Italian Horror Film Directors By Louis Paul (with forewards by Jess Franco & Antonella Fulci) Published by McFarland Press, USA Review By: chaos731 There are "movie reference books" and then there are "encyclopaedic cinema reference dissertations". The difference, as the names would imply, is that "movie reference books" often have as much a sense of fun, goofy irony, and healthy cynicsm as much as they have deep, endearing respect for their subject matter. Encyclopaedic Cinema Reference Dissertations, on the other hand, are big, lumbering, intimidating tomes with scant illustrations and even less humor. I've read my fair share of both kinds of genre reference books, and to be quite honest, I can see the need for both types...at least for the hard-core fan. Some books walk the line between those two types, fulfilling the requirements of both with equal aplomb. Case in point...while the "casual" horror film buff can pick up any given genre reference work from, say, FAB Press and get what they're looking for out of it, the same books can prove to be a hard-core fanatic's wet dream. This is a rare feat, of course, and many books try to give the reader the best of both worlds, but bless 'em if they aren't quite up to the task. Enter Louis Paul's "Italian Horror Film Directors", which is, in all fairness, a solid, interesting book, but doesn't quite achieve the importance to which it aspires. Louis Paul clearly knows his subject. He writes with authority and grace. And, the book is certainly informative. It breaks down into major sections that focus on individual directors (Argento, Fulci, Deodato, Mattei, Massaccesi, Lenzi, among others), and provides scholarly and (mostly) accurate information about each director's background, and then expounds on very nearly complete filmographies for each. These filmographies go far beyond just "lists", however...each film is listed in alphabetical order, and damn-near every alternate-language title is supplied. This brings us to the first of the problems with this book. From the outset, the films are listed only by their original Italian titles, which is just ducky for the truly learned aficianado, but it's downright infuriating for the uninitiated...I mean, how many people could recognize, say, City of the Living Dead by its original Italian title of Paura nella cittą dei morti viventi? Not too many, I'd venture to guess. "Italian Horror Film Directors" is big, intimidating, and weighty. Clocking in a 370 well-indexed, hard-bound pages, it certainly looks the part of the "imporant reference book". In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if any of you reading this went to school in the 1970's or 1980's, this book will look immediately familiar to you, as it has the heft and overall appearance of your typical high-school algebra textbook. It's sometimes about as fun as an algebra textbook, too, which is a shame, because there is a lot of information to be had here regarding our beloved Italian maestros. It's valuable information, to be sure, but it's presented in such a fundamentally humorless way that it becomes more of a chore to read and explore than should be the case. On the plus side, the book does have an exhaustively crossed-referenced index, so if you do buy this book, and I'm not saying for a minute that you shouldn't, start with the index rather than the table of contents if you're looking for something specific. Trust me, it will save you a bit of frustration in the long run. Also, the book is clearly built to last, and with its heavy hard-bound heft and its excellent binding, it'll hold up quite well for years to come...always a good thing when it comes to reference books. The long and short: "Italian Horror Film Directors" is an excellent book that's packed to the gills with useful and fascinating information, but its usefulness is somewhat diminished by a too-textbookish layout and writing style. Louis Paul clearly knows whereof he writes, but he just doesn't have the wit or flair that are so necessary for the long-term enjoyment of books like this. I'll recommend it, just know what you're getting into before you buy. This one is for the diehards, not the noobs, who will no doubt find it something of a turn-off. More Coming Soon...