The Naked And The Undead Horror Book Review

In this book, Cynthia Freeland seeks to counter both aesthetic disdain and moral condemnation toward horror by focusing on a select body of important and revealing films, demonstrating how the genre is capable of deep philosophical reflection about the existence and the nature of evil-both human and cosmic. In exploring these films, Freeland argues against a purely psychoanalytic approach and opts for both feminist and philosophical understandings. Freeland is particularly interested in showing how gender figures into screen presentations of evil. Written for film enthusiasts and students, the book examines a wide array of films including The Silence of the Lambs, Repulsion, Frankenstein, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Alien, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, Frenzy, Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, Hellraiser, and many others.