Aesthetic Deviations: A Critical View of American Shot-On-Video Horror, 1984-1994 [Book]

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“SOV horror can be as simplistic, challenging, or offensive as any audience perceives it to be. It can also be enlightening, terrifying, and revealing… These are films that compare to no others in existence, and for that reason alone it’s long past time to accord them some measure of serious consideration.”

Long considered the dead-end of genre cinema, Shot-On-Video (SOV) horror finally gets its due as a serious filmmaking practice.

Using classic fanzines, promotional materials, and especially the theories of several important film scholars, Vincent Albarano brings SOV horror into critical focus for the first time in print. Prior to this moment, Video Violence, Twisted Issues, Alien Beasts, and more have never been mentioned in the same breath as André Bazin and Siegfried Kracauer, despite their common ground.

AESTHETIC DEVIATIONS delves deep into the most famous SOV horror titles to give credit for their unique and singular contributions to independent genre cinema. Informed equally by a fan’s passion and the studied approaches of scholarly analysis, Albarano offers the first-ever detailed examination of the SOV horror cycle, proving that this strain of amateur filmmaking is deserving of proper appraisal. Sure to enlighten and provoke thought among fans and converts to the unique charms of SOV cinema, as well as inspire newcomers, Albarano’s book proves an invaluable resource for a neglected area of cinematic inquiry.

FAST FACTS:
Paperback • 200 Pages • Film/Pop Culture • 52 B&W Photos & Ads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Vincent A. Albarano is from Columbus, OH. A graduate of Denison University and The Ohio State University, he has written extensively on underground horror cinema. Vincent is the author of Pinhead Music: the Underground Sights and Sounds of Keyser, WV, and a contributor to Dangerous Encounters.