An offbeat odyssey through the most daring and disruptive phase of American cinema since the advent of sound — during the most transformative and tumultuous period of American history since the Civil War.
We Are the Mutants
is a critical reassessment of what is arguably the most discussed and beloved stretch of movies in Hollywood history.
Documenting the period between the arrival of US combat troops in Vietnam and the end of President Ronald Reagan’s second term, the book forgoes the usual and restrictive exemplars of “auteur cinema,” and instead focuses on an eclectic selection of films and genres — horror, documentary, disaster, vigilante action, neo-noir, post-apocalyptic sci-fi — to track this period's tumultuous transformation in American life, culture, and politics.
By exploring cult classics like
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
and
Escape from New York
, as well as studio blockbusters like
The Exorcist
Fatal Attraction
,
rewrites the history of modern American cinema and, in doing so, the history of America itself.