John Kenneth Muir (born 1969) is an American
literary critic. He has written twenty-one reference books in the
fields of film and television, with a particular accent on the
horror and science fiction genres. He has been described as one of
the horror genre's "most widely read critics", and as an
"accomplished film journalist".
Muir has written a book about
Kevin
Smith, entitled
An Askew View: The Films of Kevin
Smith, a study of
Sam Raimi entitled
The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi and another on
the works of comedian
Christopher
Guest and his repertory company, titled
Best in Show: The
Films of Christopher Guest and Company As of 2008, Muir's most
recent film director study was
Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of
Mira Nair.
Biography
Born December 3, 1969, Muir began his full-time writing career in
1996, penning several books for the North Carolina-based publisher
of scholarly reference books,
McFarland and Company
Inc., Publisher. Among John's titles for McFarland are
award-winners
The Encyclopedia of Superhero on Film and
Television (2004),
Horror Films of the 1970s (2002)
and
Terror Television (2001). Other John Kenneth Muir
titles from McFarland include
Eaten Alive At a Chainsaw
Massacre: The Films of Tobe Hooper
(2003),
The Films of John
Carpenter and
Wes Craven:
The Art of Horror.
In the field of television, John K. Muir has written several
monographs about SF-TV, including
Exploring Space:1999 (1997),
An Analytical Guide
to Battlestar Galactica
(1998),
A Critical History of Dr. Who
on TV (1999),
A History and Critical Analysis of Blake's 7 (1999) and
An Analytical Guide
to TV's One Step
Beyond (2001). Muir gained early prominence and
recognition for treating these genre television series as art,
using the language of film criticism to illuminate their unique
qualities.
In an interview on this subject, Muir noted: "I viewed the [TV]
books as being part of one big book series with a mission: to
define these series as works of art, and to apply the tenets of
film theory and criticism to prove that notion. This means looking
at the choice of camera angles. This means looking at editing. This
means looking at how form reflects content. This means analyzing
the context and history of the program, since no work of art comes
out of a vacuum...My goal was to return to these series and study
their visuals, their themes, their ideas, and assemble texts that
synthesize new theories about them, using my film background as a
guide and underlying foundation."
[185712]
Muir was
educated at the University of Richmond
in Virginia from 1988 to 1992, where he studied for
two years under renowned Hudson Review film critic,
Bert Cardullo (a student of The New Republic's film critic Stanley Kauffmann). Muir's first
book,
Exploring Space:1999 was published five years after
his graduation from University, in April 1997. Muir also counts
Pauline Kael and
Roger Ebert as important career
influences.
[185713]
In 2008, Muir became a member of the horror-themed League of Tana
Tea Drinkers. In 2009, Muir became a member of the artist
collective, Tecamachalco Underground.
Fiction
Muir's first novel was published by
Powys
Media in 2003, an officially licensed continuation of the
Space:1999 saga, entitled
The Forsaken. This is the second in the Powys line of
Space:1999 books, following
William Latham's
Resurrection.
John's other fiction credits include two short-stories for The
Official
Farscape Magazine. In issue # 6,
for May 2002, his story "That Old Voodoo" was featured. In issue
#8, for August 2002, his story "Make a Wish" was published.
Media appearances
The author of articles for magazines including
Cinescape, Filmfax, and
Collectors News, Muir has appeared on
TV on
The E!
True Hollywood
Story: "Curse of The
Exorcist", TV Ontario's
Saturday Night at the
Movies,
[185714] and on the premiere episode of
Sciography, seen on
The Sci-Fi Channel.
On the radio, Muir has been a guest on
Destinies: The Voice of
Science Fiction,
NiteShift Good Morning Charlotte,
The Allan Handelman
Show, and
The Mitch
Albom Show.
In 2007, Muir appeared as an expert commentator alongside
Joe Dante,
John
Landis, and
Dee Wallace in
Decade of Darkness,
MGM's 23-minute documentary concerning horror films of the 1980s
released with the new "Collector's Edition" DVD of
Return of the Living Dead
(1985).
