Transnationalism and Genre Hybridity in New British Horror Cinema

This book takes British horror films of the 2000s as a case study to theorise transnational genre hybridity, which combines genres from different national cinemas.

Intervening in conversations on transnationalism, film culture, and genre theory, this book theorizes transnational genre hybridity—combining tropes from foreign and domestic genres—as a way of thinking about films through a global and local framework. Taking the 2000s British horror resurgence as a case study, Transnationalism and Genre Hybridity in New British Horror Cinema combines genre studies with close formal analysis to argue that embracing transnational genre hybridity enabled the boom. Starting in 2002, this resurgence saw British horror film production outpace the golden age of British horror. Yet, resurgence films like 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead had to reckon with horror’s vilified status in the UK, a continuation of attitudes perpetuated by middlebrow film critics who coded horror as dangerous and Americanized. Moving beyond British cinema studies’ focus on the national, this book also presents a fresh take on longstanding issues in British cinema, including genre and film culture.