Matthew Reine
We are a few short weeks away from everyone’s favorite holiday, Halloween. The scares and the surprises of the darkness, people just can’t get enough of it. So much that it’s become an international pastime of any age group to binge horror films in the weeks leading up to the all-day scarefest. Some even go out of their way to locate the scariest, goriest, most violent motion pictures ever filmed to give them a terrifying, out of body experience. Let’s examine some of the men who created the films that you’re probably watching right now.
John Carpenter – One of the most influential and innovative figures in the horror genre was John Carpenter. Starting his career in the late 70’s, he directed the low budget action film, “Assault On Precinct 13” in 1976 but made his mark in Hollywood by helming the horror classic, “Halloween” in 1978.
The frightening tale portrayed Jamie Lee Curtis as a high schooler who is stalked by the murderous psychopath, Michael Myers. The film was a major success, spawned a plethora of sequels (none of which were very good but that’s an argument for another time), and put Carpenter on the map. He subsequently released “The Fog,” which saw him reteam with Curtis, and 1982’s “The Thing,” the second cinematic adaptation of the John W. Campbell novella, “Who Goes There?” about a violent, unseen force that takes form inside humans and manipulates them. Horror gem, “Christine,” based on a Stephen King novel about a vintage hot rod that brings a drastic change of behavior upon a mild mannered teenager, followed in ‘83 along with ‘87’s “Prince of Darkness”.
Late 80’s essential horror genius “They Live,” considered the last of the Carpenter must-sees, stars professional wrestling superstar, Roddy Piper, as a construction worker who sees aliens after putting on a pair of sunglasses and later finds out they’re taking over earth. The movie was interesting because up until that point, the only wrestler that was getting major motion picture deals was Hulk Hogan, so it was nice to see someone else from that profession take a major role in cinema, especially someone who usually portrayed a villain on-screen. The iconic scene with Piper struggling to get Keith David to put on the sunglasses and see the aliens was perfectly spoofed in an episode of “South Park” in 2001. After a hiatus throughout the 2000’s, he released his latest film in 2010, “The Ward,” about a group of young females who are inmates in an insane asylum, one of which is being haunted by a mysterious ghost.
Wes Craven – After Craven released the gore-infested cult classics, “The Last House on the Left” and “The Hills Have Eyes” throughout the 1970s, he hit the jackpot with “A Nightmare on Elm Street” in 1984 and subsequently helped jump start Johnny Depp’s acting career.
The dark tale stars Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, a child murderer who is killed by the victims’ parents. His spirit then haunts the dreams of teenagers from his old neighborhood of Elm Street in order to kill them with the aid of his butterknived hand. The movie became a major hit and started an entire franchise based on the Krueger character, not to mention making Englund a huge star and horror enigma. Craven hit a bit of a lull in the 90’s while horror was starting to die out in theatres but was able to rebound in 1996 with his tribute to classic horror cliches, “Scream”.
The success of “Scream” initiated a revival of the slasher genre in the late 90’s producing movies such as “Disturbing Behavior,” “Urban Legend,” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” The year 2000 would prove to be a very interesting year for Craven who directed the Oscar-nominated drama, “Music of the Heart” starring Meryl Streep. The movie was unlike anything Craven, who was very clearly established at this point for directing some of the bloodiest gorefests ever, had ever done up to that point. The risk proved successful as the film generated critical acclaim and even a few Oscar nods. After a series of commercial failures, Craven went back to the well with a fourth installment of his popular “Scream” series in 2011.
Peter Jackson – You might know Peter Jackson as the Academy award winning director of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and most recently for directing the trifecta of films based on “The Hobbit,” but you probably don’t know that he got his start in the business by directing horror flicks. Jackson’s very first feature was 1987’s super low budgeted, “Bad Taste”, a ridiculous and bloody slapstick horror film, starring Jackson himself in a major role, that has since gained a cult following.
He returned to form with “Dead Alive”, a zombie film in the early 90’s. Jackson took a turn in the late 90’s with his first big budgeted picture, the comedy/horror flick, “The Frighteners” starring Michael J. Fox.
In his last role in major live action motion picture before his descent into Parkinson’s disease, Fox plays a widowed “ghosthunter” whom searches for a paranormal force that is accidentally unleashed. Jackson’s filmmaking career took a drastic change when he directed the famed LOTR trilogy and he has unfortunately abandoned the horror genre in recent years.
George A. Romero – The zombie master himself, Romero is most famous for directing the original “Living Dead” series. Before there was Resident Evil, 28 Days Later or even The Walking Dead, Romero was able to make his very first feature a game-changing horror classic.
The film was 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead,” a black-and-white heart pumping ride featuring a group of strangers hiding out in an abandoned house during a sudden zombie invasion. He followed up the success with one of my all-time favorites, 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead” (way better than its lackluster 2004 remake) and 1985’s “Day of the Dead.” Romero returned to his iconic undead series with 2005’s “Land of the Dead” proving to everyone that he still had it. What followed in 2007 was the experimental, “Diary of the Dead.” This feature used a guerilla-style filmmaking style which garnered poor reviews. A new decade saw the release of the series’ sixth entry, 2010’s “Survival of the Dead.”
David Cronenberg – Cronenberg was more on the unconventional side of horror. Making science fiction and psychologically terrifying films throughout his professional career, Cronenberg has generally swayed the many rules and trademarks of traditional scary movies and has instead ventured into more thought provoking motion pictures. One of the first instances of this is the tortured filled 1983 picture, “Videodrone.” His follow up came that same year with “The Dead Zone” starring Christopher Walken as a man who experiences premonitions of the people he physically interacts with following a fatal car accident. The movie produced a spin-off almost 20 years laters in 2002 starring Anthony Michael Hall. Cronenberg’s most well known work would be his remake of the 1958 Vincent Price vehicle, “The Fly.”
In this one, Jeff Goldblum plays a scientist who develops a teleportation device that accidently splices his DNA with that of a normal housefly after he tests its use. The film was known for its graphic make-up which horrifies viewers to this day. The excellent prosthetics showing Goldblum’s gradual transformation from man to insect won an Academy Award for Best Make-Up which broke ground for the genre.
Another film in Cronenberg’s filmography that I want to cover is the surreal thriller, “Crash.” No, not the racial drama that won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2005, I’m talking of the James Spader vehicle (no pun intended) where he and Holly Hunter find sexual pleasure through car accidents. Yes, a couple who gets off to watching people get mangled in motor wrecks. Not a horror film in the traditional sense but a very risque piece of cinema that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
Rob Zombie – The former White Zombie frontman broke away from the band in the late 90’s and pursued a successful solo career. After releasing his second album, “The Sinister Urge,” in 2001, Zombie decided to chase a long time passion in filmmaking. Growing up idolizing the scream queens and classic horror pictures of Hollywood’s Golden Age (a lot of which are referenced in his music), he set out and carved a niche for himself helming horror flicks. Zombie’s first film was the ultra-gorey splatterfest entitled “House of 1,000 Corpses” in 2003. While it received mostly negative reviews, it made over $16 million at the box office, more than twice it’s low $7 million budget.
The success led to a sequel, “The Devil’s Rejects,” in 2005 which was better received and became an even bigger blockbuster for the musician. His biggest success came in 2007 when he released his own take on the classic “Halloween.” This version gave Michael Myers more of a backstory and humanizes him in a way which was met with mixed reactions but grossed over $80 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. Zombie followed-up with a universally panned sequel, “H2” (complete with a TALKING Michael Myers) in 2009. His latest film, “Lords of Salem,” was released in 2013.
