Category: Research

Contribution to Autism in Film and Television: On the Island

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Thanks to editors Murray Pomerance and R. Barton Palmer, who have included my chapter on Nightcrawler (2014) and The Accountant (2016) in their exciting new collection, Autism in Film and Television: On the Island (University of Texas Press, 2022). I’m delighted to be included among scholars such as Mark Osteen, Fincina Hopgood, Alex Clayton, Ina Rae Hark, and many more, in a wide-ranging book that examines (just for example) sitcoms, Star Trek, NBC’s Community, Being There (1979), The Social Network (2010), Sherlock Holmes, Rain Man (1988), and Netflix’s Atypical.

Available from the University of Texas Press website and other online retailers.

The Other Hollywood Renaissance (2020) 2022 reprint

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I’m happy to announce that the collection The Other Hollywood Renaissance, co-edited with R. Barton Palmer and Murray Pomerance, will be released in paperback edition this August. This collection, first released in late 2020, re-examines the work of 24 directors associated with the Hollywood Renaissance/New Hollywood, including Terrence Malick, Brian De Palma, and William Friedkin, but also directors that have typically attracted less critical attention, such as Elaine May, Paul Mazursky, Peter Yates, and John Schlesinger. I’m hugely appreciative of the work of co-editors Barton and Murray—who have chapters of their own in the book—as well as the tremendous work of scholars such as Steven Rybin, Rebecca Bell-Metereau, Dennis Bingham, I-Lien Tsay, Con Verevis, and many others, whose intricate and compelling appraisals of their respective subjects make this book what it is. My own chapter is on William Friedkin, examining both his film style and the troubled personalities that populate The French Connection (1971), The Exorcist (1973), Sorcerer (1977), and Cruising (1980).

Find The Other Hollywood Renaissance at the Edinburgh University Press website, as well as Amazon and other online retailers.

Brute Force: Animal Horror Movies (SUNY Press, 2019)

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Brute ForceI’m happy to announce that my book Brute Force: Animal Horror Movies has been published by State University of New York Press.

It’s always been a wild world, with humans telling stories of killer animals as soon as they could tell stories at all. Movies are an especially popular vehicle for our fascination with fierce creatures.

In Brute Force, Dominic Lennard takes a close look at a range of cinematic animal attackers, including killer gorillas, sharks, snakes, bears, wolves, spiders, and even a few dinosaurs. Lennard argues that animal horror is not so much a focused genre as it is an impulse, tapping into age-old fears of becoming prey. At the same time, these films expose conflicts and uncertainties in our current relationship with animals. Movies considered include King Kong, Jaws, The Grey, Them!, Arachnophobia, Jurassic Park, Snakes on a Plane, An American Werewolf in London, and many more. Drawing on insights from film studies, art history, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology, Brute Force is an engaging critical exploration—and appreciation—of cinema’s many bad beasts.

  • Brute Force is available from Amazon and SUNY Press in hardcover, paperback, and ebook versions. SUNY Press have made the introductory chapter (sans endnotes) available for free download; if you’d like to try it, click their link above, then “Read an excerpt” for PDF.

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Other films discussed include:

The Reef (2010), Open Water (2004), Orca (1977), Bait 3D (2012), Sharknado (2013), Dark Age (1987), Black Water (2007), Rogue (2007), The Shallows (2016), Day of the Animals (1977), Grizzly (1976), The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), The Edge (1997), Them! (1954), Tarantula (1955), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), Phase IV (1974), Eight Legged Freaks (2002), Bug (2006), Godzilla (1954), The Fly (1958 and 1986), Jurassic World (2015), The Birds (1963), Wolfen (1980), Anaconda (1997), Venom (1981), The Thing (1983), Cujo (1983), Werewolf of London (1935), The Wolf Man (1941), The Howling (1981), Wolf (1994), Bad Moon (1996), Cat People (1942 and 1982), Ginger Snaps (2000), and more!

“The brilliance of Dominic Lennard’s Brute Force is not only that it is long overdue, but one didn’t realize it was due in the first place! Yet upon reflection and, of course, through Lennard’s engaging book, one realizes not only the ubiquity of animals in horror, but their utter centrality to so many classic horror films. In reading this, we can hear the distant rumble of footsteps of a genetically reborn Tyrannosaurus or the hurried pounding of our beloved Rover who has decided that he wants more than kibbles and bits for dinner—and we look mighty appetizing. ‘Groundbreaking’ is often overused, but in this case it truly fits.”

