Old horror, new Hollywood and the 1960s true crime cycle

Snelson, Tim ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8282-2432 (2018) Old horror, new Hollywood and the 1960s true crime cycle. Film Studies, 19 (1). pp. 58-75. ISSN 1469-0314

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Abstract

This article focuses on a cycle of late 1960s true crime films depicting topical mass/serial murders. It argues that the conjoined ethical and aesthetic approaches of these films were shaped within and by a complex climate of contestation as they moved from newspaper headlines to best-sellers lists to cinema screens. Whilst this cycle was central to critical debates about screen violence during this key moment of institutional, regulatory and aesthetic transition, they have been almost entirely neglected or, at best, misunderstood. Meeting at the intersection of, and therefore falling between the gaps of scholarship on the Gothic horror revival and New Hollywood’s violent revisionism, this cycle reversed the generational critical divisions that instigated a new era in filmmaking and criticism. Adopting a historical reception studies approach, this article challenges dominant understandings of the depiction and reception of violence and horror in this defining period.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Early title: Guilty Pleasures: New Hollywood Violence and the 1960s True Crime Cycle
Uncontrolled Keywords: reception studies,film cycles,new hollywood,violence,true crime,1960s,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/peace_justice_and_strong_institutions
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art, Media and American Studies
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Film, Television and Media
Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > East Anglian Film Archive
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 08 Aug 2017 05:05
Last Modified: 21 Jul 2023 09:43
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/64362
DOI: 10.7227/FS.19.0005

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