Monsters
and Demons: A Short History of the Horror Film by: Astrid Bullen
Going to the movies may not seem
like a novel way for little kids to spend an afternoon. But have you ever
brought your child to see a Disney flick and ended up viewing trailers
for Jeepers Creepers 2 or Freddie vs. Jason? When this happened in a Birmingham,
Alabama cinema last year, parents became concerned about what the main
attraction would be. But before the managers at the cinema could turn off
the previews, the main attraction came on, and it wasn’t Piglet. Instead
they were presented with the gruesome opening of Wrong Turn, an 18-rated
slasher flick in much the same vein as the previews.
Is there a more genre more criticized
than the horror film? Not bloody likely. There’s the argument that horror
films are socially and morally irresponsible, even influencing some people
to imitate the brutal methods of the killers portrayed on screen. Horror
films actually have the opposite effect on normal people – sick minds will
commit atrocities anyway. Watching horror films lets us encounter our secret
fears, share them with other viewers, and eliminate the terror by meeting
it head-on.
The genre is almost as old as cinema
itself – the silent short film Le Manoir du Diable directed by Georges
Mèliès in 1896 was the first horror movie and the first vampire
flick. The movie only lasted two minutes, but audiences loved it, and Mèliès
took pleasure in giving them even more devils and skeletons.
In the early 1900’s German filmmakers
created the first horror-themed feature films, and director Paul Wegener
enjoyed great success with his version of the old Jewish folk tale Der
Golem in 1913 (which he remade – to even greater success – in 1920). This
fable about an enormous clay figure, which is brought to life by an antiquarian
and then fights against its forced servitude, was a clear precursor to
the many monster movies that flourished in Hollywood during the Thirties.
The most enduring early German horror
film is probably F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922), the first feature-length
vampire movie. But one movie paved the way for the “serious” horror film
– and art cinema in general – Robert Wiene’s work of genius The Cabinet
of Dr. Caligari, still held up as an model of the potent creativity of
cinema even to this day.
Early Hollywood drama dabbles in
horror themes including versions of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
starring Lon Chaney, the first American horror-film movie star.
It was in the early 1930’s that Universal
Studios, created the modern horror film genre, bringing to the screen a
series of successful gothic-steeped features including Dracula, Frankenstein
(both 1931) and The Mummy (1932) – all of which spawned numerous sequels.
No other studio had as much success with the genre (even if some of the
films made at Paramount and MGM were better).
In the nuclear-charged atmosphere
of the 1950’s the tone of horror films shifted away from the gothic and
towards the modern. Aliens took over the local cinema, if not the world,
and they were not at all interested in extending the tentacle of friendship.
Humanity had to overcome endless threats from Outside: alien invasions,
and deadly mutations to people, plants, and insects. Two of the most popular
films of the period were The Thing From Another World (1951) and Invasion
of the Bodysnatchers (1956).
Horror movies became a lot more lurid
– and gorier – in the late Fifties as the technical side of cinematography
became easier and cheaper. This era saw the rise of studios centered exclusively
on horror, particularly British production company Hammer Films, which
focused on bloody remakes of traditional horror stories, often starring
Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and American International Pictures
(AIP), which made a series of Edgar Allan Poe themed films starring Vincent
Price.
The early 1960’s saw the release
of two films that sought to close the gap between the subject matter and
the viewer, and involve the latter in the reprehensible deeds shown on
screen. One was Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom, the other was a very low-budget
film called Psycho, both using all-too-human monsters rather than supernatural
ones to scare the audience.
When Rosemary’s Baby began ringing
tills in the late Sixties, horror film budgets rose significantly, and
many top names jumped at the chance to show off their theatrical skills
in a horror pic. By that time, a public fascination with the occult led
to a series of serious, supernatural-themed, often explicitly gruesome
horror movies. The Exorcist (1973) broke all records for a horror film,
and led to the commercial success of The Omen.
In 1975 Jaws, directed by a young
Steven Spielberg, became the highest grossing film ever. The genre fractured
somewhat in the late 1970’s, with mainstream Hollywood focusing on disaster
movies such as The Towering Inferno while independent filmmakers came up
with disturbing and explicit gore-fests such as Tobe Hooper’s The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre.