[185715]. He also appeared with directors John
Carpenter, George Romero, Larry Cohen, Mick Garris, and Tom
McLoughlin in the independent documentary
Nightmares in Red,
White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror
Film.
[185716]
Muir maintains an
Internet presence writing
his blog, John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Film/TV
[185717] which features posts on film, TV,
pop-culture, collectibles and nostalgia. The blog began in April
2005 and is ongoing. In 2009, the blog was listed as one of the
"Top 100 Film Studies Blogs" on the Net.
[185718]
The House Between
In 2006, Muir wrote and directed seven half-hour episodes of an
original science fiction series
[185719] entitled
The
House Between,
[185720] to be broadcast online.
The House
Between's first episode, "Arrived", premiered at Fantasci V
[185721]in Chesapeake, VA, on July 29, 2006.
The second season of the series premiered January 25, 2008 and ran
through March 2008. A third season began airing online in January
2009. The House Between's second season premiere ("Returned") was
nominated for a Sy Fy Genre Award in 2008 under the category "Best
Web Production." Sy Fy Radio on August 13, 2008 announced that The
House Between placed second out of five productions, behind the
bigger-budgeted Star Trek: Of Gods and Men by a margin of less than
100 votes. The third season of the series was nominated for "Best
Web Production" at Airlock Alpha, but did not win. Altogether
twenty-one episodes of The House Between were produced over three
seasons.
Style
Muir's various literary works have been noted for their exhaustive
research
[185722],
[185723]); and informative yet informal tone.
Or, as one reviewer describes his style: "Muir is able to construct
a book that shows off an amazing research effort without coming off
as too academic."
[185724]
From
Reference and Service Users Quarterly's review of
Muir's
Horror Films of the 1970s (Volume 42, Number 3,
Spring 2003): "The title of this book says it all and fans of the
genre have reason to rejoice. Muir, an authority on horror and
science fiction cinema, has finally turned his attention to the
decade when the modern horror film genre came into its own...The
film descriptions communicate well to the reader, even when the
film itself is unfamiliar. Each synopsis gives an overview that
makes clear the subject and scope of the film; and his commentary
is serious, thought-provoking, and helpful in understanding the
meaning and importance of the film...I am aware of no similar
reference that covers the same territory as Muir does in this work.
It merits consideration on that basis alone, but academic libraries
and larger public libraries will no doubt find it to be a useful -
and much-used addition to their reference collections."
Muir is also frequently noted for an unbridled enthusiasm for his
subject matter, which often leads to a positive-skewing critical
approach. Of his reviews in
The Films of John Carpenter it
has been written: "To call these observations reviews would be a
grave disservice to the author. I found most of them worthy of the
word dissertations. They're elegantly written, incredibly
insightful, and simply a real blast to read. Muir clearly loves and
appreciates his subject matter, and the enthusiasm is infectious.
For me, one of the signs that a piece of film criticism is well
written is when it makes me interested in re-evaluating a film that
I didn't particularly care for upon initial viewing. Muir does that
on numerous occasions here particularly with the films
Escape From LA and
Prince of Darkness.
The Prince
of Darkness chapter, in particular, certainly sheds some new
light on this much-maligned and misunderstood film. However, even
when covering the classics
Halloween and
The
Thing, Muir brings new observations to the table. No small
feat considering that anyone who writes about the genre seriously
has already dissected these two films."
