A History of Shock Film

"A History of Shock Film" tells the story of movies that broke taboos, specifically in the realms of sex, violence, profanity, sacrilege, controversial messaging, and a few other areas that many cultures find transgressive. The book shows how what constitutes shocking content has changed over the past century-plus of movies. It starts with an 1895 short of a woman dancing on stage and ends on a 2010 film that had to be edited to get an NC-17 rating. Throughout, these films sparked public controversies. The conflict between freedom of expression and various forms of censorship is central to the narrative of "A History of Shock Film." While "A History of Shock Film" focuses mainly on the films of the United States, it also covers influential movies from around the world.