MovieChat Forums > Mark Gatiss Discussion > A History of Horror.

A History of Horror.

posted 14 years ago by floyd_dylan
4 replies | jump to latest

Even though the two episodes that were shown didn't say anything new about the genre, I thought it was good beginners guide to horror for the uninitiated.

However I was disappointed that Gatiss made Hammer out to be just churning out Frankenstein and Dracula, amongst a few other things, when in fact they did more than that during the 60s and 70s, for example:

One Million BC, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Paranoiac, Scream of Fear, The Abominable Snowman, The Mummy, Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, Nightmare, Captain Clegg (aka Night Creatures), The Phantom of the Opera, The Gorgon, Kiss of the Vampire, The Nanny, She, Rasputin the Mad Monk, The Witches, The Anniversary, The Devil Rides Out (shockingly not mentioned), Hands of the Ripper, Fear of the Night, Straight on till Morning, etc. All on DVD, with Vampire Circus coming out on R1 dvd/blu ray combo in December.

Same with Amicus apart from Dr. Terror's House of Horror, and Tales from the Crypt, they also did Dr. Who and the Daleks/Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD
The Skull, Torture Garden, The House That Dripped Blood, I, Monster, And Now the Screaming Starts! Vault of Horror, The Beast Must Die, Madhouse, The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core, The People That Time Forgot, which like Hammer are all on dvd.

As with Tigon, The Sorcerers, Curse of the Crimson Altar, The Blood Beast Terror, Doomwatch, Virgin Witch, The Creeping Flesh. They did a few more horror films but they were awful.

I was surprised that Peter Walker didn't even get a mention, but I wonder if he will get a mention in the 70s American horror episode?

[–] floyd_dylan 14 years ago

Third episode of A History of Horror, was interesting but at the same time disappointing, as he failed to mention other great horror directors and movies, such as Wes Craven, and his movies, The Last House on the Left, Hills Have Eyes, and his 80s classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as Brian De Palma's Carrie, Sisters, The Fury.

There was a passing reference to Jaws, but that was a huge box office horror movie, also Herzog's Nosferatu, Don Coscarelli's low budget cult classic Phantasm, Ridley Scott's horror classic Alien, yes it was also a sci fi movie, but it was basically a haunted house in space.

I fail to see why he didn't do another episode mentioning the 80's horror films, as they introduced us to even more great directors such as Sam Raimi, Joe Dante, Stuart Gordon, etc.

Also what was shocking was the failure to mention Italy's contribution to horror genre with their Giallo movies, which gave us Argento, and Fulci.

Hopefully someone with a better understanding and love for the genre such as Mark Kermode will do a better job, rather than someone who has a passing interest.

[–] gb901 14 years ago

Yes I found it very surprising that the line was drawn at 1978 and the total omission of Scott's Alien.

[–] Screamingj 14 years ago

I would have also liked it if Mark talked about most of the films that have been previously mentioned, but he does state quite clearly at the beginning of the first instalment, that the programme would be centred around his own particular favourite horror films from 1930-1980.

[–] blacklodger 14 years ago

Yes, Gatiss himself said there would be omissions (there always in in these type of things) and that he would be discussing his own personal favourites.

Great series, Mark did a splendid job presenting/interviewing/conceiving, but only three episodes! Shame they couldn't have stretched the budget to six, maybe two shows per era.