Cary Edwards is a Lecturer in Film and Media at Boston College, UK, and Associate Lecturer at the University of Derby, UK. His research interests include political readings of popular cinema (with an emphasis on right wing ideologies) and film-violence. His writing has appeared in Horror Homeroom, Bright Lights Film Journal and on his own website www.cary-edwards.com.
There have been many confident critical assertions about the politics of the vigilante thriller. Cary Edwards's thoughtful and insightful book asks us to look again, providing a thorough examination of the genre's inheritances, its social and political contexts, and the ways it asks us to identify (or not) with its protagonists. Highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in this controversial genre, and its wider relationships with American myth, politics and society. --Gregory Frame, Associate Researcher in Film Studies, Bangor University, UK The Vigilante Thriller, using theory, cultural touchstones, and key movies of the 1970s, is a timely examination of how political, social, and cultural conflicts reflect ideological shifts at the heart of American society, fifty years ago and today. --Gerald Duchovnay, Founding and General Editor of Post Script: Essays in Film & the Humanities