Includes bibliographical references, filmography and index.
Contents:
Part I: Reanimating Classic Western Tropes. 1. "So This Zombie Walks into a Bar ..." : The Living, the Undead, and the Western Saloon / Cynthia J. Miller -- 2. "Hey Sammy, We're Not in Kansas Anymore": The Frontier Motif in Supernatural / Michael J. Klein and Kristi L. Shackelford -- 3. The Whore with the Vampire Heart: Frontier Romanticism in John Carpenter's Vampires / Lindsay Krishna Coleman -- 4. Billy the Kid vs. Dracula: The Old World Meets the Old West / Rachel E. Page, Robert G. Weiner, and Cynthia J. Miller -- 5. The West--Reanimated and Regenerated: Hollywood Horror and Western Iconography in Gore Verbinski's Rango (2011) / Sue Matheson -- 6. Frontier Values Meet Big-City Zombies: The Old West in AMC's The Walking Dead / Shelley S. Rees -- Part II: The Moral Order under Siege. 7. Savage, Scoundrel, Seducer: The Moral Order under Siege in the From Dusk Till Dawn Trilogy / A. Bowdoin Van Riper -- 8. Blood on the Border: The Mexican Frontier in Vampires (1998) and Vampires: Los Muertos (2002) / Thomas Prasch -- 9. Colliding Modalities and Receding Frontier in George Romero's Land of the Dead / Outi J. Hakola -- 10. Zombie Nationalism: Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror as Immigration Satire / Christopher Gonzalez -- 11. Undead and Un-American: The Zombified Other in Weird Western Films / James Hewitson -- 12. Hungry Lands: Conquest, Cannibalism, and the Wendigo Spirit / Robert A. Saunders -- Part III: And Hell Followed with Him. 13. The Ghost from the Past: The Undead Avenger in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West / Matthias Stork -- 14. Moving West and Beyond: Life in the Midst of Death in Purgatory / Hugh H. Davis -- 15. "You Nasty Thing from Beyond the Dead": Elvis and JFK versus The Mummy in Bubba Ho-Tep / Hannah Thompson -- 16. The Subversive Jonah Hex: Jimmy Hayward's Revision and Reconfiguration of a Genre / Michael C. Reiff -- 17. Queer Justice: Supernatural Strangers and Different Conceptions of Law and Punishment in Two Horror Westerns / Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns -- A selected filmography / Robert G. Weiner, Susan Hidalgo, A. Bowdoin Van Riper, and Cynthia J. Miller.
Summary:
"In Undead in the West: Vampires, Zombies, Mummies, and Ghosts on the Cinematic Frontier, Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper have assembled a collection of essays that explore the many tropes and themes through which undead Westerns make the genre's inner plagues and demons visible, and lay siege to a frontier tied to myths of strength, ingenuity, freedom, and independence. The volume is divided into three sections: "Reanimating Classic Western Tropes" examines traditional Western characters, symbolism, and plot devices and how they are given new life in undead Westerns; "The Moral Order Under Siege" explores the ways in which the undead confront classic values and morality tales embodied in Western films; and "And Hell Followed with Him" looks at justice, retribution, and retaliation at the hands of undead angels and avenger. The subjects explored here run the gamut from such B films as Curse of the Undead and Billy the Kid vs. Dracula to A-list features like From Dusk 'til Dawn and Jonah Hex, as well as animated films (Rango) and television programs (The Walking Dead and Supernatural). Other films discussed include Sam Raimi's Bubba Ho-Tep, John Carpenter's Vampires, George Romero's Land of the Dead, and Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. Featuring several illustrations and a filmography, Undead in the West will appeal to film scholars, especially those interested in hybrid genres, as well as fans of the Western and the supernatural in cinema."--Publisher description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.