Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1 The Uncanny Body of Early Sound Film -- The Shrinking of Personality -- The Return of the Medium-Sensitive Viewer -- The Complexion of the Thing -- Shadows in Three Dimensions -- A Modality -- 2 Ludicrous Objects, Textualized Responses -- Films as Mirrors of Viewer Response -- The Hollywood Revue of 1929 -- Two Ventriloquism Films -- Svengali -- 3 The Mystery of Dracula -- Real Emotional Horror Kick -- The Mystery of Dracula? -- The Vampire's Hiss and the Madman's Laugh -- 4 Dracula as Uncanny Theater -- Figure -- Ground -- 5 Frankenstein and the Vats of Hollywood -- Strong Meat and Monster Food -- Frankenstein and the Uncanny of Early Sound Film -- Frankenstein and the Uncanny of Silent Film -- From Modality to Monad -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Films Cited -- Index.

In 1931 Universal Pictures released Dracula and Frankenstein, two films that inaugurated the horror genre in Hollywood cinema. These films appeared directly on the heels of Hollywood's transition to sound film. Uncanny Bodies argues that the coming of sound inspired more in these massively influential horror movies than screams, creaking doors, and howling wolves. A close examination of the historical reception of films of the transition period reveals that sound films could seem to their earliest viewers unreal and ghostly. By comparing this audience impression to the first sound horror films, Robert Spadoni makes a case for understanding film viewing as a force that can powerfully shape both the minutest aspects of individual films and the broadest sweep of film production trends, and for seeing aftereffects of the temporary weirdness of sound film deeply etched in the basic character of one of our most enduring film genres.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.