Classic Horror On The BBC

[johnradiotimes]

Classic horror on the BBC





We seem to have a dearth of great, classic horror films on the BBC these days. I've just stumbled across this:



http://www.bringclassichorrorbacktot....blogspot.com/



and a petition:



http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/b...sbacktothebbc/



I've signed it, might be worth a few others doing so too. :-)



Oh, there's a Facebook page too:



http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bring-...vision-Allianc...

[penfold]

There's a British Horror doc imminent....either a Timeshift or a Horror Britannia - there may be a season associated with it.

[Gerald Lovell]

Great double bills. I think I audio taped nearly all of them.

[jaycad]

There's a British Horror doc imminent....either a Timeshift or a Horror Britannia - there may be a season associated with it.

good! A season would be welcome! I completely missed the 2005 ghost story season on the bbc which was the reason i discovered this forum!

[cyberschizoid]

Classic horror on the BBC





We seem to have a dearth of great, classic horror films on the BBC these days. I've just stumbled across this:



http://www.bringclassichorrorbacktot....blogspot.com/



and a petition:



http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/b...sbacktothebbc/



I've signed it, might be worth a few others doing so too. :-)



Oh, there's a Facebook page too:



http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bring-...vision-Allianc...

Thanks for the support!!



You may also want to check out this interview which goes into more detail about the campaign.



http://www.horror-extreme.com/blog/i...to-television/



Have YOU emailed the BBC yet?



http://filmrantnoel.blogspot.com/201...9ed4ebf3696a87

[jaycad]

Yup! I've done my bit!

[faginsgirl]

Signed!



Personally (and I have put this on the comments section) I would like to see the old films back but also stuff from new writers as long as it is in classic style. This genre is always overlooked.



I have sent it to friends under the heading `Fed up with reality t.v and want a bit of nostolga?`







xx

[Carmel]

I have signed and just hope they bring back these great double bills and let the next generation enjoy them like we did.

[smudge]

The problem is that the world has changed since we all grew up with the horror movie double bills on BBC2 on Saturday nights, or seasons like Appointment With Fear on Fridays. Television is no longer the common experience it once was and the wide availability of downloaded material has pretty much put paid to that 'innocent illicitness' we used to feel when watching an old Hammer or Amicus at the outrageously 'late' hour of 10.30 or 11.00pm...



So even if (like the good Count) it was successfully ressurrected for however briefly, it would simply be, in the main, a nostalgia kick for all us oldies. I don't think we could reasonably expect today's generations to get the same sort of feeling out of them - or for them - as we did back in the day.



Inevitably each generation will find its own points of reference - even if to us they may be crappy remakes that are nowhere near on a par with the originals....LOL



Smudge

[faginsgirl]

So even if (like the good Count) it was successfully ressurrected for however briefly, it would simply be, in the main, a nostalgia kick for all us oldies. I don't think we could reasonably expect today's generations to get the same sort of feeling out of them - or for them - as we did back in the day.



Smudge

I know what you mean about us `oldies` and nostolgia`, but putting our memories aside i disagree, born in the late 60s I am often interested in films of the 40s, so I think it comes down more to individual interest than age, young people are more individual than you think, a lot are interested in history, politics etc as well as the arts. Being interested in classic film is no different. Sure they are going to be teenage trends where the attitude is going to be that modern entertainment is best, but I think once you get into your say, twenties, you begin to think more about your individuality and your own interests.



Admitedly even I find some classic horror too cheesy to watch, but overall, they had the best actors and good origional storylines.



I don`t really think the new technological age has anything to do with it either, it`s just another sourse of viewing.



xx

[smudge]

I know what you mean about us `oldies` and nostolgia`, but putting our memories aside i disagree, born in the late 60s I am often interested in films of the 40s, so I think it comes down more to individual interest than age, young people are more individual than you think, a lot are interested in history, politics etc as well as the arts. Being interested in classic film is no different. Sure they are going to be teenage trends where the attitude is going to be that modern entertainment is best, but I think once you get into your say, twenties, you begin to think more about your individuality and your own interests.



Admitedly even I find some classic horror too cheesy to watch, but overall, they had the best actors and good origional storylines.



I don`t really think the new technological age has anything to do with it either, it`s just another sourse of viewing.



xx

I agree wholeheartedly FG, there will always be an audience for these classics - I was heartily impressed by how many younger folks turned up for the Hammer season at the Barbican many (werewolf) moons ago now. I am sure that back in the day many of our own parents were equally surprised/impressed how we got into the classic Universal Monsters (or even silent ones!) which seemed lifetimes ago compared to our (then) youth.



My point was simply that it is unlikely to be the wholesale generational thing that it was for us. This is because that was just the situation we were in - only three channels on the telly, with the only recordable media being reel-to-reel or cassette audio. It was a more common experience - a matter of fact.



