Boris Karloff: A Gentleman’s Life
By Scott Allen Nollen.
Published by Midnight Marquee, 1999. 356 pages.
Category Archives: Reviews: Horror Reference Book
Book Review: Boris Karloff: The Man Remembered
Boris Karloff: The Man Remembered
By Gordon B. Shriver
Published by Publish America, 2004. 208 pages.
Book Review: Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares
Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares
By Gary D. Rhodes
Published by Collectables Records Corp, 2007. 352 pages.
Book Review: The Films of Boris Karloff
The Films of Boris Karloff
By Richard Bojarski & Kenneth Beals
Published by Citadel Press, 1974. 287 pages.
Book Review: I Cannot, Yet I Must
I Cannot, Yet I Must: The True Story of the Best Bad Monster Movie of All Time
by Anders Runestad
Published by Radiosonde Books, 2015. 680 Pages.
“I cannot – yet I must. How do you calculate that?
At what point on the graph do “must” and “cannot” meet? Yet I must – but I cannot!”
Book Review: The Overlook Film Encyclopedia
The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Horror
Edited by Phil Hardy
Published by The Overlook Press, 1994. 496 pages.
This was originally published in 1986 under the title of Encyclopedia of Horror; then revised and expanded in 1994, under the title this title. Hardy provided horror fans with a literal historical tome of reviews of films from all over the world, starting with the silent movie years through to the modern era. This book was the first one that we came across that not had only a review of the film, but also listed useful information such as alternate titles (which came in quite useful with foreign films, considering all the different titles they were being released under), country of origin, cast, crew, and running times (although those times are still debated to this day and caused grief for many collectors).
Book Review: Hammer Glamour
Hammer Glamour
By Marcus Hearn
Published by Titan Books, 2009. 160 pages.
One of the things that Hammer was known for was the lovely ladies that filled their movies. This book is a celebration of those women. At first glance, you might be disappointed that this isn’t the cheesecake type of book that most would have thought (and probably hoped). Sure, there are plenty of photos throughout this tome, and a few of them a bit cheeky, but most of them are just studio glamour shots of the actresses. But it is an excellent mini-biography book of the many beautiful women that graced their films. We all know the names of Ingrid Pitt, Veronica Carlson, and Caroline Munro, but there are so many others like Diane Clare, all are given a little spotlight, giving us info about their careers and their lives.
Book Review: The Hammer Vampire
The Hammer Vampire
By Bruce G. Hallenbeck
Published by Hemlock Books, 2010. 240 pages.
Now being pretty familiar with Hammer films already, I was wondering just what I was going to be able to learn that I didn’t know already. But this just goes to show you that when it comes to horror history, we are all students of the genre. I have been a fan of Hallenbeck’s work every since I discovered Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine quite a few years ago. I believe it was issue # 8 which came out in May of 1984. It had a shot from The Vampire Lovers on the cover and the main article was written by Hallenbeck. In fact, believe in most of the issues, the main article was written by him. There is a reason for that. Mr. Hallenbeck knows his Hammer. With each issue of the magazine, we learn more and more about the “studio that dripped blood” and the people that worked there. This book is no different.
Book Review: Classics of the Horror Film
Classics of the Horror Film
By William K. Everson
Published by Citadel Press, 1974. 246 pages.
Recently, I posted our review of Denis Gifford’s Pictorial History of Horror Movies, stating it was one of the real first of its kind. This book here was another one, and is again, one that is remembered by older fans as being a book from their childhood that opened their eyes to so many movie monsters.
Everson was another film scholar and collector that set out to save and preserve thousands of films from the ’20s and 30’s from being destroyed. He would go to great lengths to not only find rare films, but more importantly, made it a point to have screenings of them, giving others the opportunity to see them, even when some of these screenings would get him in trouble with the studios, arguing the ownership of the prints. But Everson’s whole point was to let audiences see these movies and to keep them from being forgotten.
Book Review: Hammer Films – A Life in Pictures
Hammer Films – A Life in Pictures
by Wayne Kinsey
Published by Tomahawk Press, 2008. 240 Pages.
Being a huge Hammer fan, I knew this was a book I was going to add to my collection eventually. Luckily for me, it was given to me as a recent birthday gift. And what better gift could a movie fan ask for? This book is a filled with over 600 photos covering the history of Hammer Films. There are candid shots, on the set production stills, promo shots, and much more. In these pages, you’ll see shots of actors like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Oliver Reed, Ingrid Pitt, the Collinson twins, directors like Freddie Francis and Terence Fisher, and many more. Most are in black and white, but there are a few full color shots, all showing the beauty of these films and the people that made them. I have to say the candid ones were the ones I enjoyed the best. You’ll see some familiar ones but a lot that you’ve probably never seen before.
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