Naked and the Undead: Evil and the Appeal of Horror [Anglais] [Relié]

"Cynthia Freeland has succeeded in providing a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the horror film." --Ce texte fait référence à l'édition Broché .

"Freeland's rich cognitive account...takes us a big jump forward in understanding why horror movies fascinate, even as they repel us." --Ce texte fait référence à l'édition Broché .

" This is an excellent study." --Ce texte fait référence à l'édition Broché .

Examines philosophical aspects of evil by looking at horror films from a feminist perspective

In this book, Cynthia Freeland seeks to counter both aesthetic disdain and moral condemnation toward horror by focusing on a select body of important and revealing films, demonstrating how the genre is capable of deep philosophical reflection about the existence and the nature of evil-both human and cosmic. In exploring these films, Freeland argues against a purely psychoanalytic approach and opts for both feminist and philosophical understandings. Freeland is particularly interested in showing how gender figures into screen presentations of evil. Written for film enthusiasts and students, the book examines a wide array of films including The Silence of the Lambs, Repulsion, Frankenstein, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Alien, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, Psycho, Frenzy, Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, Hellraiser, and many others.

"Horror is often dismissed as mass art or lowbrow entertainment that produces only short-term thrills. Horror films can be bloody, gory, and disturbing, prompting people to argue that they have bad moral effects, inciting viewers to imitate cinematic violence or desensitizing them to atrocities. In The Naked and the Undead: Evil and the Appeal of Horror, Cynthia A. Freeland seeks to counter both aesthetic disdain and moral condemnation by focusing on a select body of important and revealing films, demonstrating how the genre is capable of deep philosophical reflection about the existence and nature of evil - both human and cosmic. In exploring these films, the author argues against a purely psychoanalytic approach and opts for both feminist and philosophical understandings. She looks at what it is in these movies that serves to elicit specific reactions in viewers and why such responses as fear and disgust are ultimately pleasurable. The author is particularly interested in showing how gender figures into screen presentations of evil."--BOOK JACKET.

Cynthia Freeland is a professor of philosophy at the University of Houston.