As early as the late 1800’s horror films have been part of
American culture. Films such as the 1910 classic, Thomas
Edison’s Frankenstein along with German expressionism films like
Nosferatu, The Golem, and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. These
films were among the first to bring visual fear into the hearts
and minds of audiences. Though not seen in America at that
time, the German films of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s are,
to this day, some of the most influential films ever made.
America truly started to bloom in the industry of horror with
the huge success of the old Universal monster movies like
Dracula, Frankenstein and The Wolfman, etc. At this point in
time horror films had become a popcorn treat. Films to bring
your girl or your date to see, just so you can make out or get
your arm around her, because of the fear and threat that they
posed, it held possibility that she would be hiding in your
arms. The inner fear of human beings and the adrenaline these
films send pumping through our veins keeps us going back for
more. Along with films like The Tingler, Fiend Without a Face,
and many other films of enormous influence upon what was to come
in our beloved genre, we were offered great film making and were
first witnessing the true talents of actors such as Vincent
Price, Bella Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney SR. and JR.
As we moved on to the end of Universal monsters and atomic
age horror, we witnessed the birth of a more modern horror from
over seas. In the late 50’s to early 60’s Hammer horror based
out of Europe, brought us films such as we had never seen
before, as well as actors like Christopher Lee and Peter
Cushing, that would change the face of horror forever. Dracula
was finally taken as more of a menacing, fear worthy villain,
which only Christopher Lee could pull off. Not since F.W.
Mernau’s Nosferatu has the prince of darkness been such a
threat. Hammer also brought us films such as The Curse of
Frankenstein, The Brides of Dracula, Frankenstein and the
Monster from Hell and Curse of the Werewolf. These films were
the first to bring real blood and a true fear of the dark. With
most of these movies as well as many American films of the time,
we saw the true birth of something new in the genre… the
underground, independent and the frightful truths of life and
what could be lurking in the house next door. Psycho, made in
1960 and not particularly an independent film, brought us the
first real look of true insanity. In the book, Norman Bates was
noted as a short tubby man but Hitchcock gave us the boy next
door. Without creatures being the source of fear, we had a
normal, thin, good looking guy as the face of terror; a true
monster. Not to mention this decade finally offered many of
these horrors in full, blood soaked color. Oh the times, they
were a changin.
Moving into the late 1960’s and Early 1970’s film makers
grew more and more aware of what audiences wanted, more blood
and more realism. Then came the Slasher films as well as the
ultra cheese gore fests of directors such as H.G. Lewis, whose
films were so utterly offensive at that time that they only had
a small audience who truly appreciated the ferocity of his
visions. In the 70’s Slashers had become the true face of fear,
for the simple fact that it was the realism behind certain
movies that would drive viewers away from the screen and keep
some glued to it. The so called first of the true slasher films
(with Psycho aside) was Black Christmas. If not for this film,
who knows when it truly would have begun? Billy was a threat
like no other, a realistic psychopath, never seen, stalking the
young women of a sorority house and striking the nerve long
dormant within the human body. Like this film and the Texas
Chainsaw massacre, realism had arrived. No more monsters, with
a few exceptions of course. The late 60’s and 70’s also
brought us the creation of the Zombies that we have all grown to
love, Thanks to directors such as, George A. Romero and the
Italian maestro Lucio Fulci. Starting with Night of the living
Dead in 1968, these films not only gave us dead, emotionless,
flesh eating creatures, but brought on more gore and added
political satire to this now, beloved genre. Zombie films of
earlier years glorified voodoo and the superstitious side of the
undead. These early films never gave us the idea of the hunger
for human flesh and the need to feed. This rage of the undead
and the slasher on celluloid moved us into the time of ultra
gore (though the seventies delivered well) and most of which
were well made and still feeding the hunger of folks like us,
the small majority who wanted more gore, more sleaze, and more
fear.