— Emeritus Professor David Desser, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Guest lecture — BAD DOG!: The Rogue Hounds of Horror

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I’m excited that, as part of the Stranger With My Face International Film Festival’s Mary Shelley Symposium, I will be giving the following presentation:

rott2.gifBAD DOG!
The Rogue Hounds of Horror

Domestic dogs regularly earn the affectionate adjective “faithful” in tribute to the numerous ways in which they complement and enrich human lives: as companions, guardians, workmates, friends. However, horror cinema provides multiple instances of dogs turned treacherous, canines who fiercely reject our attribution of fidelity and who abuse the special status we afford them in our culture. With attention to several films, including SUSPIRIA (1977), THE THING (1982), and CUJO (1983), this illustrated presentation takes a stern yet understanding look at these “bad dogs,” considering the terror and allure of imagining the rebellion of our furry friends.

The talk will be held on Saturday April 16, 11 am. Cost is $6 or $4 (Conc.), or free with a Festival Pass (see below).

This exploratory but accessible talk will be of interest to lovers of cinema, genre, horror, and—of course—dogs.

I really hope as many people as possible attend this wild and wonderful festival, which Director, Founder and Programmer, Briony Kidd, along with others, are working tremendously hard on. A tantalizing array of films (both shorts and features) await your attention and enjoyment, as well as in-depth talks and presentations. For more info visit: http://www.strangerwithmyface.com

I will be donating my speaker’s fee to The Dogs’ Home of Tasmania, so you can come and enjoy a talk about angry dogs while your support indirectly helps very vulnerable ones.

Thinking in the Dark: Cinema, Theory, Practice (Rutgers UP, 2015)

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Thinking in the DarkI strive to make Jacques Lacan accessible in this new anthology from Rutgers UP on film theory. Each chapter considers a different theorist/philosopher whose ideas have been influential in cinema studies, and via analysis of two films (one classic, one contemporary). My chapter discusses Laura (1944) and Black Swan (2010). I’m honored to be included in a book with the likes of Tom Gunning and Dudley Andrew (and of course its wonderful editors Murray Pomerance and R. Barton Palmer). Anyone who teaches film or is otherwise in need of a vibrant introduction to film theory: check it out.

And remember: “What does it matter how many lovers you have if none of them gives you the universe?”

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Short Reviews: “Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors: The Child Villains of Horror Film” by Dominic Lennard

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Thank you to the wonderful Dave from Critical Dave for this review of my book, Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors. Dave is one of my favorite online critics, an insightful, erudite and no-bullshit writer, and a great guy too, so I’m thrilled by and grateful for his comments.

George Cukor: Hollywood Master (Edinburgh University Press, 2015)

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George Cukor: Hollywood Master (2015)I’m excited to announce publication of George Cukor: Hollywood Master, edited by the wonderful Murray Pomerance and R. Barton Palmer, in which my work is included. This anthology includes critical discussion of every feature Cukor directed, including Gaslight, Adam’s Rib, Born Yesterday, and of course numerous others.

A number of George Cukor’s films focus on the critique and correction of social personae, featuring protagonists who must fuss over the most “appropriate” or culturally desired presentation of self. Addressing this theme, my chapter is titled “Libel, scandal and bad big names: on not being ‘yourself’ in Camille (1936), Romeo and Juliet (1936), It Should Happen to You (1954), and Les Girls (1957).”

 

 

An MGM-style all-star cast of critics proCamille sentimental.gifvide innumerable fresh insights into Cukor’s rich and surprisingly varied career, his working methods and his signature subjects. The self-effacing Cukor believed in not calling attention to his craft, but he would have appreciated the sophistication and nuance with which these scholars illuminate his achievements.

–Professor Matthew Bernstein, Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Emory University

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Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors (reprinted)

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Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors - coverMy book, Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors: The Child Villains of Horror Film (SUNY Press, 2014), has just been reprinted in affordable paperback and ebook editions and is available now from the publisher, Amazon, and anywhere else you can find it. The paperback is currently available for $24.95, and the Kindle ebook is less than $15.

