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Rating: 
Summary: a historically important but dumb book
Review: Wood is one of the most important film reviewers out there. He was essential to the application of film analysis to horror films and provided something of a language to discuss the unique films of the 70s. If you're interested in film criticism as a field, you ought to read this book simply because of Wood's historical importance. That said, however, what he actually says is pretty dumb. His classification of films as "incoherent," "progressive," or "reactionary" is pretty random. For example, he derides The Omen as reactionary (which primarly means supportive of a traditional view of the family), completely denying the confusion created by putting pure evil in the form of an infant. His ideas about an ideal society, based on a peculiar form of radical feminism, are given a focus that overrides specifics of particular films he claims to be analyzing. And that form of feminism (in which promiscuous, gay men are the ideal of masculinity) isn't something everyone would consider an appropriate form of feminism. I consider myself a pretty strong feminist, but I see his ideals as a wrong turn at best. He's not always wrong (his analysis of the films with Debra Winger, where the "liberated" woman finds happiness by finding a good man, are appropriate), but even when I agree with him, I feel like it's mere coincidence that we hold the same position. Above it says that people who bought this book also bought Carol Clover's "Men, Women, and Chainsaws." That book is infinitely more thoughtful and thought provoking, though it's focus is more specifically on horror films. Wood focuses on horror, but not exclusively.
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