Necronomicon: The Journal of Horror and Erotic Cinema, Book 2

Andy Black (Editor)

London: Creation Books, 1998; Pages: 191

This lavishly illustrated tome is the second on the subject, and is again edited by Andy Black. Much like its predecessor, N2 is a grab-bag of essays, of varying interest and quality.

Among the better ones are "Perverse Bodies, Profane Texts," on the connection between the philosophy of De Sade and the mix of violence and sex in the films of Jess Franco (the accompanying interview with the director is perhaps more telling than the analysis). The essay "Strange Images of Death," which deals with the work of director Polanski and the link between his conceptualization of violence in Macbeth and his personal tragedy in the wake of the Manson murders, is another interesting (and somewhat disturbing) piece. If you can sit through the turgid prose in "Anna With The Devil Inside" and "Monstrous Mother," you might obtain insight into Dario Argento's treatment of women in "The Stendhal Syndrome" and the Three Mothers films. The last memorable essay is "Improper Burials, Unburied Memories," which deals with breaking of the cannibalism and incest taboos in "Night of the Living Dead."

The rest of the book can be painful to read: the authors really can't write very well and their insights leave much to be desired. There is the unfortunate tendency to drab the prose with pop psychology (or, rather, psychoanalysis), but there's also the badly concealed desire to come up with an original twist where none exists. Still, some essays do contain minor gems now and then, so you should not skip them.

February 27, 2001. BLS

@BOOK{black-98:necro2,
    TITLE     = {Necronomicon: The Journal of Horror and Erotic Cinema},
    VOLUME    = {2},
    EDITOR    = {Andy Black},
    YEAR      = {1998},
    PUBLISHER = {Creation Books},
    ADDRESS   = {London},
    ISBN      = {1-871592-38-0},
    NOTE      = {Pp. 191}
}