John Carpenter’s Halloween introduced
the teens-threatened-by-superhuman-evil theme that would be copied in dozens
of increasingly violent movies throughout the 1980’s including the long
running Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street series. Horror movies
turned to self-mocking irony and downright parody in the 1990’s – the teenagers
in Scream often made reference to the history of horror movies. Only 1999’s
surprise independent hit The Blair Witch Project attempted regular scares.
So go ahead, take a stroll through
these favourite horror movies of all time. But pick your way very carefully,
this walk is not for the faint of heart. And if you happen to hear what
sounds like some subdued whispering or soft creepy grating sounds, just
pay no attention to it. It’s probably only the wind.
About The Author
acording to Naumovici, this
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Walt
Disney's Horror Movie by: Stephen Schochet
In 1934, when Walt Disney called
for a meeting among his artists, a rumor had spread that he was going to
shut the studio down and they would all be left unemployed during the great
depression. Instead he personally told them in his own spellbinding way
the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which he intended to make
into his first feature length film. It was a risk unlike any other he had
taken before. The film would cost a million and a half dollars at a time
Disney was spending anywhere from ten to thirty thousand on his short cartoons.
Doubts came from his wife Lillian and his brother and business partner
Roy, who were sure they would be in debt for most of the rest of the lives.
Also nervous was Walt's backer Bank of America, who at one point interrupted
the production by cutting off his credit. Then there were the heads of
the other studios like MGM, Universal and Warner Brothers. They would gather
for their weekly poker games at the Hillcrest Country Club and speculate
that Walt, who they called "the Mickey Mouse Man", would never succeed,
no one would sit still for an hour and a half to watch a cartoon. And the
press referred to Snow White as "Disney's Folly".
Despite the doubters and his own
health problems (he suffered from a thyroid condition), Walt pressed forward
relentlessly for three years. The key to the film, as far as Disney was
concerned was the evil queen/peddler woman. Snow White was sympathetic,
the dwarfs were humorous, but the villain had to be horrifying to keep
the audience interested. The vocals were performed by a renowned stage
actress named Lucille Laverne. Her haughty voice was a great fit as the
queen, but her playing of the character after she transformed into the
old crone had some at the studio worried. "Wait, I have an idea", she said.
She left the recording room for a few minutes then returned. "I'm ready".
She delivered her lines in a way that chilled and thrilled the Disney staff.
After she finished there was applause and she was asked what she did when
she left. She smiled and said," I took my teeth out!"
Walt's calculations were correct,
Snow White and Seven Dwarfs was a hit throughout the entire world in 1938
and for many years beyond, keeping audiences riveted. The only down side
for Walt was that maybe the peddler woman was a little too horrifying,
he was disturbed by reports from Radio City Music Hall in New York where
the film was setting box office records. It turned out that every few days
the theater management had to replace seats. . . due to excessive wetness.
About The Author
Stephen Schochet is the author and
narrator of the audiobooks "Fascinating Walt Disney" and "Tales Of Hollywood".
The Saint Louis Post Dispatch says," these two elaborate productions are
exceptionally entertaining." Hear realaudio samples of these great, unique
gifts at www.hollywoodstories.com.
orgofhlly@aol.com Courtesy of http://www.ArticleCity.com/
Mrs.
Disney by: Stephen Schochet
Warren Beatty once observed," That
if you get married in Hollywood, you should always do it before noon. That
way if it doesn't work out, you don't kill your evening." But in 1925 Walt
Disney, still getting his feet wet in Tinseltown was not interested in
pampered starlets. His eye was on a employee of his named Lillian Bounds,
originally from Lewiston, Idaho who worked for him as ink paint girl making
fifteen dollars a week. She reminded him of the hard working girls he knew
growing up in Missouri. For her part she found him charming, the way he
grew a mustache to look older in business meetings, and how he refused
to call on her until he could afford a new suit. Since he was more gentile
around women than men, she was spared from the temperamental swearing that
he did around his animators. Walt later joked," I didn't have enough money
to pay her, so I married her instead."
Early in their marriage Lillian loved
going to movies with him and would listen attentively as he criticized
his competitor's cartoons and shared his own exciting ideas. But as time
went by she became more challenging. Perhaps she understood he needed a
sounding board, he was surrounded by yes men who were frightened of him.
