Horror in the 1970-1980s
The end of the Production Code of America in 1964, the financial successes of the low-budget gore films of the ensuing years, and the critical and popular success of Rosemary's Baby, led to the release of more films with occult themes during the 1970s. The Exorcist (1973), the first of these movies, was a significant commercial success, and was followed by scores of horror films in which the Devil represented the supernatural evil, often by impregnating women or possessing children. The genre also included gory horror movies with sexual overtones, made as "A-movies" (as opposed to "B movies").[14]
"Evil children" and reincarnation became popular subjects. Robert Wise's film Audrey Rose (1977) for example, deals with a man who claims that his daughter is the reincarnation of another dead person. Alice, Sweet Alice (1977), is another Catholic-themed horror slasher about a little girl's murder and her sister being the prime suspect. Another popular Satanic horror movie was The Omen (1976), where a man realizes that his five-year-old adopted son is the Antichrist. Invincible to human intervention, Satan became the villain in many horror films with a postmodern style and a dystopian worldview.
Another example is The Sentinel (1977 film), in which a fashion model discovers that her new brownstone residence may actually be a portal to Hell. The movie includes seasoned actors such as Ava Gardner, Burgess Meredith and Eli Wallach and such future stars as Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum.
The ideas of the 1960s began to influence horror films, as the youth involved in the counterculture began exploring the medium. Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes(1977) and Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)[15] recalled the Vietnam war; George A. Romero satirized the consumer society in his zombie sequel, Dawn of the Dead (1978); Canadian director David Cronenberg featured the "mad scientist" movie sub-genre by exploring contemporary fears about technology and society, and reinventing "body horror", starting with Shivers (1975). Meanwhile, the sub-genre of comedy horror re-emerged in the cinema withYoung Frankenstein (1974), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and An American Werewolf in London (1981) among other films.
Also in the 1970s, the works of the horror author Stephen King began to be adapted for the screen, beginning with Brian De Palma's adaptation of Carrie (1976), King's first published novel, for which the two female leads (Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie) gained Oscar nominations. Next, was his third published novel, The Shining (1980), directed by Stanley Kubrick, which was a sleeper at the box office.
This psychological horror film has a variety of themes; “evil children”, alcoholism, telepathy, and insanity. This film is an example of how Hollywood’s idea of horror started to evolve. Murder and violence were no longer the main themes of horror films. During the 70s and 80s, psychological and supernatural horror started to take over cinema. Another classic Hollywood horror film is Steven Spielberg’s "Poltergeist". "Poltergeist" is ranked the 20th scariest movie ever made by The Chicago Film Critics Association. Both films, The Shining and Poltergeist, involve horror being based on real-estate values. The evil and horror throughout the films come from where the movies are taking place. In "The Shining", Danny Torrance (the child in the film) can sense supernatural forces. This is because the hotel where the film takes place was once a burial ground for a Native American Indian tribe. This is very similar to the film, Poltergeist. Carol Anne, who is the five-year-old child, can sense the supernatural spirits that have taken over her house. These bizarre spirits come from the graveyard, which the house is buried on. Both films are an example of the evolution of Hollywood horror films.
At first, many critics and viewers had negative feedback towards The Shining. However the film became more and more popular and is now known as one of Hollywood's most classic horror films. Carrie became the 9th highest-grossing film of 1976. King himself did not like The Shining, because it wasn't very faithful to the 1977 best-seller novel.
A cycle of slasher films was made during the 1970s and early 1980s. John Carpenter created Halloween (1978), Sean Cunningham made Friday the 13th (1980) and Wes Craven directed A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984). This sub-genre would be mined by dozens of increasingly violent movies throughout the subsequent decades, and Halloween became a successful independent film. Another notable '70s slasher film is Bob Clark's Black Christmas (1974). The boom in slasher films provided enough material for numerous comedic spoofs of the genre including Saturday the 14th (1981), Student Bodies (1981), National Lampoon's Class Reunion(1983), and Hysterical (1983).
Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) began a new wave of killer animal stories such as Orca (1977), and Up from the Depths. Jaws is often credited as being one of the first films to use traditionally B movie elements such as horror and mild gore in a big-budget Hollywood film.
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) was also a mix of horror and sci fi, but it was neither a box-office nor critical hit. However, nearly 20 years after its release it was praised for using ahead-of-its-time special effects and paranoia.
