On Christmas morning, 1967, I opened a present that would forever galvanize my obsession with monster movies. Already indoctrinated with FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and others, and after having watched numerous monster movies, I was ready to become a serious Monsterologist.
Under the wrapping was a copy of Carlos Clarens' "The Illustrated History of the Horror Film". I was awestruck. The fact that my parents even bought it for me showed that they were finally giving up on "protecting" me from these awful things!
I can't tell you how many hours I spent looking at the photos, many of which I'd never seen before. Then, when I finally got down to reading it, I found some of the writing to be a little above my 13 year-old head. But read it I did, and found much of it to be accessible for my youthful level.
Over the subsequent years, I've read it several more times with a complete comprehension, and have come to appreciate it even more.
Clarens pulls no punches, and criticizes those films he thought weren't up to par for various reasons. In any event, it was -- and still is -- one of the best books on the subject. Of course, since then there has been many more books on the history of horror films, but to anyone wanting a baseline on the topic, you can't go wrong with this book.
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| Carlos Clarens. |
Carlos Clarens (b. July 7, 1930, Havana, Cuba, d. February 8, 1987, New York, NY) was of Cuban heritage and is recognized as a prominent film historian for his early books on the above mentioned, as well as crime movies. He was multi-lingual and, after leaving Havana, spent time in Paris where he provided subtitles for various films. He died at the age of 56.
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