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Dr Brigid Cherry
St Mary's College, University of Surrey

Beyond Suspiria: The Place of European Horror Cinema in the Fan Canon

Photograph of Dr Brigid Cherry making presentation

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This paper examines the generic preferences and tastes of horror film fans, focussing on the position of European horror cinema within the fan canon. In a recent audience study, Suspiria was placed amongst the ten most frequently mentioned films when fans were asked about their favourites, and what they regarded as the greatest examples of horror cinema, as well as the films they found the most scary, terrifying or horrific.

Whilst the fan canon as identified in this study is in the main centered around post-60s American horror cinema, key examples of earlier periods and various national horror cinemas are all given prominent position. Italian horror cinema in particular is a key national cinema in this respect. The importance of Italian horror to the fan canon - Opera, Tenebrae and Suspiria were all held in particularly high regard by the fans contributing to this study, is therefore considered here, specifically in respect to aesthetics and modes of emotional affect, but also in terms of the significance of directors such as Argento and Bava.

As is the nature of any subcultural taste, however, the preferences and interests of the fans are extremely diverse. The qualitative data collected is therefore also analysed in order to identify the significance of European cinema to different segments of the fan audience, differentiated particularly by gender and national identity. Italian horror cinema is in fact given precedence mainly by male fans. This raises the question of gendered narrative and aesthetics, and how differences in style (reflecting national origin and period) might lead to quite different modes of horror which appeal to different identity groups within the audience. Thus, the fan canon does then reflect a wide range of tastes and preferences, and not least the importance of various European horror cinemas beyond the widely regarded Italian examples.

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European Nightmares - An International Conference on European Horror Cinema

1st – 2nd June 2006

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