The American Invasion – Camp and Cruelty
The American Invasion – Camp and Cruelty
This chapter discusses how British horror and American horror influenced each other. It talks about how the first wave of American horror in the 1930s was made possible by the input of British writers, actors and directors. It also discusses the contribution of American International Pictures to British horror. The chapter discusses the works of several American directors. It discusses Roger Corman, and how his work impacted some of the most legendary figures in the genre. It talks about the Poe series and how Vincent Price became one of the most distinctive voices in cinema. It describes Poe's stories as having unreliable narrators, a fixation on extreme psychological states and disturbing ambiguity. It discusses how his works have been adapted and reworked, not only by film-makers but also by musicians, authors and theatre companies, and how the chaos, madness and all-pervading sense of impending catastrophe which permeate his work are still relevant today. The chapter then discusses the representation of murder as performance art/artistic expression. It talks about the notion of the 'artist killer' and the long tradition of the 'cultured monster'.
Keywords: American horror, British horror, American International Pictures, Roger Corman, Edgar Allan Poe, Vincent Price, adaptations, artist killer, cultured monster, murder
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