Professor Gwedolyn Audrey Foster (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), writing for CHOICE reviews, recently described Bad Seeds as ‘a bracing book’ that ‘more than does [its subject] justice.’  Please follow the SUNY Press link below to read more about it. Needless to say, I recommend Bad Seeds to anyone interested in horror film and this curiously popular subgenre; the book addresses questions like why these films emerged and why they’re frightening. However, it also uses horror (a conspicuously ‘adult-only’ domain) to explore a host of powerful roles and meanings adults have projected onto children in western culture — and how they malfunction.

Anyone who does order: thank you so much for your support!

Amazon
SUNY Press

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Ageing, Popular Culture and Contemporary Feminism (Palgrave, 2014)

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Ageing, Popular Culture and Contemporary FeminismImelda Whelehan and Joel Gwynne’s wonderful collection, Ageing, Popular Culture and Contemporary Feminism: Harleys and Hormones, is now out from Palgrave Macmillan, featuring my chapter “Too Old for This Shit?: On Ageing Tough Guys.”

Blurb from the publisher:

The past decade has seen an increase in popular cultural representations of ageing, in response to the realities of an ageing Western population and an acknowledgement of the economic significance of consumption by seniors. Yet, while contemporary film often depicts late middle to old age as a time of renewal and acceptance, most popular depictions of ageing focus on images of loss, decline, and the fear of physically ageing ‘naturally’. Ageing in popular culture is a battlefield, with increasing numbers of euphemisms used to disguise the fact of age.

Feminist discourse has kept forever young, even though some of its most eminent proponents are ageing and dying. In the field of popular cultural studies the emphasis on the discourse of postfeminism and the ‘girling’ of culture has foregrounded the concerns of young women at the expense of a focus on older women, or what ‘gender’ means for middle-aged to older people generally. This collection demonstrates how popular culture constructs ageing as a perilous experience for not only women but also for men, while also underscoring the possibilities (and problems) of positive representations of ageing in the wider culture and in feminist criticism.

Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4.0 (2006)My chapter addresses the resurgence of several iconic cinema tough guys in the 2000s, including Bruce Willis in new installments of the Die Hard franchise (2007 and 2013), Sylvester Stallone in Rocky Balboa (2006) and Rambo (2008), and a veritable brigade of ageing beefcake in The Expendables (2010). I argue that the re-popularization of these stars was indicative of renewed cultural interest in traditional gender roles in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Generally in these films, physical violence is used to shore up masculinities perceived to be threatened by the ageing process. However, I argue that even though these tough-guy heroes may have come back (‘with a vengeance’), the films in which they appear also acknowledge that the ageing male will not always be able to ‘legitimize’ his status through stunning demonstrations of violence. Consequently, several of these films seek to navigate for their male heroes ways of maintaining prestige beyond its persistent physical enforcement.

Ageing, Popular Culture and Contemporary Feminism at Palgrave; at Amazon.

Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors: The Child Villains of Horror Film (SUNY Press, 2014)

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SUNY Press, 2014 http://www.sunypress.edu/p-5921-bad-seeds-and-holy-terrors.aspx
SUNY Press, 2014

I’m delighted to announce the publication of my book, Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors: The Child Villains of Horror Film, by State University of New York Press. The book is currently available in electronic form, and the hardcover edition will be released on November 1.

This book wrangles with the numerous child villains who have haunted horror cinema over many decades, including Damien Thorn (The Omen), Regan MacNeil (The Exorcist), Samara (The Ring), and Rhoda Penmark (The Bad Seed), and the psychic terrors of Village of the Damned (pictured on the cover), among others. It interrogates in detail and with a variety of theoretical tools a cultural obsession with imagining children as objects of terror. In doing so, it highlights popular horror cinema as a vital topic of analysis, exposing it as a site of deep and volatile ambivalence toward children.

Available in print and digital form from the publisher, SUNY Press; Amazon; and others.

“This is impeccably well researched and presented. It holds its own at the top of film studies scholarship. Sprightly in its survey across key areas of cultural anxiety and able to draw on a range of lucid examples, Lennard produces sophisticated and complex extended analyses where necessary. A pleasure to read.”  — Linda Ruth Williams, University of Southampton, United Kingdom

“Deftly organized, elegantly written, and graced throughout with numerous stills and frame blowups, Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors has something to offer both the lay reader and the scholar.” — CHOICE