stephen king
AFI’s DISRESPECT AND SHUNNING OF THE HORROR FILM.
AFI. The American Film Institute. Recently gave us yet another list, the 10 Top 10. Covering categories from Comedy to Drama to Animation and Western, Sports and Mystery. Noticeably off the list ? The category of Horror.
Horror and the art of scaring audiences has been around for a hundred years, not too mention old legends of folklore and Fairy Tales for children. The genre is a staple of Cinema and storytelling as a whole. Why the omission ?
Nate Yapp put it nicely over at Classic Horror with the following word bite on AFI’s Top 100 (100 Years, 100 Movies)
A scant four horror films were worthy of the AFI’s mention: Psycho (#14), King Kong (#41), Jaws (#56), and The Sixth Sense (#89). Significant amongst the omitted is Frankenstein, which held the 87th slot on the same list ten years ago.
I’m not sure which I’m more annoyed with — the poor representation of the genre in general, or the dropping of what I consider to be the cultural milestone in Hollywood Horror. I’m not going to dig into their other selections; each film on the list has its champions and they have spoken. It’s just a bummer that the AFI’s creative think tank is treating horror like the poor cousin. Given the glitzy Hollywood focus of the list, I’m not expecting Night of the Living Dead to make the cut, but why not Rosemary’s Baby? If not The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, what about The Exorcist (which is not a film I enjoy, but it made #3 on the AFI’s own 100 Years… 100 Thrills list)?
1922’s Nosferatu
Makes no sense to me and is a virtual slap in the face to all moviegoers. We’re not talking about harcore horror or cultish fanboy stuff, I’m talking about omitting some of the greatest films in history, films that scare people and leave legitimate impact on them.
Whether outright horror (looks like, tastes like, feels like; it must be …) or horror sub-genres, Great, great films have been made that are screaming for attention
Four films listed on this one, and not a single category of respect in their latest 10 Top 10. I personally don’t even consider Animated Films to be real films (it’s my own spin) and am wondering how they could not come up with the Top 10 Best ever horror films for the respect of the genre.
Many a director has gotten their start in horror while others, even great ones have built entire bodies of work in the subject matter.
The Masta
Masters of the genre:
John Carpenter (The Thing, Escape from New York, The Fog, Halloween), Alfred Hitchcock, forever known as the Master of Suspense (The Birds, Psycho) , Brian De Palma (Carrie, Dressed To Kill, Sisters), Cronenberg (Rabid, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, The Fly), George Romero (The Dead Trilogy), Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead Series), Dario Argento (Suspiria), Lucio Fulci, Wes Craven (The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street), Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects) and Richard Donner (The Omen)
Not too mention, notable Directors who got their start in Horror
Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners) and Steven Spielberg (Jaws) come to mind. I would love to see Steven tackle a legitimate horror film.
Which brings me to my (and it seems many) all time favorite horror films. It takes a lot to scare m in a movie, to really have any kind of serious affect. I’m making this list an unofficial AFI list, it is authoritative.
10. Salem’s Lot
‘Salem’s Lot is a 1975 horror novel written by Stephen King, and was the author’s second published novel. The title King originally chose for his book was Second Coming, but he later decided on Jerusalem’s Lot. The publishers, Doubleday, shortened it to the current title, thinking the author’s choice sounded too religious.
I don’t think there’s ever been a film that scared me more that was a Made For TV movie. Directed by Tobe Hooper, this film left scars on my child hood ass.
9. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film written, directed, and produced by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel. So bizarre it could happen. Which is exactly what makes a horror film scary. Realizing that it could be you.
8. Carrie
Carrie is a 1976 American horror film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Lawrence D. Cohen, based on the novel by Stephen King. The film and the novel deal with a socially outcast teenage girl, Carrie White, who discovers she possesses telekinetic powers after being subjected to both physical and mental harassment by her peers, teachers, and her mother. The film stars Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Betty Buckley, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen, William Katt and John Travolta.
Regarded as a watershed in the horror genre and is arguably one of best feature film adaptations of a Stephen King work.
