Cowboy Hamlets and Zombie Romeos

The book focuses on the interpretation of Shakespeare film adaptations in commercial film genres, from the classical Hollywood era to contemporary blockbuster cinema. Its genre-based analyses revisit old favourites and rediscover long-forgotten treasures of film history, taking adaptation studies in a new direction. -- .

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The book presents a systematic method of interpreting Shakespeare film adaptations based on their cinematic genres. Its approach is both scholarly and reader-friendly, and its subject is fundamentally interdisciplinary, combining the findings of Shakespeare scholarship with film and media studies, particularly genre theory. The book is organised into six large chapters, discussing films that form broad generic groups. Part I looks at three genres from the classical Hollywood era (western, melodrama and gangster-noir), while Part II deals with three contemporary blockbuster genres (teen film, undead horror and biopic). Beside a few better-known examples of mainstream cinema, the volume also highlights the Shakespearean elements in several nearly forgotten films, bringing them back to critical attention. -- .