Sometimes nothing but a 70s British horror film will do. In the days before multiplexes and US-owned cinema chains strangled the British film industry, we knew how to make films which weren't either precious period dramas or mockney gangster tripe. We didn't have to rely on greasy yanks to give us our exploitation kicks. We made berserk pagan horror films like The Wicker Man or Blood on Satan's Claw. Demented domestic dramas like Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly and Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? Controversial major-league films such as A Clockwork Orange and Straw Dogs. Not to mention Hammer or Pete Walker…
It's pleasant to be able to display unrestrained enthusiasm for a film book. Much as I abhor the cheesy, breathless 'book of the year - and it's only March' style of reviewing, this time it's the only cap that fits. This book is awesome. Encyclopaedic, immaculately designed, lavishly illustrated with stills and garish promotional artwork, and featuring reviews which effortlessly straddle the worlds of fandom and serious film criticism, this is already my favourite film book - and I have many - as well as the incontestable book of the year.
As to its vital stats, it comes in paperback and hardback editions, both oversize (300 x 240 mm), and covers British horror films (interpreted in a broad rather than a narrow sense) alphabetically from 1970 to 1979. All details of cast and crew are listed for each film, and two reviews are often given when films are particularly important or divisive of critical opinion. The book's edited by Harvey Fenton, head honcho at FAB, and David Flint, a freelance writer who used to edit Divinity and recently wrote Babylon Blue, Creation Books' excellent history of porno cinema; those reviews not by them are by critics like Kim Newman and Stephen Thrower, along with others of a similar calibre. The level of research is, as you'd expect from an FAB book, superlative, with more information than anyone would ever need on turkeys like Trog and The Legacy, and the book also lists short films and experimental works from the period as well as TV series, foreign films shot in the UK, 'borderline cases' and films which were announced but never made. There are 48 pages of lush colour comprising stills, ad mats and posters, many foreign, and each film listed is heavily illustrated in the main body of the text. What more do you want?
The only downside to this book is its rhythm - the early 70s were an incredibly rich period for British genre film production, and it just goes downhill from there. By the time you get to 1977 there's only a handful of films being made, and most of them are appalling. A good many of the better films listed here are, moreover, extremely difficult to see, although as of this writing (early October 2001) vintage British horror movies are being screened every weekend, and some of the better independent video rental firms will provide rich pickings. Just don't expect Blockbusters to help you out. Hopefully the renewed attention to a hitherto marginalised part of the British cultural heritage will spark off some more independent productions - although there's no need to involve Robin Askwith this time…
It's no exaggeration to say that FAB publish the best film books in the country. Titan's Pete Tombs books are great, some of the Creation books are excellent and Faber's Directors series has been invaluable - but I can't imagine any other publisher taking a punt on these glossy, relatively low-cost books for what must seem like a marginal market. But FAB are clearly not in it just to make money. This is a labour of love on a grand scale, rather than a cynical attempt to cash in on a fad for 'weird' films. Even before this, FAB's directors series, covering to date Ruggero Deodato, Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento, proved that cult film books didn't have to be shoddy and overpriced - this, and their forthcoming books on Mario Bava and Donald Cammell, simply make the world a better place to live in. A truly superlative work.Hit the 'back' key in your browser to return to subject index page