John Kenneth Muir

From Goodreads: William Mann's Behind the Screen is a thoughtful and eye-opening look at the totality of the gay experience in studio-era Hollywood. Much has been written about how gays have been portrayed in the movies but no book -- until now -- has looked at their influence behind the screen. Whether out of or in the closet, gays and lesbians have from the very beginning played a significant role in shaping Hollywood. Gay actors were among the earliest matinee idols and gay directors have long been among the most popular and commercially successful filmmakers. In fact, gay set and costume designers created the very look of Hollywood.With this landmark book, Mann fills a void in the Hollywood history archives. Written in the tradition of Neal Gabler's An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood and based on hundreds of hours of interviews with survivors of this golden age, Behind the Screen is destined to become a classic of film literature.

Discusses the following films: Dark Star (1975), Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Starman (1984), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Prince of Darkness (1987), They Live (1988), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), In the Mouth of Madness (1995), Village of the Damned (1995), Escape from L.A. (1996), Vampires (1998), Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), Halloween II (1981), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), Black Moon Rising (1985), Someone's Watching Me! (1978), John Carpenter Presents Body Bags (1993).

"Independent filmmaker and horror-film scholar John Kenneth Muir says, 'Art does not exist in a vacuum. Instead, it is inexorably bound to the time period from which it sprang.' In his entertaining and scholarly filmography of over 200 films arranged by year, Muir sees the historical and social happenings of the 1970s as giving rise to the unusually high number of groundbreaking horror films of the decade, as well as the more routine ones. Following a general introduction, Muir provides a synopsis and commentary, a list of cast and crew, significant quotations by critics for each motion picture as well as by participants in the film's making when available, and stills for selected films. Interesting appendixes, notes, a bibliography, and an index are included."--"The Best of the Best Reference Sources," American Libraries, May 2003.

"This comprehensive reference work begins with an overview of Tobe Hooper's career, then offers detailed entries on every Hooper feature; a chronological look at his television movies and miniseries; and information on his episodes from horror television series. A concluding essay considers Hooper's place in horror film history and compares his work to such greats as Romero, Craven and Carpenter."--BOOK JACKET.

This book takes a detailed look at the history of space technology, from the first probe to orbit the Earth to the first man on the moon.

"This updated edition of 2004's award-winning encyclopedia traces developments in the popular genre; new shows; latest films; and covers more superheroes. Each entry includes a detailed history, cast and credits, episode and film descriptions, critical commentaries, and data on arch-villains, comic-book origins and super powers, while placing each production into its historical context"--Provided by publisher.

Looks at the films of Kevin Smith, tracing their characters, controversy over the language and content, themes, and critical reception.

"John Kenneth Muir is back! This time, Muir surveys 300 films from the 1980s. From backwards psychos (Just Before Dawn) and yuppie-baiting giant rats (Of Unknown Origin), to horror franchises like Friday the 13th and Hellraiser, Muir is our informative guide through 10 macabre years of silver screen terrors"--Provided by publisher.