Jon Towlson is een filmcriticus met een diepe duik in het horrorgenre. Zijn werk richt zich op de analyse van subversieve elementen en contraculturele boodschappen binnen horrfilms, van klassieke werken tot hedendaagse producties. Towlson onderzoekt hoe horrorkino de samenleving weerspiegelt en becommentarieert, waarbij hij zich vaak concentreert op thema's als de opkomst van gruwelijkheid en de cinematografische weergave ervan. Zijn aanpak is analytisch en inzichtelijk, en biedt lezers een dieper begrip van het maken van horrorfilms.
Exploring the global landscape of horror cinema, this book delves into how filmmakers from various countries address cultural fears and anxieties through the genre. It highlights the evolution of horror over the past decade, analyzing 28 significant international films, such as It Follows and Get Out, while discussing many others. Each chapter focuses on a different nation, providing insights into the unique terrors faced by its people and examining the genre's appeal across borders.
Jon Towlson considers how Candyman might be read both as a "return of the repressed" and as an example of nineties neoconservative horror. He traces the film's origins as a Clive Barker short story; discusses the importance of its real-life Cabrini-Green setting; and analyzes its appropriation and interrogation of urban myth.
An iconic and controversial film, Midnight Cowboy is given its due as a classic of queer cinema. By shifting the perspective away from interpretations of Midnight Cowboy as homophobic, Jon Towlson argues for a new interpretation of the film as a proto-queer buddy movie and portrait of a friendship.
Arguably, excess is at the heart of Dawn of the Dead, integral to its meaning: not only in its scenes of gore, its in-your-face social satire and its gaudy pop-kitsch style but in the production history of the film itself.