Most critical work on the horror film in Germany has been devoted to the period of the Weimar Republic and the classics it has produced, including Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922). Postwar German horror film, however, has received little critical attention. Caligari's Heirs: The German Cinema of Fear after 1945 is a collection of essays that corrects this oversight by providing intelligent critical analyses of a variety of German horror films from the early postwar years to the present day. Following an introduction that discusses the development of critical discourse on postwar German horror film, these essays focus on four particular aspects of the genre: the immediate postwar years and the long shadow of Weimar cinema that falls over them; the dialogue between the German Autorenfilm and horror cinema; the influence of commercial American cinema on German horror films; and contemporary splatter films that have received more critical attention than any other postwar German horror films. To round out the picture of this genre in the context of a specific national tradition, the book also includes three interviews with contemporary German horror film directors working in both cinema and television. Though the book takes on a wide field of discussion-German horror film over a period of roughly fifty years-it does so by providing case studies. The essays in this collection discuss either an individual film or director, or they take on larger historical issues: from the discussion of the Nazi past in the postwar years to the heavy toll of German reunification. In its broad approach, Caligari's Heirs has something to offer to three distinct audiences: the horror film fan, the reader interested in German cinema in general, and the reader interested in discovering a national culture through its popular culture.

About the Author
Steffen Hantke is Associate Professor at the English Department of Sogang University in Seoul. He is the author of Paranoia and Conspiracy in Contemporary American Literature: The Works of Don DeLillo and Joseph McElroy (1994) and editor of Horror Film: Creating and Marketing Fear (2004). His reviews and articles have appeared in Literature/Film Quarterly, Studies in the Novel, The Journal of Popular Culture, and Film Criticism.

Reviews
This book will be the perfect starting point for the horror film buff interested in German output of the last 60 years. Recommended. * CHOICE, August 2007 *
A dozen contributions from international scholars critically examine various German horror films from the early postwar years to the present day. Themes addressed include (for example) the connections between the German Autorenfilm and horror cinema, and the influence of commercial American movies on the genre. Interviews with three directors-Joerg Buttgereit, Robert Sigl, and Nico Hoffmann-complete the volume. Hantke teaches English at Sogang U. in Seoul, South Korea. * Reference and Research Book News, May 2007 *
The contributors have made a real, thought-provoking intervention in German film scholarship. * Film Quarterly *
Intelligent critical analyses of a variety of German horror films from the early postwar years to the present day. ...Caligari's Heirs has something to offer to three distinct audiences: the horror film fan, the reader interested in German cinema in general, and the reader interested in discovering a national culture through its popular culture. * Turner Classic Movies *



Book Information
ISBN 9780810858787
Author Steffen Hantke
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Scarecrow Press
Publisher Scarecrow Press
Weight(grams) 399g
Dimensions(mm) 231mm * 149mm * 21mm