Badfilm
Incompetence, Intention and Failure
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Edinburgh University Press
Published:22nd Sep '21
Should be back in stock very soon
This fascinating book examines badfilms; a subcategory of ‘bad cinema’ marked by incompetence, and typically exacerbated by material poverty and restrictive production conditions. It develops a framework through which the formal characteristics of failure are identified and analysed, and identifies intentionality as central to how badfilms are appreciated and valued as cult texts. Drawing on debates about cult cinema and film form, the book includes a series of case studies of classic ‘so bad they’re good’ films, like Plan 9 From Outer Space, Robot Monster and The Beast of Yucca Flats, investigating the impact of failures in post-production sound, recycled footage, performance and editing in American badfilms from the 1950s and 1960s. In doing so, it offers ways to consider how we identify and respond to failure, and how failure itself works.
Badfilm: Incompetence, Intention and Failure is a thorough and impressive consideration of the ‘badfilm’. Bartlett investigates technical and aesthetic factors underpinning such films, including editing, sound, acting, and the use of stock footage. She also interrogates the complex ways that such films are embraced by niche audiences through engaging with issues such as cultural value and taste. Clearly and engagingly written, this is by far the best work produced so far on this fascinating subject. * Jamie Sexton, University of Northumbria *
Badfilm: Incompetence, Intention and Failure is a thorough and impressive consideration of the ‘badfilm’. Bartlett investigates technical and aesthetic factors underpinning such films, including editing, sound, acting, and the use of stock footage. She also interrogates the complex ways that such films are embraced by niche audiences through engaging with issues such as cultural value and taste. Clearly and engagingly written, this is by far the best work produced so far on this fascinating subject. -- Jamie Sexton, University of Northumbria
ISBN: 9781474450423
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
200 pages