I don't like the name Mortimer, she told him in 1927. Why don't you call
your mouse Mickey? She agreed with his business partner and brother Roy
in 1934 that making the first feature length cartoon, Snow White And The
Seven Dwarfs would ruin them. When it turned out to be a smash hit, Walt
took great pleasure in hearing Lillian admit she was wrong. But then he
scared her again. "Why would you want to build an amusement park?" She
asked him. "Amusement parks are dirty. They don't make any money." His
reply didn't make her feel better. "That's the whole point. I want a clean
one that will." But she was at Disneyland the night before it opened with
a broom, sweeping up the dust off the Mark Twain Steamer.
Walt was a good provider for Lillian
and their two daughters even if he had to be in debt to do it. It pained
her when he had to sell his Mercedes during the depression to meet the
studio payroll, or when old friends would call on him for a loan and he
was so tapped out he had turn them down. They were both content to spend
evenings at home avoiding the publicity glare of Hollywood parties. When
times were better she put up with Walt called his "one sin" owning six
polo ponies, which he paid for dearly by taking a nasty spill. He became
a life long scotch drinker to dull the reoccurring pain in his neck. His
next hobby annoyed her more, a miniature railroad in the backyard that
ran through her flowerbed. She gave in only because it seemed to give him
a release from studio pressures. Sometimes she thought maybe he was using
the rides to hide out and avoid facing overwhelming problems. Later, Disneyland
would provide him with a bigger train giving Lillian more peace at home.
Lillian didn't worry about Walt cheating
on her with another woman but would sometimes get jealous of his work.
Often he would come home late, choosing instead to spend the night at the
studio prowling around his animator's desks, even going through their trash
cans to pull out their best ideas. One time he arrived late for a date
and drunk. Angrily she locked him out of the house. He made amends the
next day by presenting her with a female puppy in a hat box. That event
later became the basis for the Disney classic Lady And The Tramp (1955).
The Disney's were world travelers.
Lillian was thrilled to get the call from Walt to pack up for their next
surprise vacation and marvel how he would turn their experiences into Disneyland
attractions. They fell in love with skiing in Switzerland and it lead to
the Matterhorn Bobsled Ride. They enjoyed buying antiques in the French
Quarter, inspiring the creation of New Orleans Square. They learned about
hidden treasure on a island near Cuba sparking the construction of The
Pirates Of The Caribbean, which Walt did not live to see completed.
Lillian fell short of her own dream.
She did not share Walt's love of classical music, preferring to listen
to Lawrence Welk. But she felt his pain when Fantasia (1940) failed at
the box office. In 1987, 21 years after he passed on, she donated fifty
million dollars to build the Walt Disney Concert Hall which would be the
new home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. What better legacy than to bring
Beethoven and Mozart to the masses just like Walt wanted. But she became
discouraged when her idea for a simple brick building became much more
elaborate in the hands of architect Frank Gehry. Soon the fifty million
was gone and she wanted it back fearing she had wasted her money on an
incomplete boondoggle. Her daughter Diane convinced her that Gehry's design
was wonderful but she died six years before the hall opened.
One great thing about Walt building
Disneyland was that he and Lillian got to play tour guide to world leaders.
But Mrs. Disney was very disappointed when the head of Russia Nikita S.
Khrushchev and his wife failed to come to the park in 1960. The Anaheim
police said they could not provide enough security. The Soviet Prime Minister
grumpily settled for a star studded luncheon at Twentieth Century Fox instead.
During the meal Frank Sinatra was informed of Mrs. Khrushchev's disappointment
at missing out on The Magic Kingdom. Old Blue Eyes slammed his fist on
the table. "Screw the cops. I'll take the old broad down there and watch
her myself." He grabbed her by the hand and was near the door when he was
stopped by the KGB. Back at Disneyland Walt made Lillian smile by telling
her he was just as disappointed as she was. He was dying to show the Communist
ruler his new submarine fleet.
About The Author Stephen Schochet is the author and
narrator of the audiobooks Fascinating Walt Disney and Tales Of Hollywood.
The Saint Louis Post Dispatch says," these two elaborate productions are
exceptionally entertaining." Hear realaudio samples of these great, unique
gifts at http://www.hollywoodstories.com.
orgofhlly@aol.com Courtesy of http://www.ArticleCity.com/
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