Stay Out of the Shower: 25 Years of Shocker Films, Beginning With Psycho

Rating:
Summary: Read this book but Stay Out of the Shower
Review: William Shoell's look at Psycho and its cinematic legacy sheds interesting insights on suspense filmmaking from 1960 to the mid 1980s. Shoell's take on the aftermath of Psycho is that American film making in the post Psycho era was able to become more graphic thanks in part to Psycho's overwhelming success at the box office. Shoell backs up his claim with analysis of multi-genre Hollywood films from the 60s on. Most notable are his criticism of the Hollywood western and television violence. Horror fans will be delighted to revisit the golden age of the stalk and slash film as Shoell highlights that era's top pictures. Shoell gives an organized, interesting, and carefully rendered account on 25 years of shock cinema. It is interesting, and informative reading.