Follow Here To Purchase Now a Terrifying Motion Picture!: Twenty-Five Classic Works of Horror Adapted from Book to Film

Author:James F. Broderick

Publisher:McFarland & Company, Inc.

ISBN:978-0-7864-4763-3

Could there ever be a "more perfect union" than that between template and talent as represented by James F. Broderick's outstanding collection of commentaries on selected horror books and their film progeny entitled, Now a Terrifying Motion Picture!?

What Broderick is able to cover in his 25 stand-alone concise but never cursory chapters (but for the frequent appearance of vampires, I'd be tempted to call them bite-size) is truly remarkable. In addition to summaries of both book and film and largely unodious comparisons between the two, we are given critical verdicts from three sources: the author (unimpeachable), other critics, and the public (highly peachable). Drawing upon his past life as a newspaper reporter, author Broderick has well learned the skill of digging deep. In this book, the back stories have back stories.

Broderick's comment on Wade Davis' The Serpent and the Rainbow could well be applied to Broderick's own collection: ". . . a work of serious scholarship--never dull or blandly academic, but also never salacious or flip." The scholarship side of the book is augmented by useful endnotes and an index.

Broderick's masterful use of language allows him to be critical without cruelty and laudatory without gushiness. He states his opinions without irritating qualification, e.g., "in my opinion," crediting his reader with enough intelligence to understand that they could clearly be nothing more. Equally satisfying is the author's rejection of such precious shibboleths as, "Of course, the movie doesn't measure up to the book," or "A huge popular/commercial success must necessarily lack artistic quality." Broderick calls them as he sees them, and his lens is luminous.

Most readers will find some familiar works and some un. Broderick's coverage will, therefore, engender reflection/reconsideration and curiosity, respectively. Both will prove rewarding exercises.

An extra bonus is provided when Broderick considers more than one film version of a single book. Here again, Broderick's prodigious gifts as a critic are present. When he ignores an alternate film version, as with the remake of The Phantom of the Opera, the reader can be confident that the overlooking is an intentional, implied commentary, not an inadvertent omission.

As with any great writer, part of the final product's charm lies in the sound of the prose. This is revealed regularly in Broderick's book. More than most, his book calls for an audio version. Too bad Karloff and Lugosi are not around to do the narration. The frequently featured Johnny Depp (a/k/a/ horror aficionado Ed Wood) might be an acceptable stand-in.

The text sparkles with inspirations in vocabulary, structure, and allusion:
* Ken Russell's "ocular brio" in Altered States
* Regan in The Exorcist transiting from "mommy's little helper to Satan's little mouthpiece"
* The scientist in The Fly being "hybridized"
* The players in Freaks being described as "avatars of nature's malignity"
* Many horror films being termed a "mere splatter-fest"
* Benchley's approach to Jaws: "His fish goes deep, but the author stays mostly above the literary waterline, focusing on the thrill of the chase and the scenery-chewing (literally) finale"

Broderick sometimes keeps us guessing about whether his word plays are intentional:
* Referring to a tonal shift in The Birds as beginning with "a featherweight romantic romp"
* The brothers in Dead Ringers designing "cutting edge" surgical instruments"
* A hotel similar to that featured in The Shining as operating with "a skeleton staff"

In a couple of cases, the charm of Broderick's observations virtually defies categorization. My personal favorites were:
* Referring to Wade Davis's disapproval of the film version of The Serpent and the Rainbow and his subsequent/consequent move to Borneo, Broderick writes, ". . . many people who don't like a movie simply walk out of the theater rather than leave the country . . . "
* The Village of the Damned coming to a realization that the rash of virgin births the community is experiencing may signal the end of the human race: "That'll put a damper on a baby shower."

Broderick's dry wit finds expression even in the captions of the well selected photographs, one of which (except for the beloved Psycho which garners two) accompanies each chapter.

No need to use a bookmark when reading Now a Terrifying Motion Picture! You won't be able to halt the reading of a chapter before it ends, and once read, you'll never forget that you've done so although you will undoubtedly want to return time and again to savor it more fully.

Publishers of the books reviewed in his book, as well as the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), owe a great debt of gratitude to author Broderick for his artful stoking of the fires of interest in their products.