English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema

Though British horror films enjoyed a golden age from the mid-'50s to the mid-'70s, film critics were long reluctant to give Britain its due, according to film historian Jonathan Rigby. He buries any lingering doubts about his country's unique and considerable contributions to the genre in English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema, taking readers on a deliciously chilling ride from the silent era through 1975. Particularly riveting are the more than 150 film stills and other black-and-white photos that capture characters cowering in fear, being stalked by mummies and turning into werewolves; fortunately, these overshadow the small type, packed too tightly into its pages. ( Feb. 1)