31 Days of Halloween - Day 3

Euro Gothic by Jonathan Rigby

Signum Books. 2016.


If there's one area of horror cinema that I know the least about, it's the films that came out of continental Europe. Too many movies had very similar titles (or multiple titles) with quality varying widely and extremely. The best known directors had very inconsistent quality within their own output. Films weren't as easy to come by either. The whole regional genre output seemed like an impenetrable maze.

Now, with Rigby's new book, I have a map. Focusing on the countries of Germany, Italy, Spain, and France from the dawn of cinema through the mid 1980s, this is a comprehensive examination of key (and some utterly disposable films) from this region of the globe. Like me, you'll probably want to keep a list of movies to find while reading this.

If you've read Rigby's other two regional studies, American Gothic and English Gothic, as well as his Studies in Terror, you'll know that his research and observations are outstanding, and that these are essential books for fans of the horror film. If you haven't read any of them, then acquire them as soon as you can. You'll thank me.