The horror! The horror!

[aeolium]

I quite enjoyed last night's trawl through European cinema devoted to the horror genre with Mark Gatiss. He related films such as Nosferatu and Caligari, and the most recent Spanish films such as those by del Toro to their historical and social background quite interestingly.

What do you think of the horror genre in literature or film? Is it fatally compromised by sensationalism and artificiality, the many 'schlock' horror examples, or are there powerful literary and cinematic creations that redeem it (the literature does at least go back as far as Walpole's Castle of Otranto in the mid-C18)?

[Serial_Apologist]

I have a whole shelf full of ghost and horror story paperbacks - a trait apparently inherited from my... grandmother!

My favourite ghost story has always been Rosemary Timperley's "Harry", in The Third Ghost Book, ed. Lady Cynthia Asquith, James Baine, 1955, but MR James's stories still take a lot of beating for sheer creepiness value; imo several of them could easily be made into films, and I'm surprised few have had a go at it.

[french frank]

Several year's back, Drama on 3 had a 'retelling' of Caligari which I enjoyed and it spurred me on to buy the DVD of the original. Last Sunday (memo - LA it) there was a version (?) of Nosferatu.

Certainly, I did have a brief enthusiasm of the early Expressionist films (a passing one, sadly, for lack of time) and meant to get more. But there is something about the contemporary version of Horror that doesn't interest me.

Walpole's Castle of Otranto

And, of course, Northanger Abbey ...

[aeolium]

the early Expressionist films

There was an interesting discussion between Gatiss and the director of a German film museum where they had small-scale models of a number of the sets from Caligari, showing what the designer was trying to achieve. Some of the Murnau films are extraordinary, including Faust (which was not mentioned but contains some really powerful images such as the description of plague moving through a town, with Mephistopheles "guiding" it). Fritz Lang's M was also not mentioned for some reason.
Horror in Continental literature/film seems to be more powerful perhaps from a more intense historical experience of it - some of the Expressionist imagery seems to draw on old German puppet-theatre which I imagine could be quite frightening.

But there is something about the contemporary version of Horror that doesn't interest me.

Nor me - the manufactured stuff designed to come out around Halloween But I think those serious examples of the horror genre which drew on and articulated the real terrors of recent or contemporary society are of interest.

Northanger Abbey

Can't count satires, I'm afraid (though some horror works are self-satirising)

[french frank]

I've just checked - and confirmed what I was wondering - that both the Caligari Do3 and the Nosferatu were written by Amanda Dalton. Quite a lot of these films seem to be available on DVD and seem to me much more interesting than most of the modern cinema (no surprise there, then, given my usual mindset).

I suppose these particular films were categorised as 'art films' even then compared with the popular versions (heroines tied to railway tracks as the train approaches and the cinema piano heightens the atmosphere of suspense).

I'll try and catch up with the Gatiss item.

[Keraulophone]

To see Nosferatu in a dark Gothic cathedral with David Briggs improvising ghoulish sounds at the organ can be quite a creepy experience.

[handsomefortune]

i particularly enjoyed the whispering transylvanian 'ghost' woman in nosferetu... but the rest of the r3 cast, including the additional member, named roger, made little impact. it was worth a listen just for the first class whispering.

mark gatiss on 'historical and social background' in the horror genre might be interesting, but perhaps i preferred him as pauline's boyfriend in tv series 'the league of gentlemen'!

incidentally, i hope gatiss doesn't become a 'beeb nice guy' - it's such a waste of acting talent. (i like to think that pauline would agree on the latter). though gatiss has been good at discussing horror films, it's usually more within mr handsomefortune's area of interest than my own. 'the league of gents' was just right for me: dark + funny as hell. alternatively, the release of 'shaun of the dead' was pretty apt in the consumption obsessed mid 2000s, as was the original it was based on, in its time .....ideally, there has to be some relevance to our fear...not just for its own sake. though that's just my problem (evidently).

[amateur51]

mark gatiss on 'historical and social background' in the horror genre might be interesting, but perhaps i preferred him as pauline's boyfriend in tv series 'the league of gentlemen'!

incidentally, i hope gatiss doesn't become a 'beeb nice guy' - it's such a waste of acting talent. (i like to think that pauline would agree on the latter). though gatiss has been good at discussing horror films, it's usually more within mr handsomefortune's area of interest than my own. 'the league of gents' was just right for me: dark + funny as hell. alternatively, the release of 'shaun of the dead' was pretty apt in the consumption obsessed mid 2000s, as was the original it was based on, in its time .....ideally, there has to be some relevance to our fear...not just for its own sake. though that's just my problem (evidently).