The 1980s saw a wave of gory "B movie" horror films – although most of them were panned by critics, many became cult classics and later saw success with critics. A significant example is Sam Raimi's Evil Dead movies, which were low-budget gorefests but had a very original plotline which was later praised by critics. Other horror film examples include cult vampire classic Fright Night (1985), The Lost Boys (1987), Gremlins, the Critters, and the Poltergeist series.
"Evil children" and reincarnation became popular subjects. Robert Wise's film Audrey Rose (1977) for example, deals with a man who claims that his daughter is the reincarnation of another dead person. Alice, Sweet Alice (1977), is another Catholic-themed horror slasher about a little girl's murder and her sister being the prime suspect. Another popular Satanic horror movie was The Omen (1976), where a man realizes that his five-year-old adopted son is the Antichrist. Invincible to human intervention, Satan became the villain in many horror films with a postmodern style and a dystopian worldview.
Another example is The Sentinel (1977 film), in which a fashion model discovers that her new brownstone residence may actually be a portal to Hell. The movie includes seasoned actors such as Ava Gardner, Burgess Meredith and Eli Wallach and such future stars as Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum.
The ideas of the 1960s began to influence horror films, as the youth involved in the counterculture began exploring the medium. Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes(1977) and Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)[15] recalled the Vietnam war; George A. Romero satirized the consumer society in his zombie sequel, Dawn of the Dead (1978); Canadian director David Cronenberg featured the "mad scientist" movie sub-genre by exploring contemporary fears about technology and society, and reinventing "body horror", starting with Shivers (1975). Meanwhile, the sub-genre of comedy horror re-emerged in the cinema withYoung Frankenstein (1974), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and An American Werewolf in London (1981) among other films.
Also in the 1970s, the works of the horror author Stephen King began to be adapted for the screen, beginning with Brian De Palma's adaptation of Carrie (1976), King's first published novel, for which the two female leads (Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie) gained Oscar nominations. Next, was his third published novel, The Shining (1980), directed by Stanley Kubrick, which was a sleeper at the box office.
This psychological horror film has a variety of themes; “evil children”, alcoholism, telepathy, and insanity. This film is an example of how Hollywood’s idea of horror started to evolve. Murder and violence were no longer the main themes of horror films. During the 70s and 80s, psychological and supernatural horror started to take over cinema. Another classic Hollywood horror film is Steven Spielberg’s "Poltergeist". "Poltergeist" is ranked the 20th scariest movie ever made by The Chicago Film Critics Association. Both films, The Shining and Poltergeist, involve horror being based on real-estate values. The evil and horror throughout the films come from where the movies are taking place. In "The Shining", Danny Torrance (the child in the film) can sense supernatural forces. This is because the hotel where the film takes place was once a burial ground for a Native American Indian tribe. This is very similar to the film, Poltergeist. Carol Anne, who is the five-year-old child, can sense the supernatural spirits that have taken over her house. These bizarre spirits come from the graveyard, which the house is buried on. Both films are an example of the evolution of Hollywood horror films.
At first, many critics and viewers had negative feedback towards The Shining. However the film became more and more popular and is now known as one of Hollywood's most classic horror films. Carrie became the 9th highest-grossing film of 1976. King himself did not like The Shining, because it wasn't very faithful to the 1977 best-seller novel.
A cycle of slasher films was made during the 1970s and early 1980s. John Carpenter created Halloween (1978), Sean Cunningham made Friday the 13th (1980) and Wes Craven directed A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984). This sub-genre would be mined by dozens of increasingly violent movies throughout the subsequent decades, and Halloween became a successful independent film. Another notable '70s slasher film is Bob Clark's Black Christmas (1974). The boom in slasher films provided enough material for numerous comedic spoofs of the genre including Saturday the 14th (1981), Student Bodies (1981), National Lampoon's Class Reunion(1983), and Hysterical (1983).
Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) began a new wave of killer animal stories such as Orca (1977), and Up from the Depths. Jaws is often credited as being one of the first films to use traditionally B movie elements such as horror and mild gore in a big-budget Hollywood film.
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) was also a mix of horror and sci fi, but it was neither a box-office nor critical hit. However, nearly 20 years after its release it was praised for using ahead-of-its-time special effects and paranoia.
The 1980s saw a wave of gory "B movie" horror films – although most of them were panned by critics, many became cult classics and later saw success with critics. A significant example is Sam Raimi's Evil Dead movies, which were low-budget gorefests but had a very original plotline which was later praised by critics. Other horror film examples include cult vampire classic Fright Night (1985), The Lost Boys (1987), Gremlins, the Critters, and the Poltergeist series.