Overview

This is the first study to explore South Africa both in horror cinema and as a formidable producer of celluloid scares. From framing the notorious apartheid system as a mental asylum in the ground-breaking and criminally underseen Jannie Totsiens (Jans Rautenbach, 1970) to such seventies exploitation shockers as The Demon (Percival Rubens, 1979) through to the blockbuster hit District 9 (Neill Blomkamp, 2009) and beyond, this book suggests that South Africa should finally obtain its rightful place in the canon of wider genre studies and horror cinema fandom. Taking in the 80s nightmares of Darrell Roodt and concluding with an analysis of the recent boom-period in South African fright-films, including discussion of such contemporary efforts as The Tokoloshe (Jerome Pikwane, 2018) and the Troma-esque leanings of Fried Barry (Ryan Kruger, 2020), South African Horror Cinema focuses on ever-changing identities and perspectives, and embraces the frequently carnivalesque and grotesque elements of a most unique lineage in macabre motion pictures.

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9781501385063

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Reviews

Waddel locates the study of South African horror film within the international canon. His analytical terrain questions exceptionalism and identifies socially indicative meta intertexts. The nuanced study embraces the local in terms of the apartheid and Cold War eras when monsters and demons lurked everywhere. Via an internationalization of South African film studies, Waddel excavates films, directors and narratives often underplayed by contemporary scholars. This work is a game changer – it is a ‘post horror’ examination that draws South African film into the global mainstream. * Keyan G Tomaselli, Distinguished Professor, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, and recipient of the Simon “Mchunu” Sabela Heroes and Legends Award * Waddell's work on South African horror cinema constitutes a significant contribution to the field of global horror studies, addressing a notable lacuna in existing scholarship. Beyond providing nuanced interpretations of the films themselves, Waddell meticulously contextualizes and critically examines this cinematic tradition within its intricate historical, political, and reception frameworks. * Mikel J Koven, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, University of Worcester, UK *

Author Information

Calum Waddell is a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, UK, and has authored such monographs as The Style of Sleaze: The American Exploitation Film (2018) and Images of Apartheid: Filmmaking on the Fringe in the Old South Africa (2023).

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