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Gods and Monsters

Posts tagged Gods and Monsters, newest first.

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10 min read

The Making of a Master: Francis Ford Coppola and ‘Dementia 13’

For over fifty years, Francis Ford Coppola has been a towering, and often controversial, figure in American Cinema. His filmography is one of the most legendary of all time and includes some of the greatest movies ever made like The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), The Conversation (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979), and […] The post The Making of a Master: Francis Ford Coppola and ‘Dementia 13’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
10 min read

Nothing Can Stop ‘Them!’ – Atom Bombs and Giant Ants at 70

The horror films of the 1950s are often relegated to two categories: space invaders and giant bugs. There is some truth in that generalization, but the reality is far more subtle with deep ties to the past along with the political climate of the decade itself. Both these categories can trace their lineage, at least […] The post Nothing Can Stop ‘Them!’ – Atom Bombs and Giant Ants at 70 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
12 min read

Killer Instincts: The Innovation and Influence of Fritz Lang’s ‘M’

Fritz Lang’s M is the greatest serial killer movie ever made. Of course, there have been dozens, even hundreds, of films on the subject with various innovations and evolutions along the way from the early days of cinema all the way to the most recent twists on the subgenre in MaXXXine and Longlegs. A few […] The post Killer Instincts: The Innovation and Influence of Fritz Lang’s ‘M’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
10 min read

Swimming with Monsters: Why We Still Love ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’

By the 1950s, the Universal Monsters had become a punchline with most of them ending their onscreen careers meeting Abbott and Costello. Many of them had become victims of their own success, becoming so iconic that they had lost any ability to frighten anybody. Creatures from outer space, radioactive monsters, and giant bugs had taken […] The post Swimming with Monsters: Why We Still Love ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
11 min read

Seeing Things: Roger Corman and ‘X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes’

When the news of Roger Corman’s passing was announced, the online film community immediately responded with a flood of tributes to a legend. Many began with the multitude of careers he helped launch, the profound influence he had on independent cinema, and even the cameos he made in the films of Corman school “graduates.” Tending […] The post Seeing Things: Roger Corman and ‘X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
12 min read

A Game of Rivals: The Conflicts That Shaped Horror Classic ‘The Black Cat’

In the 1930s, Universal laid claim to the two biggest horror stars of the era, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and it was only a matter of time before the pair would meet on screen. In 1932, only months after each rocketed to stardom in Dracula and Frankenstein respectively, the two were dressed in tuxedoes […] The post A Game of Rivals: The Conflicts That Shaped Horror Classic ‘The Black Cat’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
10 min read

Still King of All Monsters: Revisiting the Original ‘Gojira’ at 70

It all began with the sound of thundering footsteps and a now-iconic roar before giving way to Akira Ifukube’s equally iconic music. Japanese cinema and monster movies worldwide would never be the same again. In the beginning, Godzilla represented the ultimate in fear and destruction. A creature so colossal, he could lay waste to entire […] The post Still King of All Monsters: Revisiting the Original ‘Gojira’ at 70 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
11 min read

Power Corrupts: Universal Monsters Classic ‘The Invisible Man’ at 90

Like most movies, The Invisible Man travelled a long and winding road to the silver screen, and perhaps longer and more winding than most. As biographer James Curtis put it in his book James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters, “The gestation of The Invisible Man was the lengthiest and most convoluted of […] The post Power Corrupts: Universal Monsters Classic ‘The Invisible Man’ at 90 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
10 min read

We Who Walk Here Walk Alone: Revisiting ‘The Haunting’ at 60

“Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within…and whatever walked there, walked alone.” – Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House (1959). Of all the subgenres of horror, the haunted house story has provided the most opportunities for slow and subtle terror that creeps and crawls its way under the […] The post We Who Walk Here Walk Alone: Revisiting ‘The Haunting’ at 60 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
10 min read

A Plague of Evil: Revisiting 1960’s Edgar Allan Poe Movie ‘House of Usher’ Starring Vincent Price

One of the great unsung traditions of horror is a character’s external environment reflecting their internal state. It has found its way into films as diverse as Repulsion (1965), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994), and Relic (2020) to name just a few. Edgar Allan Poe was hardly the first […] The post A Plague of Evil: Revisiting 1960’s Edgar Allan Poe Movie ‘House of Usher’ Starring Vincent Price appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
10 min read

Forces of Nature: The Power of Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ 60 Years Later

Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds has become such an acknowledged classic and even cultural touchstone that it is easy to forget how revolutionary it was upon its 1963 release. For the Master of Suspense himself, it was a departure in many ways from his previous work while still a testament to his craft and devotion to […] The post Forces of Nature: The Power of Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ 60 Years Later appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
9 min read

A Matter of Life and Death: Externalizing Internal Struggles in ‘The Seventh Victim’

One of the unique aspects of the horror films produced by Val Lewton at RKO in the 1940s is the seriousness with which they discuss matters of mental illness. Even today, mental health issues are often tiptoed around, but in the forties, they were practically taboo. As discussed in previous entries in this column, Cat […] The post A Matter of Life and Death: Externalizing Internal Struggles in ‘The Seventh Victim’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
11 min read

Strange Ideas: The Perpetual Relevance of ‘Witchfinder General’

In modern world history, few single years have been as tumultuous as 1968. The Vietnam War continued to drag on and had reached an unprecedented level of unpopularity. The assasinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy shocked the world. Protests against the war, for civil rights, and at the Democratic National Convention raged […] The post Strange Ideas: The Perpetual Relevance of ‘Witchfinder General’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
9 min read

Mutants and Mind Control: Revisiting ‘Invaders from Mars’ at 70

Flying saucers and alien invasion movies were the trend in the 1950s. UFO sightings in Washington State in 1947 and the famous crash near Roswell, New Mexico in 1948 had ignited a fever for all things alien. The movies soon followed the public interest with films like The Thing from Another World (1951), The Day […] The post Mutants and Mind Control: Revisiting ‘Invaders from Mars’ at 70 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
11 min read

Dracula Reborn: How Hammer’s ‘Horror of Dracula’ Redefined Vampires

By the middle of the 1950s, gothic horror was dead. Modern-set films dealing with nuclear war, radioactive fallout, and the Red Scare filled American theaters with giant bugs and body snatchers. England’s Hammer Studios was no different, releasing successful films like The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) and X the Unknown (1956), which were firmly rooted in […] The post Dracula Reborn: How Hammer’s ‘Horror of Dracula’ Redefined Vampires appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
11 min read

The Eighth Wonder: Why ‘Kong’ is Still King 90 Years Later

A strong argument could be made for King Kong being the most influential movie ever made. Kong’s progeny includes Mighty Joe Young, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, Ray Harryhausen films, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Lord of the Rings, Avatar, many of the character-driven stop motion creations of the past ninety years, and dozens […] The post The Eighth Wonder: Why ‘Kong’ is Still King 90 Years Later appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
10 min read

‘Mad Love’ – This 1930s Body Horror Classic Pushed the Hays Code to Its Limits

No film of the Hays Code era revels in its own perversity quite like Mad Love (1935). Mad science, body horror, insanity, obsession, executions, gaslighting, sadomasochism—it’s all here and presented with unparalleled excellence of craft. Though it may seem tame compared to pre-Code fare like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), Freaks, and Island of […] The post ‘Mad Love’ – This 1930s Body Horror Classic Pushed the Hays Code to Its Limits appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
10 min read

Fear of the Dark: ‘Cat People’ and the Horrors of Repression

Two films made in 1941 led directly to the making of Cat People the following year, The Wolf Man and Citizen Kane. Kane had become a fiasco for RKO when newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst condemned the film as a thinly veiled attack against him. Ultimately it led to the ousting of studio head George […] The post Fear of the Dark: ‘Cat People’ and the Horrors of Repression appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
10 min read

Monsters Among Us: Why ‘The Mummy’ Endures 90 Years Later

Following the release of Frankenstein, Boris Karloff, at nearly 45 years of age and having spent twenty years as a professional actor, became an overnight sensation. As the film was still raking in its rewards, Universal signed him to a star contract and immediately began searching for a property for him. As it turned out […] The post Monsters Among Us: Why ‘The Mummy’ Endures 90 Years Later appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper
9 min read

The World, the Flesh, and the Devil: ‘Häxan-Witchcraft Through the Ages’ at 100 [Gods and Monsters]

Two of the greatest horror films of all time are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. The first, and best known, is F.W. Murnau’s unparalleled vampire epic Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. Not quite as well known but at least as influential is Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, also known as The Witch, a truly […] The post The World, the Flesh, and the Devil: ‘Häxan-Witchcraft Through the Ages’ at 100 [Gods and Monsters] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Brian Keiper