Cinema of the occult; new age, satanism, Wicca, and spiritualism in film.

9780934223959

Cinema of the occult; new age, satanism, Wicca, and spiritualism in film.

Fry, Carrol L.

Lehigh University Press

2008

301 pages

$59.50

Hardcover

PN1995

If you enjoy watching characters build a house over a swarm of poltergeists, dabble in the forbidden arts in suburbia, or see dead people, you will appreciate this scholarly approach to popular movies with occult themes. Independent scholar Fry examines the reasons why filmmakers chose to examine the tenets of occult religions as subjects suitable for entertainment, and shows how the industry has followed distinct paths through the occult, giving specific examples and trajectories. He describes how the beliefs interpreted in one film lead to further interpretation by subsequent films, and how such adaptations and shifts lead to wider social debates about traditional and occult religions. The result helps to explain the dynamic between representations of the occult in film and popular perceptions about New Age, Wiccan, and other alternative religions and beliefs.

([c]2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)