@inbook{90997e643ee442c3bf867292411c6803,
title = "Spine-chilling Possibilities:: Britannia Hospital and British Horror Production",
abstract = "This chapter from the edited collection ReFocus: The Films of Lindsay Anderson (edited by Will Kitchen, Edinburgh University Press, 2026) examines Anderson's Britannia Hospital (1982) through the lens of British horror cinema, exploring how the film's graphic violence and body-horror elements complicate its reception as political satire. Drawing on archival materials including Anderson's diaries and promotional documents, the analysis reveals ambivalence toward horror traditions in both the film's production and marketing. The chapter situates Britannia Hospital within a broader context of overlooked 1980s British horror-adjacent productions, arguing that the film's tonal hybridity- blending cerebral satire with visceral gore - exemplifies a distinctively British tradition of comedic horror that challenges hierarchies of taste and continues to influence contemporary genre film-making. ",
keywords = "Lindsay Anderson, Britannia Hospital, satirical horror, body horror, film reception, genre hybridity, 1980s British cinema, British horror cinema",
author = "James Leggott",
year = "2025",
month = dec,
day = "1",
language = "English",
isbn = "9781399537056",
series = "Refocus",
publisher = "Edinburgh University Press",
pages = "133--146",
editor = "Will Kitchen",
booktitle = "The Films of Lindsay Anderson",
address = "United Kingdom",
}