7. Rosemary’s Baby
Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move into an apartment in a building with a bad reputation. They discover that their neighbours are a very friendly elderly couple named Roman and Minnie Castevet, and Guy begins to spend a lot of time with them. Strange things start to happen: a woman Rosemary meets in the washroom dies a mysterious death, Rosemary has strange dreams and hears strange noises and Guy becomes remote and distant. Then Rosemary falls pregnant and begins to suspect that her neighbours have special plans for her child.
6. Jaws
Favorite film of all time, first film I remember seeing. My brother asked me “Jaws ? A horror film?” I said “Can you go in the ocean and not think for just one moment that Bruce is coming?”
5. Night of the Living Dead
Played to death in the public domain, I remember seeing this growing up and being mesmerized by how freaked out I was.
Here, watch the entire film for free
4. The Exorcist
Ain’t no intro needed
3. Psycho
2. The Shining
1. Halloween
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John Carpenter’s Christine is a 1983 horror film about a supernaturally malevolent automobile and its effects on the teenager who owns it, adapted from a novel written by Stephen King. One of my favorite films of all time and John Carpenter’s most underrated and least talked about films.
The original theatrical One Sheet.
The movie starred Keith Gordon as Arnie Cunningham, the typical high school nerd with only one friend, a childhood companion named Dennis Guilder (John Stockwell, who is a director now; Turistas (2006), Into the Blue (2005)) a popular jock. Arnie’s life changes when he discovers Christine, a red 1958 Plymouth Fury. Arnie begins to restore Christine to her original beauty, but as he spends more and more of his time repairing her, those in his life notice that he is changing as well.
Arnie metamorphoses from timid and insecure to confident and assured. But this transformation is filled with an evil streak and a very jealous, supernaturally possessed car.
As the film develops, we discover the car the car has a deadly past. The previous owner, Roland LeBay, became consumed with Christine and he paid for it with his life. Dennis and Arnie’s new girlfriend, Leigh, played by Alexandra Paul, try to save Arnie from a similar fate. They realize that the only way to save Arnie is by destroying Christine. Christine, however, isn’t ready to give up Arnie without a fight.
I thought this was Carpenter’s last real good work and showed him at the top of his game in visual terms. After that, he seemed to have lost the edge. As much as I like his body of work, yes, even Vampires and Ghost of Mars, Carpenter seems to have peaked with this film. His glory years being from 1976 to 1983 when we were given the masterpieces The Thing, Escape from New York, The Fog (okay, campy, I know, but I love it), Halloween and Assault on Precinct 13, Carpenter gives us such wonderful visual language and efficiency in this film. A true Auteur of his time.
What I want to look at in the following scene, is Carpenter’s use of the P.O.V., Blocking and impressively, his use of generally longer takes that keeps the camera moving and actors staging in a constant flux, changing the frame and composition.
Finest smell in the world, except for maybe …
STEPHEN KING - The best and worst adaptions of his work.
There have been many Stephen King films made into film adaptions and a surprising amount of them have delivered. These are my choices for the best and the worst.
1980 The Shining
Quite literally, one of the scariest films ever made, the film directed by Stanley Kubrick and lensed by John Alcott, fresh off of Barry Lyndon, The Shining brought him the Oscar. Jack Torrance interviews for a job at the isolated Overlook Hotel where he plans to write his novel while working at the hotel but instead, goes completely mad.
The most chilling scene for me is not the legendary “Here’s Johnny!” but when his wife, Wendy, played by Shelley Duvall sees the novel he’s been working on, a page in the typewriter. The page is just repetitions of a single sentence, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. She then sees that Jack’s entire manuscript is more of the same.
Kubrick is a master during this sequence, pioneering the use of the steadicam and staying wide open the entire time whereas most filmmakers would close in and claustrophize the frame. The vast airiness of the room and chillling low synth undercurrent score works you to the edge. It is not until Duvall approaches the typewriter and we get a startling Close Up of the words on paper, and then an extreme low angle close up from the point of view of the typewriter follows.