A Host of Horror

All aboard the:

My absolute favourite genre of film is horror.  Most people say to me when they find this out: "But I never would have thought you'd like those kind of films!"  Well people, appearances can be deceptive and we see this in many horror flicks - Norman Bates comes to mind...

There have been many classic movements of horror over the years including the Universal monster movies of the 1930's (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolfman) as well as the slasher horror films of the late 70's and early 80's (Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elmstreet).  This post today, however, is going to focus on my all-time favourite - the Hammer Horror films from the mid 50's to the late 70's.  Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are the icons of Hammer Horror (and are total legends in my opinion) and were involved in many of the Dracula's and Frankenstein's throughout this period as well as projects such as Rasputin: The Mad Monk and The Hound of the Baskervilles. 

Hammer Horror's were renowned for their fake-looking, vibrant-red blood, hammy acting and cheesey interpretations, but the audiences obviously enjoyed them otherwise Hammer wouldn't have made the 6 sequels to The Curse of Frankenstein and 8 sequels to Dracula.  This appreciation is still apparant today as I went along to a Hammer Horror film festival a few weeks ago in the Old Vic Tunnels (organised by The Flicker Club http://theflickerclub.com/).  With the release of Hammer's The Woman in Black, there was a whole host of other Hammer Horror films being shown, and when I was sat amongst 100 other people enjoying Dracula: Prince of Darkness as much as I was, it confirmed the appeal and timelessness of such an awesome collection of movies.

I love the fact that Hammer has re-emerged in the last few years with the modest Hilary Swank film The Resident and the more mainstream Let Me In.  Both were a great introduction for Hammer before their box office smash The Woman in Black. Along with the brilliant West End play and the chilling book by Susan Hill, I think Hammer created a distinct but (very!) spooky version of the tale (and to all you critics out there, I thought Dan Radcliffe was excellent in it!).

I have enjoyed so many Hammer Horror's since first being introduced to them at uni when learning about the history of British cinema.  My favourite would have to be Countess Dracula with the lovely Ingrid Pitt.  It is a tragic tale of the desperate pursuit of youth (the aged countess kills young women and bathes in their blood...this makes her young and beautiful again) which today seems even more relevant than ever! 

Hammer posters are another subject in themselves and you can see the extensive collection by legendary film-poster artist, Tom Chantrell at this link http://hammerhorrorposters.com/.

Hammer historian Marcus Hearn has also written some excellent books that are worth a look: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Marcus-Hearn/e/B001K8AA6A

Hearts and Shadows

 
With the release of the John Cusack thriller The Raven, I have been studying Edgar Allan Poe's writings again.  He is one of my favourite classic gothic writers, along with H.P. Lovecraft, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and Emily Brontë.  I'm intrigued to see how they will work this Seven-like suspense story: a mad-man goes about murdering people in different ways inspired by Poe's writings (when thinking of the Pit and the Pendulum I can only imagine the grimness that will unfold!).  I am very pleased that Hollywood has brought Poe to a mainstream audience, but I think that there is so much more that can be done with his extensive and brilliant repertoire.  The haunting novel by Andrew Taylor, The American Boy, deals with Poe's childhood and creates a whole world of mystery, murder and intrigue which is a fantastic homage to the tragic genius.  Definitely worth a read along with Poe's poem The Raven and his short story The Tell-Tale Heart.
        
 Now for some more American Gothic by a master of the dark arts - Mr Tim Burton and his new film Dark Shadows.   I am intrigued by this material as it originally started out as a 1960's American "gothic" soap opera.  I'd never heard of the show before reading about the film in the last Empire magazine and I do think that it may have a difficult time appealing to non-American audiences as we didn't grow up with the programme. But, I remember as a child watching re-runs of The Munsters and The Addams Family and really loving them, so maybe a watch of the original series will encourage me to watch the movie!  I'm sure Mr Burton has done a spiffing job as always!

Black Magicians and Other Worlds

I finished reading Trudi Canavan's second Black Magician book The Novice last night.  She reallyis a great storyteller and I love the fact that you never know where she's going with the plot.  I can't wait to start the third book!  Hopefully the film studios will cotton on to how great these books are and start looking into making a big movie trilogy.  I've already thought of actors who would be great as the characters:  Gary Oldman as Akkarin (you will see me mention Mr Oldman a lot in the future - he is just SO awesome!), Liam Neeson as Rothen and Chloe Moretz or Hailee Steinfeld as Sonea methinks!  So many great actors to choose from!

I've also been hearing a lot about The Hunger Games and think I will look into reading these, but I also really need to read the Game of Thrones books.  The tv show has had amazing reviews but I'm one of those people who loves to read the book before seeing the movie!  I've a million other books stacked next to the bookshelf as no more will actually fit in! 

Another book I must re-read is The Hobbit.  I cannot contain my excitment for (legendary) Peter Jackson's first instalment The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey coming out in December 2012.  The trailer gives me goosebumps when the dwarves are singing their deep, sonorous and melancholy lament.  Beautiful!

Prometheus

...cannot wait for this movie.  Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was originally called Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus - the monster is in his own personal hell, like the Greek legend, the immortal Prometheus endures eternal torture when an eagle eats his liver everyday, over and over again.  I wonder what similarities and common themes Ridley Scott will put in his newest work?  We will wait and see!