BOOKS:
Brute Force: Animal Horror Movies
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2019.
“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
“Lennard’s is the best kind of criticism—the kind that both satisfies our craving for causal explanation and increases our appreciation of the works under discussion. . . . Lennard’s compositional flair, in combination with his keen interpretive vision and his command of the relevant science, makes this book a real gem—eminently readable, full of insight, and suffused with good sense. . . . [This] book deserves a large audience.” — Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture
“[Lennard] may discuss the sexual politics of 1976’s King Kong and the gender depiction of bears, but don’t mistake Brute Force as a force of boredom or wokeness; it’s a lively and spirited discussion of a particular and peculiar kind of flick. In other words, the contents contain a serious—and seriously engaging—mix of film criticism analysis that just so happens to include Sharknado.” — Flick Attack
Available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions.
View at SUNY Press | View at Amazon
The Other Hollywood Renaissance
Co-editor, along with R. Barton Palmer and Murray Pomerance. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (Traditions in American Cinema series), 2020.
“The Other Hollywood Renaissance is an extraordinary volume which testifies to the incredible richness of 1970s cinema. . . . Like the best critics, these authors compel us to watch the films anew with a fresh appreciation of their directors’ work.” — Prof. Matthew Bernstein (Department Chair and Goodrich C. White Professor of Film and Media, Emory University).
Available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions.
View at Edinburgh University Press
Bad Seeds and Holy Terrors: The Child Villains of Horror Film
Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2014.
“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.” — Prof. Linda Ruth Williams, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
“A bracing book . . . Lennard more than does [the subject] justice . . . 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.” — Prof. Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, CHOICE
Available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions.
View at SUNY Press | View at Amazon
The Man Who Loved Children (Insight Text Guide series). Melbourne, Australia: Insight Publications, 2015.
Life of Pi (Insight Text Guide series). Melbourne, Australia: Insight Publications, 2014.
Wag the Dog (Insight Text Guide series). Melbourne, Australia: Insight Publications, 2013.
BOOK CHAPTERS AND ARTICLES:
Due Diligence: Exploring ASD in Nightcrawler (2014) and The Accountant (2016)
Autism in Film and Television: On the Island. Eds. Murray Pomerance and R. Barton Palmer. University of Texas Press, 2022. 201-214.
William Friedkin: Frayed Connections
The Other Hollywood Renaissance. Eds. Dominic Lennard, R. Barton Palmer, and Murray Pomerance. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020. 148-160.
Carving the National Body: Jack the Ripper
Rule, Britannia! The Biopic and British National Identity. Eds. Homer B. Pettey and R. Barton Palmer. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2018. 205-222.
Winner: 2019 SAMLA Studies Book Award for Edited Collections
‘Keep back your pity’: The Wounded Barrymore of The Sea Beast (1926) and Moby Dick (1930)
Hamlet Lives in Hollywood: John Barrymore and the Acting Tradition on Screen. Eds. Murray Pomerance and Steven Rybin. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017. 59-70.
Jacques Lacan: Giving All the Right Signs
Thinking in the Dark: Cinema, Theory, Practice. Eds. Murray Pomerance and R. Barton Palmer. New Brunswick, NJ and London: Rutgers University Press, 2015. 89-100.
Libel, Scandal, and Bad Big Names: It Should Happen to You (1954), Les Girls (1957), Camille (1936), and Romeo and Juliet (1936)
George Cukor: Hollywood Master. Eds. Murray Pomerance and R. Barton Palmer. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015. 43-59.
Too Old For This Shit?: On Ageing Tough Guys
Ageing, Popular Culture and Contemporary Feminism: Harleys and Hormones. Eds. Imelda Whelehan and Joel Gwynne. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 93-107. View book at Palgrave Macmillan.
‘This ain’t about your money, bro. Your boy gave you up’: Bromance and Breakup in HBO’s The Wire
Reading the Bromance: Homosocial Relationships in Film and Television. Ed. Michael DeAngelis. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2014. 274-294. View at Wayne State University Press. View at Amazon.
‘This is my art, and it is dangerous!’: Tim Burton’s Artist-Heroes
The Works of Tim Burton: Margins to Mainstream. Ed. Jeffrey A. Weinstock. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 217-230. View at Amazon. View at Palgrave Macmillan.
‘Why So Serious?’: Battling the Comic in The Dark Knight (2008)
The Last Laugh: Strange Humors of Cinema. Ed. Murray Pomerance. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2013. 193-207. View at Amazon. View at Wayne State University Press.
Wonder Boys: Matt Damon, Johnny Depp, and Robert Downey Jr.
Shining in Shadows: Movie Stars of the 2000s. Ed. Murray Pomerance. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2012. 12-31. View at Amazon. View at Rutgers University Press.
‘I have the stuff that you want’: Michael Jackson and the Crotch Shot
Popping Culture, 6th ed. Eds. Murray Pomerance and John Sakeris. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2010. 293-299. View at Amazon. 7th edition now available: Amazon; Pearson Higher Education.
All Fun and Games…: Children’s Culture in the Horror Film, from Deep Red (1975) to Child’s Play (1988)
Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 26.1 (2012): 133-142.
PUBLIC LECTURES:
Brute Force: Animal Horror Movies
School of Media, University of Tasmania. Friday Nov 1, 4.30 pm, 2019.
Bad Dog!: The Rogue Hounds of Horror
Stranger With My Face International Film Festival. Saturday April 16, 11 am, 2016.
Creative:
The Root (short fiction)
Aphelion: Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy, issue 173, vol. 17, May 2013. URL.
The Fires (poetry)
Aphelion: Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy, issue 174, vol. 18, June 2013. URL.
The Heartfield Creature (peer-reviewed short fiction)
Dissections: Journal of Contemporary Horror, issue 10 (Mar 2014). URL. This story also appeared in Aphelion: Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy, issue 176, vol. 20, August 2013. URL.
It's all done with mirrors 