Description: "A study of the Italian horror director Mario Bava, exploring issues in authorship, genre, and film style, and examining the reception of his films and reputation as cult auteur"--
Brief description: Leon Hunt is the author of British Low Culture: From Safari Suits to Sexploitation (1998), Kung Fu Cult Masters: From Bruce Lee to Crouching Tiger (2003), The League of Gentlemen (2008), Cult British TV Comedy: From Reeves and Mortimer to Psychoville (2013) and Danger: Diabolik (2018) and co-editor of East Asian Cinemas: Exploring Transnational Connections on Film (2008) and Screening the Undead (2014).
Review Quotes:
"[A] meticulously researched new book on the Italian filmmaker ... an excellent way to develop an even deeper appreciation of his work." --Cinema Retro Magazine
"Leon Hunt's Mario Bava: The Artisan as Italian Auteur is a thorough exploration of a director whose cult status has grown in recent times. Hunt explores several themes in this book, including the relation between Bava's work and genre cinema, his status as an artisan-auteur and the broader critical reception of his work. Written in an accessible style, this book is essential reading for those interested in Italian genre cinema, cult cinema and authorship and film." --Jamie Sexton, Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies, Northumbria University, UK "Leon Hunt's Mario Bava: The Artisan as Italian Horror Auteur masterfully asks and answers perennially important questions in relation to the study of the auteur and film: how can we approach a filmmaker like Bava whose achievements are often compromised by their production circumstances, and what issues do his films raise with regards to cultural value?" --Dolores Tierney, Head of Film Studies at the University of Sussex, UK and co-editor of Latsploitation, Exploitation Cinemas and Latin America "Hunt's work is of great interest, as it contributes to questioning - and often identifying new perspectives and interpretive keys - the frameworks through which one usually considers one of the most interesting authorial personalities of Italian genre cinema. It also sheds light on the ways in which authorship itself is constructed in a context such as that of international cult fandom." --Imago