Robert Spadoni
At Case, I teach film courses on a
variety of topics. I received
my Ph.D. from
the University of Chicago in 2003.
Research
My research focuses
on the horror genre
and the historical reception of cinema. My 2007 University of
California Press book, Uncanny Bodies:
The Coming of Sound Film and the Origins of the Horror Genre,
brings these two interests together. It examines the initial
historical phase of the horror genre in relation
to the coming of sound to Hollywood cinema. I argue that the first
sound horror films produced in Hollywood
formalize and exploit qualities of earlier sound films as viewers first
experienced them. Temporarily, persons speaking on synchronized sound
film could seem strange and ghostly. I ask how these
sensations
infiltrated the making and first receptions of these influential horror
films.
Here are reviews of Uncanny
Bodies from Film Quarterly, The
Historical Journal of
Film, Radio, and Television, Film
Criticism, Image & Narrative, Choice,
and
Music,
Sound,
and
the
Moving
Image.
Some essays I have published:
"The Old Dark House and the Space of Attraction" in Cinémas
"Strange Botany in Werewolf of London" in Horror Studies
"The Uncanny Body of Early Sound Film" in The Velvet Light Trap
"The Figure Seen from the Rear, Vitagraph, and the Development of Shot/Reverse Shot" in Film History
Teaching
Courses I have taught include Introduction to Film; History of Film—Origins to Present; Introduction to Film Genres; The Horror Film; Science Fiction Films; Hitchcock; Movies and Meaning; American Cinema History and Culture; Watching Movies—Spectatorship, Reception, Reflexivity; and Storytelling and Cinema
I welcome inquiries about film studies at Case, which now offers an undergraduate minor in film.
Associate Professor, Film Studies
