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 2010, Muir's most recent film director study was Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of Mira Nair.

Biography more less

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 & 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 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."[1]

Muir was educated at the University of Richmond in Virginia from 1988 to 1992 [2], 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.[3]

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. In 2010, John was tapped to be a judge at the ACEFEST NYC2010 Film Festival, occurring August 20—28, 2010. [4]

Fiction more less

Media Appearances more less

the House Between more less

Style more less

Muir's various literary works have been noted for their exhaustive research [14], [15]); 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."[16]

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." [17]