Horror movies that took the genre in a new direction.
Final Destination (2000)
shareThe original Japanese The Ring and The Grudge movies. Launched the J-horror, long-haired, jerk-motion, vengeful, female ghost on an unsuspecting West.
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MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Horror movies that took the genre in a n...
Psycho. Hitchcock campaigned to have people not be late for the movie (for understandable reasons). I read somewhere that this had a permanent effect, in that people before 1960 were pretty sloppy about showing up to see a movie from the beginning--one simply stayed to see the film begin anew and catch what you missed.
google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=alfred+hitchcock+psycho+required+to+see+from+beginning
'The Thing' ( 1982 )
shareThe problem with this question is that the answers are always invariably compromised of the popular American hits. Forgetting older, foreign and lesser known films which predated them or influenced the more known films.
Halloween (1978) is oft championed for it's influence on slashers, rightfully so. However Psycho (1960), Peeping Tom (1960), Black Chritsmas (1974) and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) all predate it containing many slasher elements. You have the final girl concepts, masked killers, chase scenes, the killer stalking and watching the victims, the seasonal theme or date of significance (many later slashers used this concept, My Bloody Valentine, Prom Night, Friday the 13th etc,). Dr. Sam Loomis' name is literally lifted from Psycho, with John Carpenter being on record as the mask being inspired by Eyes Without A Face (1960) and Michael just standing there and watching from The Innocents (1961). Everything has it's influences.
Not to mention a many number of Italian Gialli films which became increasingly slasher-like (A Bay of Blood 1971 & Torso 1973 in particular) with films like Blood and Black Lace (1964) and The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970) being early tentpoles in that slasher related sub-genre. Many people claim Friday the 13th is a rip-off of Halloween, yet it has more in common and outright ripped of a kill scene from A Bay of Blood.
As for the mentions of Final Destination (2000) & It Follows (2014) in this thread. Sole Survivor (1984) predates both operating largely the same. Cheating death with death trying to reclaim you (FD & SS) being watched and walked down by a force/person that no one else can see (SS & IF). It Follows does get some credit for it's STD (Sexually Transmitted Demon) concept.
"Forgetting older, foreign and lesser known films which predated them or influenced the more known films."
True. The 1922 German vampire film Nosferatu was highly influential.
One of the rules in Horror is that 'Bava did it first'. Mario Bava's influence on the genre is extreme.
Black Sunday (1960) - This is one of the premiere gothic Horror films. It features a dual-role from Barbara Steele, one of the earliest to come to mind in Horror.
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963) - As one can see from the title, this was Hitchcock inspired. It's regarded as the first Giallo (Italian who-done-it Horror/Thrillers). A great sub-genre that was influential on the American Slashers.
Black Sabbath (1963) - A Horror anthology featuring a segment where a Woman is terrorized over the phone, the phone caller relaying information that proves they can see the call receiver. This has been done again in films like Black Christmas (1974) and Scream (1996).
The Whip and the Body (1963) - The lighting in this film and Bavas later films inspired the vibrant coloring in later Italian Horrors films, notably Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977). Bava's use of primarily colors (red, blue and green lighting) can be seen in many films to this day, he's one of the earliest directors I've seen use this bold fluorescent lighting to dominate a scene. This film also features a mild S&M theme, the earliest usage in Horror that I'm aware of.
Blood and Black Lace (1964) - This is the next step in Giallo films. Featuring a masked killer with black gloves. Films like Psycho (1960) and Peeping Tom (1960) featured non-masked killers. The black gloves became a gialli staple. This film also amps up the sexuality a great deal. Plenty of models in lingerie. Probably the first body-count, masked serial killer targeting sexy young Women film.
Planet of the Vampires (1965) - Astronauts receive a distress signal from an alien planet, they arrive to the planet to inspect it finding an old spaceship with a huge alien skeleton in it. Sound familiar ? The ghostly 'vampires' on this planet are similar to John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (2002).
Kill, Baby... Kill (1966) - The first ghostly killer child film ? The shot of the toy ball bouncing down the stairs has become a supernatural horror staple. Films like The Changeling (1980) feature this same shot.
Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970) - This film undoubtedly influenced American Psycho (2000), this film may well be called 'Italian Psycho'. It features the iconic opening monologue almost beat-for-beat. When I first seen this film I was shocked to see that. The Italian Psycho straight up tells people he's a killer and they laugh it off as a joke. Sound familiar ?
A Bay of Blood (1971) - One of the first unashamedly 'watch it for the kills' films. Cabins by a lake, skinny dipping, a pair speared to death whilst having sex, random characters added only to be killed off and to increase the body count. Sound familiar ?
