Product Description

A kaleidoscopic journey through the heyday of Horror and Exploitation Cinema in America! Running to 528 large-format pages, Nightmare USA is a veritable encyclopedia of grindhouse cinema! From Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill) to Eli Roth (Hostel), the young guns of modern Hollywood just can't get enough of that exploitation film high. That's because, between 1970 and 1985, American Exploitation movies went berserk. Luridly titled wonders like The Headless Eyes, Scream Bloody Murder and Hitch Hike to Hell were everywhere, touting a combination of mind-bruising violence, weird sex and drug-soaked delirium. American exploitation movies added immensely to the richness of the nation's cinema, but they have remained persona non grata in most serious studies of American film. Until now... Built on five years of research, Nightmare USA explores the development of America's subterranean horror film industry, spotlighting some of the wildest films imaginable from an era unchecked by censorship or 'good taste.' Ranging from cult favourites like I Drink Your Blood to stylish mind-benders like Messiah of Evil and ultra-violent shockers like Don't Go in the House, Nightmare, USA goes where no other in-depth study has gone before, revealing the fascinating true stories behind classics and obscurities alike. Nightmare USA is the reader's guide to what lies beyond the mainstream of American horror, dispelling the shadows to meet the men and women behind fifteen years of screen terror: the Exploitation Independents! This massive overview of the Horror genre's development through the 1970s and 1980s features: In-depth EXCLUSIVE interviews with 25 grindhouse movie makers, many of whom are discussing their work for the first time ever in print. Over 175 individual films reviewed, with full cast and crew credits. Vast quantities of previously unpublished stills, posters, press-books, plus behind-the-scenes photographs from the filmmakers' own collections. TABLE OF CONTENTS Section On

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #158012 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 527 pages

About the Author
Stephen Thrower is a musician and writer, author of Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci, and editor of The Eyeball Compendium, both published by FAB Press. He has also written about horror and 'off-mainstream' cinema in the following books: Shock Xpress Vol.1 (ed. Stefan Jaworzyn), The BFI Companion to Horror (ed. Kim Newman), Art of Darkness: the Cinema of Dario Argento (ed. Chris Gallant), Flesh & Blood Compendium (ed. Harvey Fenton), Ten Years of Terror (ed. Harvey Fenton & David Flint); Horror - A Century of Cinema on the Dark Side (ed. James Marriott), and No Focus (eds. Barber & Sargeant)

Customer Reviews

I second that emotion.
The Amazon description above is completely accurate and I totally agree with the previous review. This is a tremendous piece of work and well worth what Amazon is charging for it, though I would have baulked at the full price.

That's it. This isn't a review. Now please go buy it and make sure volume 2 comes out.

PS. If this appeals to you, you'll probably enjoy 'Sleazoid Express'.

A 5 star book worth its price.
Stephen Thrower's "Nightmare USA" covers USA's golden era of exploitation cinema anthropology: 1970 - 1985. This 500+ page tome, replete with hundreds of ad-mats, posters, video covers and stills (including two colour sections) is nothing short of a triumph of journalistic endeavour, perseverance and research. An absolute delight to either just peruse quickly or anchor down in one of the many revelatory interviews with long-forgotten/"I thought you were dead!" protagonists. A sizeable number of these (in some cases astro-obscure) films have never been reviewed or celebrated before.

Also included is a 100+ page review section, kick-starting with "The Alchemist", through "Jekyll and Hyde Portfolio" (cited as one of the rarest videos in the world - undoubtedly!) and finishing up with Matt Cimber's "The Witch who came from the Sea".

Solid gold from start to finish, and without question one of the film books of the year (with Part 2 on the way). You won't be disappointed.

The book of the year already
This is a splendid book

Stephen Thrower's previous book from FAB press " Beyond Terror : The Films of Lucio Fulci" was a landmark book that has yet to be surpassed, a witty and intriguing examination of the work of a genre giant which was in and of itself a work of art. No wonder it is near impossible to find - my own copy remains wrapped in impermeable plastic and will have to be prised from my cold, dead hands before anyone else will get a hold of it, and even then I'll be coming after them from the grave.

This new book surpasses the high standards set by his previous work. Incredibly, from the dregs of American trash cinema Mr Thrower has created a work of art. Profusely illustrated, beautifully written and unapologetically enthusiastic for the sub-genre of American horror independents from a period in the 70s and early 80s when being "Indie" actually meant something this is a work you will return to and relish again and again.

When he considers the familiar - George Romero, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Tobe Hooper and the like - he manages to find something new to say on works that this reader at least had been discussed to death, whether it be an acid dissection of Blood Feast or an appreciation for the long undervalued and much kicked Death Trap. Yet when he turns to the obscure, the bizarre and the unknown one can only applaud Mr Thrower's diligence and commitment - I'm not sure I could sit through something like Black Devil Doll From Hell then pen a five thousand word review and examination readily. But then, I don't have to because he's already done it for me.

As I first read through this book I felt slightly guilty that I was having loads of fun reading about films I would never have to watch whilst Stephen Thrower had done all the hard work of enduring movies such as, say, Pigs or The Deadly Spawn and then sought out - hunted down ? - the people responsible for committing their creations to celluloid. Yet the more I read the more I too wanted to see these films. Well, alright, some of these films...

That's a mark of the great writers of film study - they both find something new to say about films the reader is familiar with and encourage said reader to go out and experience the unknown for themselves. Stephen Thrower did this with Fulci and he's done it again here - the pull of the American nightmare becomes impossible to resist. Buy, enjoy - and try to save the pennies for the promised second volume. But be warned - it'll be difficult because, like me, you'll find yourself seeking out the films Stephen discusses.

I suspect that was his plan all along...