Attack of the New B Movies

Essays on SYFY Original Films

Häftad, Engelska, 2023

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Since its inception in 1992, the Sci-Fi Channel (later rebranded as SYFY) has aired more than 500 network-produced or commissioned films. Campy and prolific, the network churned out one low-budget film after another, finally finding its zenith in the 2013 release of Sharknado. With unpretentious charm and a hearty helping of commodified nostalgia, the Sharknado franchise briefly ruled the cultural consciousness and temporarily transformed SYFY's original films from cult fringe to appointment television. Naturally, the network followed up with a steady stream of sequels and spin-offs, including Lavalantula and its sequel, 2 Lava 2 Lantula!This collection of essays is the first to devote critical attention to SYFY's original film canon, both pre- and post-Sharknado. In addition to unpacking the cultural, historical and critical underpinnings of the monsters at the heart of SYFY's classic creature features, the contributors offer a variety of approaches to understanding and interrogating these films within the broader contexts of ecocriticism, monster theory, post-9/11 criticism, and neocolonialism. Providing a further entry point for future scholarship, an appendix details a thorough filmography of SYFY's original films from 1992 to 2022.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2023-04-20
Mått152 x 229 x 16 mm
Vikt413 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor317
FörlagMcFarland & Co Inc
ISBN9781476683232

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Justin Wigard is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Distant Viewing Lab at University of Richmond, where he works and teaches in the areas of popular culture, games, comics, children's lit, and digital humanities. His work has appeared in INKS: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society, Genealogy, KULA and Cinergie—Il Cinema e le altre Arti. Mitch Ploskonka is a professor at The Ohio State University's Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster, Ohio. His work can be found in Mississippi Quarterly, Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, The Cormac McCarthy Journal and The Popular Culture Studies Journal.

Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Post-Sharknado Moment and the New B-MovieMitch Ploskonka and Justin WigardSyfy’s Creature Features and Features of CreaturesWe Must Keep It Alive! Formal Taxonomy and Crowdsourced Archives of the SYFY Original FilmsJustin Wigard“Cabras, and Yetis, and Mothman, Oh MUHGAWD!” Crafted Cryptozoology, Cartoonish Cryptids, and Flawed Forteana in SYFY Creature FeaturesJ. Rocky ColavitoParodies of Monstrosity: SYFY Creatures and the Postmodern Monster TurnFernando Gabriel Pagnoni BernsGenre Discourse in the Syfy New B-Movie’Member Memories? Political Conservatism and the Degradation of Schlock CinemaZack KruseSmall Towns and the Regional Gothic in Mothman and WyvernCat AshtonShark Storms: SYFY’s Splasher and Splashstick FilmsChristina M. Knopf“The Imagination of Disaster” in End of the WorldThomas BrittEcocritical Responses to Syfy’s New B-Movies Covered in Giant Fish Brains: Ridiculing Environmental Racism in SYFY’s FrankenfishChristine Peffer“The volcanoes and the spiders are one”: Insect Horror and Vengeful Nature in SYFY’s Monster-Bug FilmsAlyce Soulodre and Sean RhoadsNo Monster to Us: Mansquito, Vector Control, and a Looming EcocrisisHattie PetersonSyfy Flicks in the Humanities, in STEM, and in the Classroom“Chain of command is all you got out here”: Representations of the Military in SYFY Original Creature FeaturesMitch PloskonkaClean, Limitless Energy or Catastrophic Chaos: Particle Physics as an Instrument of Destruction in the SYFY UniverseKristine LarsenTrust No One: The Construction of Science and Human Responsibility in SYFY Monster MoviesVesta T. Silva and April SilvaMonster Movies and Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching SYFY’s Filmic MonstersAlissa Burger and Jack T. TessierAppendix: The SYFY FilmsAbout the ContributorsIndex