Violent Screen is a confident walk on the rough side of movie-making with one of today's rarities: a gun enthusiast, bestselling novelist, and the son of a murder victim who, for the past thirteen years, has written passionately and thoughtfully about violence in contemporary films. In his popular Baltimore Sun reviews, interviews, and articles, Stephen Hunter observes how the movies, with their pervasive violence, reflect our increasingly violent and alienating culture. He ranges widely - from ironic film noir to dark horror and teenage slashers, from cop suspense, westerns, true-crime and war movies, to gangster flicks and sci-fi pics, from the cinema of urban decay and sexual obsessions, to psychopathic killers and action thrillers. It's also entertaining. Hunter's movie-reviewing is rife with energy, humor, sharp-edged analysis, and intensity. His tour of America's violent film archives is quickly becoming a "must have" for film and video buffs everywhere.
"Since long before Robert Dole's condemnation of Hollywood, on-screen sex and violence as well as their companion issue, censorship, have been the focus of hot debate. Critics' views on these issues are often enlightening, and these two books present many thought-provoking perspectives on the artistic, historic, social, and cultural aspects of the subject-ultimately proving that there are no simpl
Library Journal
"Hunter has a very clear vision of cinematic crime. And his opinionated reviews provide refreshing appraisals of a wide assortment of movies from Scorsese's 'The King of Comedy' to Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction.'"