Lisa and the Devil (1973) - One of the earlist 'dream logic' horror films. It's not the first as Carnival of Souls (1962) does something similar. However this films nightmare logic became prevalent in later Italian Horror films such as Inferno (1980) and The Beyond (1981). John Carpenter is on record stating his Prince of Darkness (1987) had this loose-narrative logic due to his being inspired by Argento's Inferno (1980).
Shock (1977) - This film features a scene where a Woman has a nightmare where she's attacked with a knive and awakes to find her blouse is actually cut. Extremely similar to the Tina nightmare scene in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).
Scream (1996) is a film which is often put forward for it's meta self-referential concept. Kevin Williamson is on record stating that Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986) as being a major influence on his concept. A major oversight in many peoples discussions on meta horror. Friday the 13th is a huge franchise and it's humorous approach and references to other Horror (the young Nancy having nightmares at the camp etc) is a definite precursor to Scream.
shareYou have touched on many of my favorites here. 👍
shareMichael just standing there and watching from The Innocents (1961)
I'm having trouble remembering a scene from The Innocents that shows an obvious influence on that. share
Hi thanks for the reply, it's the 'lady in the lake' scene. Where she's standing in the water staring at Deborah Kerr's character.
Here's a youtube clip of the scene. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEkAKpFMJW4
Naturally one of the top comments mentions this tidbit;
" John Carpenter said that he watched this movie when he was in film school, and that he found this particular scene to be very powerful. When making Halloween, he was inspired to use similar wide shots to frame Micheal in the distance. You can see the parallel when watching this clip. "
Ah, yes. Got it. That scene also struck me as a possible influence on the 2012 version of The Woman in Black. I've not seen James Watkins acknowledge it, but several shots of Jennet in the background remind me of it.
shareEvil Dead II.
Horror/comedy. I can't think of any before that.
Horror-Comedy as a whole or Raimi's particular brand of slapstick comedy ? If just plain horror comedy then there are countless that predate Evil Dead II (1987).
James Whales Horror Films have a ripe camp factor. The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) & Bride of Frankenstein (1935) are the earliest horror comedies I can think off.
Vincent Price starred in a great number of Horror-Comedies. House on Haunted Hill (1959), The Comedy of Terrors (1963), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), Theatre of Blood (1973) and so on.
As for the 80s. An American Werewolf in London (1981), Basket Case (1982), Gremlins (1984), The Return of the Living Dead (1985), Fright Night (1985), Re-animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986), Night of the Creeps (1986), House (1986), Slaughter High (1986) and so on are all Horror-Comedies... the 80s was really the peak of that sub-genre there are so many.
You're right. For some reason I was thinking Evil Dead II was 1981 but that was part one.
shareIf you are going with horror/comedy, you can go all the way back to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948.
sharePhantom of the Opera (1925) — first Universal horror/monster picture
Alien -- melded science fiction and horror with a blockbuster budget
Silence of the Lambs — first psychological horror with a true crime setting
I'm going to go off track on my own thread. Why did most people hate the 2007 Rob Zombie remake of Halloween? I was watching it today, and here's what I thought. He tried to go for a grittier, more realistic aspect of a horror movie. I think the backstory made sense. People can just become cold blooded killers, but most of the time their environment has something to do with it. A good remake 7/10
shareI haven't watched Halloween (2007) in a long time, however I have very recently watched some of Rob Zombie's other films for the first time, namely The Lords of Salem (2012) and 31 (2016).
My issue with Robs films is very simple. The edgy and crass dialogue plus the characters are very trashy.
From recollection RZ's Halloween features Michael's Mother being a pole dancer ? The dialogue is typical of RZs other films... not to mention the completely unnecessary rape scene in the unrated cut.
Rob Zombie is very much a love him or hate him kind of director. I fall on the side of hate, sorry, I just can't stand his dialogue and characterizations.
The hate for the Halloween remake in particular isn't surprising, when Rob is making his own film's it's one thing but to apply his whole vibe onto an existing property with a die hard fanbase is recipe for disaster.
You're description is exactly right, crass and trashy. I was just was surprised more people didn't appreciate taking it in a new directions, after so many films. It wasn't my favorite of the sequels either, the characters were very unlikable. I think he may have had more fans with the movie, if his Laurie had been really likable, and one to root for. I haven't seen any of his other films, so no idea there.
shareIf you liked Halloween (2007) and don't mind Rob's style then definitely check out House of 1000 Corpses (2003) & The Devils Rejects (2005). They're the best films he's made in almost everyones opinion, even I not liking his style find those two to be tolerable.
As for taking Halloween into a new direction...stuff like that is very hit and miss for fans. Some people just want the same thing over and over again. The 'curse of the thorn' timeline in Halloween 5 & 6 gets a lot of hate for trying something new too.
I agree, if Laurie was more likable and he cut back on the trashier elements (removed the pole dancing profession, cut back on the constant swearing etc, etc) the film would be much better received.