Shocktober. 31 Days. 31 Movies. 31 Nightmares. If you thought I’d be running out of ideas after almost 7 years you’d be dead wrong. In fact, this year may be the best or should I say BEAST yet. Continuing the themed lists that started in 2011 with “Shlocktober”, followed by “I Love the 80s” in 2012 and “Terrifying 2000s” in 2013, this year is “Seventies Screamers”. Don’t let the bad title fool you, this is going to be ghoulish good fun.
But why the 1970s? If you’re a student of film chances are you’ve heard the term, “New Hollywood”. This was a time in the 1970s when many American filmmakers came to prominence and shaped the era into the decade of the director. We all know about the greats like Scorsese and Coppola but it wasn’t just dramatic directors making their mark. Many masters of horror emerged in the 1970s. Talents like David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper (a few of which we’ll be talking about) stomped their bloody cinematic footprint in the 1970s. Not to mention filmmakers in other parts of the world rose to greatness. Italian filmmakers like Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento became the top names in the Italian “Giallo” movement. Additionally, we finally started seeing horror films emerge from the land down under… No, not hell, Australia.
The 1970s saw plenty of trends, some good and some bad, but all worthy of discussion. There were Giallo films, slasher films, exploitation films, and a weird fascination with killer animals. We’ll talk about all that and more this month and by “We’ll” I mean that I’ll be joined this year by fellow Mildly Pleaser Colin Wessman. So sit back, relax, and remember, it’s only a movie, it’s only a movie, it’s only a movie….