For those interested in cinematography, Seventy Light Years by Freddie Young, award-winning cinematographer best known for Lawrence of Arabia, is an excellent read.

Sounds like a spammer above.....

My latest buy (signed copy):

If I went back to buying horror books I would have no money left.
the last i bought was the Amicus book(the studio that dripped blood? House poster is on cover).

I started collecting when I was a wee lad..the ones I remember off hand are Classics of the Horror Film and Pictorial History of the Horror Film(both have lots of great pics of pre 1975 movies).
The latter has lots of Hammer stuff-movies (like the Reptile) that i didnt see until decades later.
More Classics of the Horror Film isnt so good-covers 74-85 movies).

The Vampire Cinema by David Pirie-lots of good pics and some interesting anecdotes.
Another favorite is a book on Aurora Model Kits by Thomas Graham(I think), it even includes fan created box art for never released kits on the Invisible Man etc.

Another excellent one is the 1986 Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, covering a wide range of horror in culture.

I really want to get the Hammer Story by Alan Barnes and Marcus Hearn
and one of the newer Harryhausen books(since the Film Fantasy Scrapbook goes back to 81) but I keep forgetting.

Harryhausen's An Animated Life is bloody brilliant. Tons of terrific behind the scenes information, interesting stories, tidbits on unfilmed sequences and films, etc.

If you can, get the limited edition of The Hammer Story, which is leather bound and has a page at the front signed by several Hammer actresses. You'll be glad you did!

My Hammer Story arrived yesterday. No signatures, but Dracula looking menacingly at me from the cover. My first horro book a Pictorial History of the Horror Film came out in the early 70s and had some hammer photos so its about time to have something devoted exclusively to hammer.


I also got Master of the Majicks vol 2-on Harryhausen. Really thick book! Cant wait for volume 3.
Was a real hassle to get though--no one would ship it to Canada so I had to have a friend mail it to me.
I want to get the Animated Life but have to wait a bit.

Also getting Beating the Devil: the making of Night of the Demon to go along with the dvd I ordered(I watch it every Halloween just about along with Disney's Legend of Sleepy Hollow and my vhs tapes are wearing out).

Cronenberg on Cronenberg: The few books in the so and so on themselves series I have read have been amazing. The usually elusive Lynch is very illuminating abour himself in his one. Read the Cronenberg one many times.

Those faber books are great, the scorcese and schrader ones are good too. Wich they would put out some more, Von Trier on Von Trier anyone?

Got that one cept it's called 'Trier on Von Trier'. I wouldn't mind a Coen Brothers one.

Fantastic, how is it?

Yeah it's very good. I wasn't sure how open he'd be given his reputation as a guarded prankster, but does give some good insight into his work - and quite witty too. His interviewer is the same guy who did the books on Bergman and Woody Allen. Just got it off the shelf - goes up to Dogville and him talking about planning Manderlay. Would be good to have an updated version, post-Antichrist . . .

Yeah, the von Trier is one I have to get.... Faber's Director on Director series is generally unmissable.... Bergman on Bergman is excellent as well. I watched Paul Verhoevan's Fourth Man over the weekend and afterwards was leafing thru Faber's book on the director. Its another one worth seeking out....

Verhoeven on Verhoeven? I have got to get that one. Saw Soldier of Orange a few months ago and thought that was really good. Black Book is good too.

The Cronenberg one only goes up to Crash. They should update them all.

Read a library copy of "Hellraisers" about the exploits of Reed, Otoole, Burton and Harris. One of the most entertaining books I have read in a long time. Well recommended. Chock full of anecdotes with Reed's being a particular highlight.

Anarchy and Alchemy: The films of Alejandro Jodorowsky.
In two minds whether to recommend this. Its an odd book as much of it is a shot for shot account of his films with nothing like as much discussion of the symbolism and sources as you would want. And the chapter about Dune doesn't cover it in anything like as much detail as the book "Greatest sci fi films never made". Still find the subject matter fascinating so have read this book many times now.

Greatest sci fi films never made.
Very good book but funnily most of the films in it have now been made into films or were at the time this book came out! I suppose "the Greatest sci fi films that could have turned out differently" doesn't have the same ring to it. The most interesting not made film is the Giger project that never saw light in any form.

My favorite movie book must be "Spaghetti nightmares" a colection of interviews with all the Italian directors that matter to me.

The second favorite is "Western all italiana" from glittering images finally a book about spaghetti western not competely dedicated to Sergio Leone. I love glittering images books but they are expensive.

And bronze goes to "Japanese film encyclopedia: the sex films" a book with many faults but it's very accesible.

So that's the top three in my collection