[185725]
Book titles
Ken Russell: Re-Viewing England's Last Mannerist ("As the
(White) Worm Turns: Ken Russell as God and Devil of Rubber-Reality
Horror Cinema") (Scarecrow Press, 2009)
Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy ("SALTed Popcorn")
(Open Court, 2008)
TV Year Volume 1: The Complete 2005-2006 Prime Time Season
(Applause Theater and Cinema Books, 2007)
The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia" (Applause Theater and
Cinema Books, 2007)
Horror Films of the 1980s (McFarland, 2007)
Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of Mira Nair (Applause
Theatre and Cinema Books, 2006)
Singing a New Tune: The Re-Birth of the Modern Film Musical,
from Evita to De-Lovely and Beyond (Applause Theatre and
Cinema Books, 2005)
Best in Show: The Films of Christopher Guest & Company
(Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2004)
The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi (Applause Theatre
and Cinema Books, 2004)
The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television
[McFarland and Company Inc., Publishers, 2004)
Space:1999 - The Forsaken (Powys Media, 2003)
Eaten Alive At A Chainsaw Massacre: The Films of Tobe
Hooper (McFarland and Company Inc., Publishers, 2003)
An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith (Applause Theatre
and Cinema Books, 2002)
Horror Films of the 1970s (McFarland and Company Inc.,
Publishers, 2002)
An Analytical Guide to Television's One Step Beyond,
1959-1961 (McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers,
2001)
Terror Television: American Series, 1970-1999 (McFarland
and Company, Inc., Publishers, 2001)
The Films of John Carpenter (McFarland and Company, Inc.,
Publishers, 2000)
A History and Critical Analysis of Blake's 7, the 1978-1981
British Television Space Adventure (McFarland and Company
Inc., Publishers, 1999)
A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television (McFarland
and Company Inc., Publishers, 1999)
An Analytical Guide to Television's Battlestar Galactica
(McFarland and Company Inc., Publishers, 1999)
Wes Craven: The Art of Horror (McFarland and Company Inc.,
Publishers, 1998)
Exploring Space:1999 - An Episode Guide and Complete History of
the Mid-1970s Science Fiction Television Series (McFarland and
Company Inc., Publishers, 1997)
Periodicals
Filmfax Plus (April/June 2008): Interview with Director Kevin
Connor.
GameCulture Journal Volume #1; Number # 4: (Jan 2008): Review of
Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984; A Complete Reference Guide by
Brett Weiss.
GameCulture Journal Volume #1; Number #3: (April 2007): "Culture
Wars Episode One: The Atari Menace."
Driftwood Creative Arts Magazine, Volume 27 (2006/2007 Edition):
"It Saw The Future of America" (on RoboCop [1987])
Filmfax Plus (Jan/March 2007): "Rediscovering Land of the
Lost."
Filmfax Plus (Nov/Dec 2006): Interview with Dorothy Fontana.
Filmfax Plus (Jan/March 2004), No. 101: "John Newland: TV auteur.
Final Interview with the Man Who Created One Step Beyond.
Filmfax (Feb/Mar 2002): "All the World's A Stage...And the Universe
Too! A Look at the Future with Space:1999 Screenwriter Johnny
Byrne."
Filmfax (Feb/March 2002): "1975: A Special Effects Odyssey! From
Space Odyssey to Star Wars with Space:1999 Special Effects Director
Brian Johnson".
Cinescape (May/June 2001): Vintage Vision: "Toon Trek" (w/Steve
Hockensmith).
Cinescape (March/April 2001): Buzz Box: Logan's Run.
Cinescape (Jan/Feb 2001): Vintage Vision "The Running Man" (Logan's
Run TV series).
Rerun: The Magazine of Nostalgia Television (Spring/Summer 1999):
"Moonbase Over The Millennium: A Space: 1999 Retrospective." (Pages
5 – 7; 68)
Collectors News: (May 1999, page 52): "Buck Rogers in the 25th
Century"
Collectors News (August 1998, page 50): "Collecting Space Adventure
Board Games"
Awards
- The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and
Television: A New York Public Library's "Best of Reference"
Selection, 2005.
- Horror Films of the 1970s: A Booklist
Editor's Choice for 2002; An Outstanding Reference Source for 2003
by RUSA (Reference Users Service Association), and a "Best of the
Best" Reference Book for 2002 by the ALA (American Library
Association).
- Terror Television: A Booklist Editor's Choice
for 2001.
Nominations
Airlock Alpha Best Web Production, The House Between (2009)
Sy Fy Portal Best Web Production, The House Between: "Returned"
(2008)
References
External links
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