[DOC] Performed Imaginaries by Richard Schechner in Arts-Photography

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Crack for 80s Horror fansBy CJThis is a very full and addictive account of 80s horror; including some truly obscure gems and turkeys. It took a tremendous effort for Muir to wade through all of this material and look deeply into each movie; although it was obviously a labor of love; and he had help. When he reviews a movie; he doesnt just crank out a paragraph or two to describe it; he lists contemporary or retro "professional" reviews; then offers his own highly detailed breakdown of the story and the motivations of the writers and the characters. For legendary movies such as The Shining; he gives several pages of material for your consumption; and it really is difficult to put it down once you start reading! He also gives a lengthy intro to the book which identifies and discusses the tried and true cliches of 80s horror; such as the disposable teen campers; which includes the nerd; the jock; the hot tramp; the virginal last girl; etc. Its true; Ive seen all of these play out a millions times in 80s flicks.The only real flaw of the book is that he goes WAY out into left field (pun intended) on many occasions to attack Reagan and his imagined Republican conspiracy behind everything; which is out of place and distracting. Those are his personal views; and more often than not were probably not important to the creators of the movies. At times its as if youre reading a left wing blog that happens to have a movie review section. Fortunately; he doesnt insist on doing this for every review. This would be an easy 5-star collection if edited to remove the political blather. Even so; its still well worth having and will help you find more rare movies to add to your stash! Looking forward to checking out his 70s horror collection soon.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. If you liked the first volume..By Sergio pescadorTotally amazing.All the minor details to improve from the first set; are corrected here:Shorter reviews; great trivia; the words of someone who knows his stuffAt first I fear a complete "slasher" beatdown (A personal genre favourite) but all the authors opinions are founded.A really entertaining and fascinanting reading; the whole political panorama; it left me speechless.This book series deserve to be on the Smithsonian.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Amazing job on 80s horror!! Well done!!! A must for any horror fanBy CustomerI bought this book when it first came out and I have not put it down since. I had to track down the 70s edition as well after going through this one. He hits it out of the park. The layout of the book is great. Its broken down by years and movie titles are alphabetical order within each year; making a search for a particular movie very easy to find.One of the great things about this book (and there are MANY...I cant wait for the 90s edition...HURRY UP SEPT. 2011!!) is that he includes oddball titles that only TRUE HORROR fans would know about. This gives everyone an opportunity to learn more about these movies. Yes; FRIDAY THE 13th; NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and HALLOWEEN are all represented; but so is HELL NIGHT; MOTEL HELL; WITHOUT WARNING; etc. There were a LOT of movies in this book that I didnt even know about. And a good portion of my DVD collection is made up of 80s horror movies.I am a TRUE horror fan; especially 80s horror; and if you need to get one book on 80s horror; this is the one!!