A History Of Horror With Mark Gatiss

Nice to see an interview with Gloria Stuart. That couldn't have been filmed that long before she sadly died late last Month.
 
Theatre of Blood is one of my favourites too. But the films tongue is very firmly in it's cheek, and it's intentionally very camp. Perhaps ToB was deemed more Comedy-Horror than Horror.
 
I have a number of individual releases on DVD fromThe Hammer Collection (2006) - I'm very happy with the quality. There is some variation from film to film. and some grain is noticeable, but it's not a problem at all if you're situated more than a few feet from the screen (when played on upscaled blu-ray player to 50" HD TV). As far as I know, there are no cuts.

The following link gives technical (& other) information on the 21 individual films that were released separately and as part of The Ultimate Hammer Collection boxset:

http://mondo-esoterica.net/boxsets/Ultimate Hammer.html
 
Ooh, I'm really looking forward to tonight's episode! I remember being absolutely terrified by films like The Pit and the Pendulum when I was a kid. I still get chills even now when I remember that final scene...Brrrr!
 
Just read his tweet - good news for me, given my endless blabbing on Bava, Argento etc. and the Jorge Grau Living Dead at Manchester Morgue film. :)

Enjoyed tonight's episode. Nice to see Mark endorsing the excellent set peices that I mentioned earlier in The Omen. Also good to see him covering early Cronenberg with the inclusion of Shivers and another excellent excerpt of his interview from Barbara Steele. It also provided the opportunity for him to show the 1976 clip of the repulsive, anti-horror veteran Barry Norman, spouting the sort of rubbish he always has.

I do, to quite an extent, share Mark's misgivings regarding both the quality and importance of those films which came after his end point. David Lynch is the big exception, especially outstanding in the last two decades. But it would have been good to have had mentioned films related to those in tonight's episode which came only a few years after Halloween - further high qiuality Carpenter (The Fog, The Thing, Christine), Cronenberg (Videodrome) and Friday the 13th/Nightmare on Elm Street, which merit great importance.

All in all, a very good three Monday nights' viewing.
 
Unfortunately the BBC are showing the longer version which is actually an unfinished edit with many scenes longer than they should be and most of the Goblin music missing.

The 126 minute version is the true Directors Cut
 
thanks, i thought it would be. Gatiss is excellent i thought it hilarious when he said his parents banned him from watching these kind of movies as all his school work contained graphic horror stories including one called Day on the Beach that featured a decapitation, that really tickled me!
 
Really enjoyed this episode.

Would love to have seen more of a gore spattered Cushing and Price chatting away--- lovely blokes.

Haunting and Night of the Demon are two of my favourites as well although I disagree with Mark, I thought the demon at the end should never have been seen....still agreat film.

I used to really struggle to sit up on my own late at night and watch the Haunting---its seriously scary.

Wonder if the Evil Dead will get a mention next week !!!
 
Yes, good episode and great series. Having Romero, Hooper and Carpenter all talking in detail about their work, was a great addition. Gatiss has been an excellent host.

I approve of his dig at modern style horror. 'Torture porn' (aren't we on the 8th 'Saw' or something ridiculous). and slasher movies based on horny/obnoxious American teens who get bumped off one by one, don't do it for me. I want horror films that have something to say.

I agree the best stuff is definitely coming from Asia right now. But i think Mark was a bit harsh to lumber UK film horror as being as bad as the current crop of US horror. In the last 10 years I think on the whole British horror has done quite well. It's no golden age, but we've had in the past decade.

Dog Soldiers
28 Days Later/28 weeks Later
The Descent/Descent II
Eden Lake

and taking into account comedy horror
Shaun of The Dead

Some of those films were both critically and commercally very successful. Not normally do you see UK films being successful enough to spawn sequels. Also Hammer has been resurrected, so I think it's been a pretty good decade for UK horror (I can't remember any UK horror films from the 80s and 90s garnering so much commercial and critical success).
 
I think it's good that it's a very personal choice by Gatiss, it's a subjective discussion of his influences. As such it's far more entertaining because of his passion.

I'm loving it and learning a lot.
 
He missed out the best Hammer film for me, 'The Devil Rides Out'! And if you're doing Brit horror who can you miss 'Theatre of Blood'? Still it was great stuff. That Satan's paw looked rather lurid and pervy! I've not seen it.
 
I ued to have the Directors Cut on VHS, will have to buy it on DVD sometime.

Hmm usually when a version on TV is longer, it's better. I might record it and see if I can spot whats different.
 
Yes but that was Quatermass, not Quatermass and the Pit. The first and second movies in the trio were in black and white whilst the last was more reminiscent of Hammer's classic gothic horrors in colour - I was going to say glorious Technicolor but imdb says that it was DeLuxe! Sadly I don't think Q&theP featured at all in the prog.
 
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