Technology does have an influence on all minority interests these days - folks can simply browse the Net to find out information (remember we had to go scouting for specialist books and magazines...LOL) and combine this with online shopping and any avid viewer of any classic genre can quite often pick up a film or show for almost immediate consumption.



So whilst youth will pick up the torch, whatever output comes our way via the mainstream will most likely always remain a cult, passed by word of mouth, Twitter, text or whatever. Not that there's anything wrong with cults - most of my friends are cults, in fact... LOL



Smudge

[jaycad]

The problem with horror nowadays is that if they set them in modern times the viewer is more likely to look for an everyday explanation therefore defeating the object of the gothic horror!

[supermoo]

There was somthing really nice about curling up on the sofa or bed with a drink and maybe a nibble or two and watching these films and knowing there were two all the more fab. xxx

[Carmel]

I have to say my kids who 2 are in their 20's and my youngest who is 16 enjoy the classics including the horrors because they were brought up with them and we have pop corn night's as we call them, me and my youngest as the other 2 have left home now but we love it putting an old classic horror on and curling up with pizza and pop corn.

[will.15]

Nobody knows how to create tension and atmosphere in horror movies anymore. It's all zombies, for me the dullest most uninteresting monsters ever, and crazed serial killers. Vampires have been so romanticized they've become wish fulfillment fantasies, not monsters.

[faginsgirl]

Vampires have been so romanticized they've become wish fulfillment fantasies, not monsters.

Yes that is very silly. The day I find a vampire attractive a padded cell will be a welcome sight indeed.



xx

[jaycad]

Nobody knows how to create tension and atmosphere in horror movies anymore. It's all zombies, for me the dullest most uninteresting monsters ever, and crazed serial killers. Vampires have been so romanticized they've become wish fulfillment fantasies, not monsters.

I agree! I think the ability to make horror died with the popularity of the slasher films of the 1980s,the eerie tension has been replaced with a murder count and gore so when a different film like 'the blair witch' comes out it gets a mixed reaction as some people just don't get pyschological horror! I'm amazed at the success of the 'land of the dead' series of films which all basically have zombies en masse walking down the street occasionally eating someone!

Has anyone seen 'paranormal activity'? Is it any good?

[Rowdon]

the 'land of the dead' series of films which all basically have zombies en masse walking down the street occasionally eating someone!

Which series is that? Wasn't Land of the Dead the last George A. Romero zombie film after Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead? If that's the series you're talking about then I have to disagree; the first two are not just important horror films, they are really good horror films. "Day" and "Land" are not. Romero's new zombie films are also dull, apparently; I have no wish to see them. If it turns out that Romero himself is actually a zombie, then I'll forgive him, otherwise I think he should leave it now.





On the other point about double bills; it's true that the younger generation (and even we) have all kinds of everything at our fingertips all the time, and if we so chose we could watch Hammer films back to back for free all night for weeks, but people still like settling down to something they think will be good, and if the double bill looks tempting, people will give it a go. Sure, some people will hate the fact that they can't pause and ffwd and so on, but then even in the 70s there were people who had to get up and make tea, potter around, change the channel, guess the ending ... That's a type of person, not a new technology problem.



Years ago (1980s) on French TV, Eddie Mitchell (Marty Wilde, more or less) used to present a programme called "When the Lights go Down" (I think). He sat in a cinema and chatted about the films coming up with some friends, the the lights went down, and the first film ran, then there were some cinema ads from the time (usually the 1950s) then the second film, then the lights went up, a few more minutes of chat, and they got their coats and left. Cheap TV, but highly effective and got good ratings. I'd like to see something like that for horror.

[jaycad]

Which series is that? Wasn't Land of the Dead the last George A. Romero zombie film after Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead? If that's the series you're talking about then I have to disagree; the first two are not just important horror films, they are really good horror films. "Day" and "Land" are not. Romero's new zombie

films are also dull, apparently; I have no wish to see them.

If it turns out that Romero himself is actually a zombie,

then I'll forgive him, otherwise I think he should leave it

Now.

Yes, it was the romero films that i was referring to-they bore the hell out of me personally but that's because i find zombies a lazy idea!i've no doubt that the first couple of films are important in the horror genre but as you say, the last one was bad and 'shaun of the dead' was more scary!!

I'd be happy if the BBC would just show the odd fifteen minute short from time to time-something like 'the ten steps' or film4s 'the cicerones'-the horror short intrigues me and the format is ideal for the work of edgar allan poe,which IMO,has been under-adapted!

[johnradiotimes]

Thanks for the support!!



You may also want to check out this interview which goes into more detail about the campaign.



http://www.horror-extreme.com/blog/i...to-television/



Have YOU emailed the BBC yet?



http://filmrantnoel.blogspot.com/201...9ed4ebf3696a87

that why would be nice to return horror bills on the BBC2