D E V I L ’ S A D V O C AT E S
AUTEUR PUBLISHING
In the Mouth of Madness
The Fly
Overlooked upon its release in 1995, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness has since developed a healthy cult reputation. But more than a fan favorite, it stands today as one of his most thematically complex and stylistically audacious pieces of work. The story of an insurance investigator drawn into the supposedly fictional universe of a best-selling horror novelist, the film is an extension of many recurring themes found in Carpenter’s filmography (the end of the world, the loss of free will, a distrust of mass industry and global corporations, the cataclysmic resurgence of ancient evil), as well as an affectionate homage to the works of H. P. Lovecraft and a self-reflexive celebration of the horror genre. This book seeks to at last position this overlooked masterpiece as essential Carpenter.
It’s not often that a remake outshines its original but David Cronenberg’s “reimagining” of The Fly (1986) is one of those rare exceptions. Equal parts horror, science fiction, and romance, The Fly takes the premise of its 1958 original—a man unintentionally fusing with a housefly during an experiment in teleportation— and reinterprets the plot as a gradual cellular metamorphosis between these two organisms. This book teases out the intricate DNA of The Fly and how it represents the personalities of many authors, including a distinguished history of Man-as-God tales stretching back to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). Drawing from interviews with cast, crew, film commentators, and other filmmakers, Emma Westwood interlaces the “making of ” travails of The Fly with why it is one of the most important examples of master storytelling ever committed to screen.
MICHAEL BLYTH
F O R S A L E O N LY I N A S I A , A U S T R A L I A , C A N A D A , T H E C A R I B B E A N , CENTRAL AMERICA, MEXICO, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AMERICA, A N D T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S
MICHAEL BLYTH
is a film programmer for the BFI London
Film Festival and BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival. This is his first book.
EMMA WESTWOOD
EMMA WESTWOOD
is a writer and film historian based in
Melbourne, Australia. She contributes to a number of cinema journals, collaborates with film festivals, and appears weekly on the Plato’s Cave film criticism show on the Melbourne radio station Triple R.
$15.00 paper 978-1-911325-40-6 $14.99 e-book 978-1-911325-41-3
$15.00 paper 978-1-911325-42-0 $14.99 e-book 978-1-911325-43-7
N O V E M B E R 124 pages / 5.5" x 7.5" / 20 b&w illustrations
N O V E M B E R 140 pages / 5.5" x 7.5" / 20 b&w illustrations
FILM
FILM
146 | FA L L 2 0 1 7