Horror Films: 1950-1959
Derived from The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Tom Milne, Kim Newman, Julian Petley, Tim Pulleine, Paul Willemen, edited by Phil Hardy. Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press, 1995, but expanded. "Horror Triumphant": the authors consider 1957 a watershed year for the birth of modern horror as genuine horror films begin to supplant science fiction in popularity, citing as important Night of the Demon, I Vampiri, The Curse of Frankenstein (and other Terence Fisher films that followed), El Vampiro, and I Was a Teenage Werewolf as examples of the diversity of the genre. While they considered Night of the Demon an extension of Jacques Tourneur's previous work with Val Lewton, and El Vampiro (along with La Momia Azteca) as part of a growing strain of traditional Mexican horror films, they see the work of Fisher and Riccardo Freda (and his pupil Mario Bava) as pointing the way forward with threatening (to critics) sensuality and atmospheric visuals emphasized over narrative pacing.
avg. score: 31 of 267 (12%)
required scores: 1, 9, 16, 31, 55
