An ok reference book that begins with the silents. I didn't like the comments on the quality of the films, since I like to make up my own mind, but there were loads of stuff I haven't seen or even heard of. The pictures were nice as well, and the fact that they got the legendary Peter Cushing to write the introduction is pretty amazing. Appealing layout-wise, but maybe overall not a must-read.

Material for Bachelor's Thesis

My first film noir ever was The Blue Dahlia (1946). I remember liking it, but didn't think it as anything special. Around three years ago, when my film craziness really started to take off, I stumbled upon Kiss Me Deadly (1955). My mouth was basically gaping the whole time, it was in a lot of ways modern and ahead of its time. Film noirs play with lights and shadows, making the atmosphere dark and without any dash of hope. This book works as a great introduction to the genre and its main features (or, as Silver says, a style as much as a genre), and even if you know everything there is to know about the topic, I'd imagine the pictures are still worth it. The font of the pages is white on black background, and so it fits perfectly with the overall look.

3.5 stars.

Wonderfully detailed package about the early inventions in the motion picture field. Ended up skimming some of the higly technical stuff that I wasn't interested in but otherwise I learned a lot. There's so much in the early history of cinema you wouldn't believe it!

Highly recommended for all horror fans. Although I missed some more info on art since this was a study in visual horror there were many interesting points made and Skal's writing is engaging. Too bad I didn't have time to read this in one day, I really could have. PS. Shame on me but I had heard of Vampira only briefly somewhere and now I found out she was Finnish and used to hang out with James Dean!