Following the success of my Miskatonic London talk, SYNTHETIC FLESH/ROTTEN BLOOD, based on my book THE TURN TO GRUESOMENESS IN AMERICAN HORROR FILMS, 1931-1936, I'm delighted to announce more UK dates for the talk.
YORK, CITY SCREEN PICTUREHOUSE - 11 JUNE 2017
BIRMINGHAM, SHOCK AND GORE FESTIVAL - 2 AUGUST 2017
INFO AND TICKETS
BELPER, DERBYSHIRE, KUNST GALLERY - 28 OCTOBER 2017
INFO AND TICKETS
MANCHESTER, FESTIVAL OF FANTASTIC FILMS - OCTOBER 2017 (T.B.C)
NEWCASTLE, NOVOCASTRIA MACABRE - (T.B.C)
"Mad
scientists...sadistic torture...maniac killers. Alongside gangster movies and
sex pictures, thirties horror films used sensational images to attract
thrill-hungry audiences during the darkest days of the Great Depression. From Frankenstein (1931) to Freaks (1932) to The Black Cat (1934) to The
Raven (1935), studios ballyhooed the public with ‘supershockers’ that left
the moral guardians up in arms. Filmmakers like James Whale, Tod Browning and
Edgar G. Ulmer exulted in the gruesome and the brutal, flouting the Hays Code
at every turn. Eventually, in July 1934, the censors struck back, banning
‘gruesomeness’ from horror, and the genre lost its fangs. Everyone soon forgot
how shocking those 1930s films were.
Until now.
Join author and Starburst film critic Jon Towlson on a graphic journey through 'pre-Code' 1930s horror cinema. Experience the terrors of synthetic flesh, the agonies of rotten blood, and abandon any preconceptions you may have that classic horror cinema is cosy and safe - classics like Dr. X (1932) and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1931) may be closer to modern day torture porn than you think..."
