HORROR MOVIES 101

What's the most influential horror film of all time??

Im down with Night of the Living dead.

Re:What's the most influential horror film of all time??

elmonstro1982:

Im down with Night of the Living dead.

Re:What's the most influential horror film of all time??

I don't think I could pick just one film as "the most" influential horror film of all time.

I agree that NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD ushered in the modern horror film as we know it.

PSYCHO brought upon the thrillers afterwards regarding individuals that eventually led to the slasher film with the aid of HALLOWEEN and the gore in slashers thanks to Bava's BAY OF BLOOD.

FRANKENSTEIN inspired the mad scientist and monster amuck, where THE WOLFMAN added transformations.  (Universal and Hammer studios definitely did their share to how horror cinema has molded for the last 30 plus years).  Let's not forget all those dracula/vampire films.

Polanski's ROSEMARY'S BABY modernized the occult in horror that eventually inspired and gaveway to THE EXORCIST and THE OMEN, but you could go even farther back.

42nd street Grindhouse (the real stuff, not what they are passing off as Grindhouse today) made way and careers of many people from David Lynch to Hennenlotter.

Some influences, even from good movies, led to bad decisions. I love NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, but the Freddy Kruegerisms and "one liners" that saturated horror films for the next 20 years led to movies like LEPRECHAUN (blech) and downright ruined the Hellraiser films (the third film is full of those awful, trying to be humorous one liners). 

German expressionism cinema helped mold even Universal with CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, NOSFERATU, DER GOLEM, FRITZ LANG'S M and so forth. 

So basically, for me it isn't one film, but a huge recipe of ingredients.

Mark

Re:What's the most influential horror film of all time??

    From what i have seen and enjoyed in most italian directors including Argento.  Alot of there style, probally wouldnt of really existed if wasn't for Val Lewton. The original writer of the The Body Snatcher (1945) and his one film that he produced and that you can see alot of influence on Italian diretcors The Seventh Victim (1943)  Another Lewton film, the a huge horror influence because you also see traces of it in alot of things and its till doesnt get the respect it should.

Re:What's the most influential horror film of all time??

Oh definitely count me in the Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur camp! Huge fan of movies like I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, THE BODY SNATCHER, CURSE OF THE DEMON and the rest!

Mark

Macabre_FilmNut:

    From what i have seen and enjoyed in most italian directors including Argento.  Alot of there style, probally wouldnt of really existed if wasn't for Val Lewton. The original writer of the The Body Snatcher (1945) and his one film that he produced and that you can see alot of influence on Italian diretcors The Seventh Victim (1943)  Another Lewton film, the a huge horror influence because you also see traces of it in alot of things and its till doesnt get the respect it should.

Re:What's the most influential horror film of all time??

I was looking at some blogs and other movie related items and I came across a film I have yet to see. From what I understand this movie in particular was inspiration for alot of slasher directors over here in the states, especially the first two Friday the 13th (1980)'s. The movie I am refering to is Mario Bava's,  Reazione A Catena (Bay of Blood (1971). 

Re:What's the most influential horror film of all time??

Some very good responses, there are so many "staple" horror movies that once you mention one, you have to mention like 20.

In the 90's, movies like "I know what you did last summer" and Final Destination (2000) began popping up.  This genre became a sort of "new horror genre" and so many movies like these had success.   I attribute this to "Scream," (1996) a very influential horror movie.