s--and the movies they crawled and staggered through--reflected fundamental changes in the film industry. Providing the first economic history of the horror film, Kevin Heffernan shows how the production, distribution, and exhibition of horror movies changed as the studio era gave way to the conglomeration of New Hollywood.

Heffernan argues that major cultural and economic shifts in the production and reception of horror films began at the time of the 3-d film cycle of 1953-54 and ended with the 1968 adoption of the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings system and the subsequent development of the adult horror movie--epitomized by Rosemary's Baby. He describes how this period presented a number of daunting challenges for movie exhibitors: the high costs of technological upgrade, competition with television, declining movie attendance, and a diminishing number of annual releases from the major movie studios. He explains that the production and distribution branches of the movie industry responded to these trends by cultivating a youth audience, co-producing features with the film industries of Europe and Asia, selling films to television, and intensifying representations of sex and violence. Shining through Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold is the delight of the true horror movie buff, the fan thrilled to find The Brain that Wouldn't Die on television at 3 am.

From the rear cover

"This is the kind of book on horror films that I've been waiting years to read. Combining a historian's rigor and a fan's enthusiasm, Kevin Heffernan shows us how industrial considerations shaped the genre and how the marginalized horror film has in fact been at the center of changes in the American movie business for the past fifty years."--Eric Schaefer, author of ""Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!": A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959"

Details

  • Title Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953-1968
  • Author Kevin Heffernan
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Pages 336
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Duke University Press
  • Date 2004-03
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780822332022 / 0822332027
  • Weight 1.42 lbs (0.64 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.54 x 6.28 x 1.08 in (24.23 x 15.95 x 2.74 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 1950's
    • Chronological Period: 1960's
    • Chronological Period: 20th Century
  • Library of Congress subjects Horror films - United States - History and
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2003016429
  • Dewey Decimal Code 791.436

Media reviews

Citations

  • Choice, 10/01/2004, Page 300
  • Univ PR Books for Public Libry, 01/01/2005, Page 65

About the author

Kevin Heffernan is Assistant Professor in the Division of Cinema-Television at Southern Methodist University. He is the coauthor of My Son Divine and co-screenwriter and associate producer of the documentary Divine Trash, winner of the Filmmakers Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.

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Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold : Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953-1968
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold : Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953-1968

by Heffernan, Kevin

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Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold : Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953-1968
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold : Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953-1968

by Heffernan, Kevin

  • Used
Condition
Used - Very Good
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780822332022 / 0822332027
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$87.34
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Wiley & Sons, Limited, John. Used - Very Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects.
Item Price
$87.34
FREE shipping to USA