Book Review: The Connoisseur's Guide to the Contemporary Horror Film by Chas. Balun

Writer Chas. Balun has had a huge effect on the horror genre especially in terms of raising the awareness of foreign and obscure horror films during the '80s and the '90s. His unique take on both cult horror films and popular horror films have ensured his reputation as a reviewer of horror films to be reckoned with. His book "The Connoisseur's Guide to the Contemporary Horror Film," although outdated, is an interesting look at how Balun categorized horror films in the '90s.

Balun gives his opinion on some of the most influential horror films (i.e. The Exorcist, Friday the 13^th, and The Omen, to name a few) while also touching upon some smaller ans less known films (i.e. Night Warning, Baby Blood, and He Knows Your Alone, to name a few). What makes Balun's reviews so interesting is the fact that he doesn't exactly see some horror films in the same way as others. When describing Carrie (1976) he has this to say, "The 'shock' ending sequence is effectively surprising and horrifying but it is still a cheap dramatic device normally employed to distract you from a faulty storyline and a director's inability to satisfactorily wrap up a wayward plot." When describing Evil Dead 2 (1987) he says this, "Perhaps wunderkind director Sam Raimi realized he had already made 'the ultimate experience in grueling terror' [in reference to the original film and opted instead for some sort of 'E' ticket on demented Dead Disney ride into cartoon hell."

Now I may not agree with many of his reviews of some of the films but there is no denying that he does look at them in a very unique way that had me even reassessing my outlook of some films. Fans of horror today will have already become very familiar with many of the films discussed in this book (despite the fact that at the date of publication many of the films were very hard to come by) because of DVD, VOD, the web and International outlets and eBay but there were still a handful that even I had not seen and because of that the book was still interesting for even a die-hard horror fan such as myself. At barely 64 pages the book is a quick read (on par with reading the latest issue of Fangoria or Rue Morgue magazine) so you won't feel as though re-reading about certain films will be redundant.