Staying Dead or Alive

As this blog now appears to be staying alive I thought I’d give a mention to an upcoming book about British horror films of the 1980s, I’ve written up a couple of bona fide horror titles for the book (Don’t Open Till Christmas, Moonstalker, Attack of the Killer Computer), some borderline entries (The Naughty Dreams of Miss Owen, Return to Waterloo) and proving we're nothing if not comprehensive a few films that never even got made (The Pike, Plasmid). More details about DEAD OR ALIVE - BRITISH HORROR FILMS 1980-1989 can be found in the publicity blurb below:

"DEAD OR ALIVE - BRITISH HORROR FILMS 1980-1989 Limited 'Festival Edition' - available for pre-order right now! (£20 per copy - please pay via PayPal to Darrell@buxton.freeserve.co.uk)

British horror films? In the 80s? Were there any?!

Prepared to be surprised. 'Dead or Alive' is the new book from the team behind 'The Shrieking Sixties' (British Fantasy Society Award nominee, 2011), and contains full-length, in-depth reviews of a procession of U.K. horror features made during "the decade that the British film industry forgot"! From the work of major talents such as Stanley Kubrick, Ken Russell, and Clive Barker, through to ambitious amateur items shot on video and Super-8, 'Dead or Alive' covers the whole range. The 80s were a time when the very notion of 'film' and 'filmmaking' changed forever - paving the way for the current 21st century boom in production, and new technologies and freedoms permitting anyone to have a go! As ever, the horror scene back then proved fertile ground for budding tyros and innovators, leaving the 80s awash with a bloody wave of terror both here and globally. Box office and critical hits, cult classics, undiscovered nuggets awaiting attention for over three decades - all are present, in a new book designed to reappraise the 80s as a bustling, inspirational era for British screen chills.

Edited by Darrell Buxton ('Samhain', 'Creeping Flesh', 'Giallo Pages', 'Offbeat', 'We Belong Dead') and with a foreword by pioneering independent director Michael J. Murphy ('Invitation To Hell', 'Nekros', 'Skare', 'Bloodstream'), 'Dead or Alive' contains new writing by a variety of acclaimed U.K. and international contributors. The book includes material on more than 90 British horror feature films, plus substantial sections on movies made for British TV, borderline fare, and short subjects. From celebrated chillers (HELLRAISER, THE COMPANY OF WOLVES, THE SHINING) to fondly remembered programme fillers and video store favourites (XTRO, INSEMINOID, DON'T OPEN TILL CHRISTMAS), not to mention heaps of obscurities (amateur and semi-pro offerings, supporting featurettes, and a forgotten Monty Python-related project among them), we guarantee that 'Dead or Alive' will leave you looking back at the eerie 80s in an entirely new way. Relax!

'Dead or Alive - British Horror Films 1980-1989' will be published in May 2015 but is available for pre-order from March. The book will be launched at a special event as part of the forthcoming FANTASTIQ festival, May 8-10 at Derby QUAD, and editor Darrell Buxton will also be appearing at the 2015 Southend Film Festival, May 21-25. "