Prince (communication studies, Virginia Tech) presents essays by movie reviewers, cinematographers, film scholars, psychologists, and sociologists on the controversial subject of graphic cinematic violence. They discuss topics such as the origins and innovations of film violence and attempts to regulate it, the explosion of screen violence since the 1967 releases of "Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Dirty Dozen" and the lasting effects of those landmark films, the aesthetics of increasingly graphic screen violence, and the implications of our growing desensitization to murder and mayhem. Contains several b&w illustrations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)