The Cult Film Reader

Over the last decade there has been an explosion of critical interest around the global traditions, traits and themes of cult cinema.

Whether defined by horror, kung-fu, sci-fi, sexploitation, blaxploitation, kitsch musical or 'weird world cinema', cult cinema studies has emerged as a distinct strand of film and media theory dedicated to dissecting the world's unruliest images.

However, despite its emergence as one of the most popular and debated areas of cinema research, there has never been a textbook or collection that brings together key works in the field and presents them for use by the film and media studies student and researcher. "The Cult Film Reader" is the first reader of its kind to contain the major essays written on the structure, form, status, and reception of global cult cinema traditions. "The Cult Film Reader" includes work from key established scholars in the field (Janet Staiger, Jeffrey Sconce, Umberto Eco, Barry Keith Grant), as well as new takes on the gradually developing canon of cult cinema.

The book not only presents an overview of ways in which cult cinema can be approached, it also re-assesses the methods used to study the cult text and its audience."The Cult Film Reader" dissects some of biggest trends, icons, auteurs and periods of global cult film production.

Films discussed in volume include well-known classics like "Casablanca", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Eraserhead", "Get Carter" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", alongside more recent, but equally important films in the canon of cult ("Showgirls", "Ginger Snaps", biker movies, "Ichi the Killer", burleseque films, Hong Kong cinema, Italian 'slasher' cycles and Turkish trash movies).

Written in a lively and accessible style, "The Cult Film Reader" provides a comprehensive introduction to one of film studies most significant areas of interest.

The volume will be invaluable to the wide variety of undergraduate programmes that run modules on cult cinema, as well as being of interest to researchers working in the fields of contemporary film theory, gender studies, audience research and reception theory.