William Girdler s career was short, lasting just six years but even by the standards of those who toil away in the exploitation arena, he was extremely prolific, making nine features between 1972 and 1978, when he was killed in a helicopter crash in the jungle outside Manila, aged only thirty.

He specialized in making the kind of films which attract the rabid cult fan, from the occult horror of his low-budget debut Asylum of Satan to the more accomplished - but even more bizarre - The Manitou in a journey that took him from Louisville, Kentucky to the Philippines via Hollywood.

This is the first book about Girdler s films and includes contributions from a number of his collaborators, as well as extracts from treatments for some of his unmade projects.

From Satan to Pam Grier and from a killer bear to a resurrected medicine man, this is the Wild World of William Girdler.

Ian Cooper is the author of five books including Frightmares: A History of British Horror and The Manson Family on Film and Television. He lives in Germany.