The myth of the vampire entered into European literature as a Byronic hero of the Romantic era. This attractive but evil character appears to have shifted from peasant folklore into the written culture at the same time that Lady Caroline Lamb described Byron as ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’. That would be a perfect description for the classical vampire. Although the demonic figure that live ... (read more)
Michael Fleming
Michael Fleming has a PhD from Melbourne University in Cinema Studies. His areas of interest include British cinema (especially that of the 1960s) and genre in film (especially horror and the musical). He has tutored at Melbourne University in Hollywood Cinema and Italian Cinema since World War II. He has reviewed books on cinema for Senses of Cinema and Screening the Past. He wrote the liner notes for the Madman release of Anthony Asquith’s film of The Browning Version (1951).
Barry Forshaw, in his latest book, has turned from crime fiction in print to crime in the cinema: specifically British cinema. He establishes immediately that his primary interest is ‘genre cinema’. He does not define exactly what he means by this term, but his assumptions in relation to it are soon pretty clear. A genre film is one where the primary aim of the film-makers is ‘entertainment ... (read more)