Mark Gatiss is currently appearing as Charles I in a new Howard Brenton play 55 days at London's Hampstead Theatre. Friends went to see it recently and reported that it was the best new play they've seen in ages

http://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats-on/2012/55-days/

[amateur51]

Three relatively modern horror/fantasy films that I would recommend:

Pan’s Labyrinth

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/

The Orphanage

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464141/

Let The Right One In

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/

[handsomefortune]

that's cheering amateur51......but beware the beeb pigeon hole still applies imo, it gets smaller and smaller the longer a person's stuck in it yet reaches the most, audience figs-wise. (might make a good horror plot in terms of relevance, or perhaps it'd suit psycho thriller better)?

[aeolium]

am51, Let The Right One In is on in the early morning hours on Film 4 (starting 1.20 a.m.) in case you or anyone else wishes to record it.

I agree about Pan's Labyrinth (it was one of the films mentioned towards the end of Gatiss' survey).

[Stanley Stewart]

I've just set the recorder for later tonight (31 Oct): C4 "Frankenstein: a Modern Myth: 23.10 - 00.10hrs

"Written in 1916, Mary Shelley's gothic tale of experimentation and reanimation continues
to inspire. This film examines some of its artistic interpretations, from Boris Karloff's movies
to Danny Boyle's National Theatre staging."

Encouraged by "Horror Europa", I spent this afternoon watching a pristine print, from 2010, of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis"
(1927) which also restored a long missing 25 mins of material from a cut print during the remastering process, together with a new symphony orchestra studio recording of the original Gottfried Huppertz score. Additionally, there is also a full-length audio commentary and a 2010 55 mins documentary, about the film, together with an informative 56 page booklet. Available on the Masters of Cinema series.EKA40321. Exceptional value.

Completed this treat by also viewing an off-air DVD of an adaptation of H G Wells' "Things to Come" (1936), an elaborate Alexander Korda production which spans almost a 100 years from 1940 - 2036, traversing a world war, a plague and a technological revolution. Tick the appropriate boxes. Awesome monochrome sets and designs, too, the reviews made this ambitious vision of the future, Britain's answer to Metropolis! And, yes, the score by Arthur Bliss is a scorcher.

[Nick Armstrong]

Three relatively modern horror/fantasy films that I would recommend:

Pan’s Labyrinth

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/

The Orphanage

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464141/

Let The Right One In

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/

I have the first two on blu-ray: great stuff! The monster with its eye in the palm of its hand in Pan's Labyrinth is one of the great scary creations of cinema

Didn't enjoy the last one as much as most people.

I have the Gatiss programme to watch on my return - I sneaked a peek at the first 10 minutes of my recording in the early hours: I think I shall enjoy it! Great to be reminded at the start of those Wall's "Count Dracula's Secret" iced lollies which I found deeply exciting at the age of 9... !

[Roslynmuse]

As a child I greatly enjoyed 'The Lord Halifax Ghost Book' and, re-reading it recently, curiosity led me to Google some of the settings, real places that still exist. Some chilling miniatures there. M R James is the master though, if anything his stories get creepier with the familiarity of repetition.

Some old BBC adaptations of M R James are now available on DVD, including Michael Hordern in Oh Whistle and I'll Come To You (Jonathan Miller directing). One of the creepiest TV adaptations I have ever seen was of Dickens' The Signalman, probably around 1978.

As well as the films already mentioned, my favourite is 'Dead of Night' - an old Ealing film (score by Auric) with the famous hearse-driver scene ('room for one more inside, sir') and the crying boy ghost at the birthday party which refers to the case recently retold in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. And of course Michael Redgrave as the ventriloquist, and the haunted mirror with the wrong reflection...

[umslopogaas]

Interesting thought (well I think its interesting). We live in a relatively liberal age, on matters of sex you can write, and indeed film, pretty much what you like. However, I have just read H.G. Wells' 'The Island of Doctor Moreau'. in 1896 Wells would have had no trouble getting that published, whereas if he'd written ... oh, I dont know ... 'The Story of O', I doubt any reputable publisher would have risked it. Today the position is reversed, you can fantasise in print pretty much what you like about O, but you wouldnt get away with doing a Moreau on her pet cat.

'The Island of Doctor Moreau', in case anyone doesnt know, concerns an archetypical mad scientist on a remote tropical island who is trying to vivisect animals into human form. He doesnt bother with anaesthetic. Its vividly nasty, Wells was a very fine author and he doesnt hold back. Those of a sensitive disposition, or fond of furry animals, should look elsewhere.

It has apparently been filmed three times, according to my film guide: they reckon much the best (ie nastiest) version is 'Island of Lost Souls' (1932). Charles Laughton, no less, as Moreau, and Bela Lugosi (eek!) as The Sayer of the Law. Probably to be avoided if you are troubled by bad dreams.