In the 1980’s, we the wanting viewers, were kept at
attention by filmmakers who had gotten more ballsy and headed
into a realm that would also lead us into a decade or two, or
perhaps even three, of sequels. To think, especially at that
time, that you couldn’t get any more realistic or harsh than
films like Last House on the Left, Black Christmas and Dawn of
the Dead, viewers were dreadfully wrong. Now we had entered the
age of movies like Friday the 13th, Halloween and a Nightmare on
Elm St. These films to this day have spawned many sequels and
wannabes. Though sequels had been around and done many times,
even as far back as the time of universal monsters, the 80‘s
went and took things to extreme. For me not to mention that
the age of independent filmmaking had started to grow very
strong in this decade of violence would be wrong, so I will.
Along with the mentioned films came an abundance of Video
Nasties. The Underground had begun to rise due to the birth of
the home video, and thanks to mom and pop video shops and drive
in theatres, the hardcore gore hounds had the means to view
these ultra violent films. Films like Blood Sucking Freaks,
Driller Killer, Frightmare and Last House on Dead End Street.
Many of the nasties and sleazies from the 60’s, 70’s and of
course the 80’s were now available to the general public. Even
the films of Jess Franco, Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento were now
available for the fans to watch. As the grossness and realism
grew, so did the desire for more. If not for the films of the
willing and daring filmmakers of the 60’s through the 80’s,
horror as we know it now would not exist, hardcore and in your
face, extreme violence may have never been created.
After almost two decades of fear and gore, came the
1990’s. Of course every decade had its exception when it came
to good and bad film making, including some of the films I have
mentioned, that you may consider to be one of those; good or
bad. With a few exceptions, the 90’s brought to us the digital
age and the beginning of the end of true horror, and for a while
the underground stayed dormant, waiting to rise again. This was
a decade for the dawn of the teenie bopper, AKA pg13 horror
films. Scream, and many others like it began in the mid to late
90’s and have continued to filthify our screens to this day.
Luckily; just when we thought horror was dead, the underground
popped its head up out of the grave and started to deliver
films, just to let the true fans know that they were still alive
and thriving below. Films such as Leif Jonker’s Darkness (now,
Darkness: The Vampire Version) and others like The Dead Next
Door were giving the gore hounds hope once again. In an age
when digital FX really started to thrive (and at first looked
like shit) we held hope for the uprising to begin once more.
Unluckily for us it hadn’t. The mainstream had become nothing
but sequels and remakes straight through the 2000’s and to this
very day has not and may never change. When it comes to the
mainstream horror films, the only good ones had and have been
from other countries, but then again once certain American
companies get their filthy hands on them, these films are cut
down to the fucking bone (i.e. Haute Tension and The Descent).
We have also taken foreign horror and re-made them the American
way, good wholesome family fucking fun.
Now, in a time of sorrow for the true gore whores, there is
hope once again. Thanks to the miracle of DVD and the internet,
we are now offered an even easier and wider range of films from
all over the world, from the worst of the worst, to some of the
finest horrors ever put to film. Company’s such as Toe Tag
Pictures, Morbid Vision Films, and even as extreme as the fetish
oriented horror of Kingdom of Hell Productions as well as Asian
directors and company‘s like Guinea Pig, we have finally got
something to truly enjoy. Along with European countries, and
many other foreign horrors, the scene is being built up once
more by delivering these films to the U.S. Even though some of
these films are extreme and most likely not for the every day
horror fan, true art, true expressionism, true fear and of
course originality has been pumped back into the veins of a
thought to be dead genre. Thank god for this because the
arteries of horror were clotting, quickly.
I know my outlook on cinematic horror of very recent times
sounds quite negative, this is not completely the case. In the
past few years their have been several films, and yes, even some
remakes, that have laid some damn good ground work and paved
paths for the mainstream that has been long lost. But, these
films are few and far between. As true horror fans we can only
keep our chins up and hope for the best in the years to come.
There will be many disappointments and many goodies coming our
way. Lets just be thankful that the most (not all) films
independent filmmakers have been putting out and along with the
few Hollywood exceptions, we will always have something to keep
us company while we wait for the next best thing to come to a
theatre, video store or perhaps an online store near you.
Long live horror, long live the underground!
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