The New Flesh: 21st Century Horror Films A-Z, Volume 1

From ‘Hostel’ to ‘August Underground’ … ‘The Orphanage’ to ‘Inside’ … ‘I Saw The Devil’ to ‘Gutterballs’ …

Whether it be the extreme terrors of the French New Wave, Spain’s love for a good old-fashioned ghost story, or the influx of no-budget “found footage” pseudo-documentaries released throughout the world, psychotronic movie output in the 21st Century has been more prolific, and arguably more challenging, than ever before.

Author Stuart Willis examines the many trends and sub-genres that have contributed to horror cinema over the last fifteen years. The New Flesh - over the course of an ongoing series of tomes, collectively and over time - is designed to provide a definitive reference guide to the seemingly bottomless pit of movies striving to keep the flames burning in recent times.

The New Flesh: Volume 1 embraces a selection of sub-genres, as well as covering a small number of those non-horror features that fans owe it to themselves to check out. The globe is traversed, and the small-time directors toiling independently are given equal exposure to both old hands such as George A Romero and Dario Argento continuing to ply their trade and the studio-produced bigger affairs. From torture-porn through European Gothics, treading through the murky waters of the remake phenomenon and even taking in a spot of animation here and there, three hundred films are covered.

All reviews are new and exclusive to this book. Each review offers a brief synopsis, full critique of the film in question, and titbits of trivia - along with nods to the films of old that provide their influence, examining the legacy of onscreen brutality that has been embraced by contemporary filmmakers while placing their own works in a modern cultural context.

Stuart Willis has spent the best part of two decades writing extensively about horror films, modern and old, for the acclaimed SexGoreMutants website, as well as having reviews published in the likes of Deranged fanzine and Chas Balun's legendary Deep Red magazine.

The New Flesh: Volume 1 includes a detailed introduction, full appendix of titles and forewords by cult filmmaker Jason Figgis and horror community legend/festival programmer Alan Simpson.

300 film reviews, 300 pages, over 100,000 words. A first volume that embraces the diversity of today's shocking horror cinema, daring to investigate far deeper than the mainstream wants you to see, while acknowledging the enduring influence of all that has come before it: a book that has been written by a hardcore fan for likeminded souls …