The British Horror Film

The Horror Genre

The horror genre originated from ‘Gothic literature’,  the first Gothic horror novel was ‘The Castle of Otranto’ by Horace Walpole. The book used elements of fantasy fiction combined with a harsh realism, which lead on to become a trend in future Gothic novels. Dracula by Bram Stocker in 1897 made the genre of Gothic horror popular during its time. The novel can be referred to as ‘invasion literature’ as it shows themes/signs of an invading threat. In this case, Dracula as a foreign force, preying on the people of Britain.

Entering Hollywood’s golden age, Universal Studios began adapting Gothic novel legends, starting with ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ in 1923. Along with the likes of ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘The Invisible Man’ to name a couple, the films came to be known as the ‘Universal Monsters’, brought to the big screen through Hollywood.

The Monsters of Universal Studios

The Horror genre was developing through the film industry, the new favored format for horror was as short stories. Writers such as H.P Lovecraft began exploring new themes within stories. Universal studios continued with characters in the Gothic era through sequels in the 1930’s to 40’s. In Britain during 1951 the ‘H’ rating which was for horror, was replaced with the ‘X’ classification limiting the audience to those ages 16 and over.

Hammer Films

Hammer Films was founded in Britain during 1934 and before the companies defining era, tackled a number genres ranging from psychological thriller to Sc-Fi. The studios films became more prestigious overtime and in 1955, ‘The Quatermass Experiment’ was released and it was extremely successful, the Sc-Fi horror film was unlike anything audiences had seen and it was then that Hammer films found its calling.

The Quatermass Experiment(1955)

Following the success of Quatermass was ‘X – The Unknown’ and ‘Quatermass 2’, 2 more Sc-Fi horror films.

X – The Unknown(1956)

The first, full-colour, British horror was ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ and it was an astounding financial success. Imagery from the film such as corpses, deformities, scenes of gore and more disturbing mise-en-scene were ground-breaking at its time, consumers enjoyed the extravagant costumes and production art. Arguably, what British horror does which Hollywood didn’t was focus more on the construct of evil with characters than the monsters acting as an evil entity themselves. Its worth noting that Hammer films also brought legendary actor Christopher Lee to the eyes of the public in 1958 through the next hit horror from Hammer films, ‘Dracula’.

Frankenstein(1957)

In the 1960’s, with competition with television on the rise, Hollywood studios halted financial backing of Hammer films, leaving them to stand alone. By 1966 , the formula of Hammer films started to lose the ‘magic’ and the British film industry underwent financial crisis. Through onto the 1970’s saw the decline for Hammer films, fewer films were produced by the studio and they attempted a comeback with ‘The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires’. The film was not successful, combining the film genres of martial arts and Gothic horror.

Towards the end, It was clear audiences had lost interest in Gothic horror and Hammer films released two more films before halting all film production. 2010 saw the return of Hammer films, with installments such as ‘Let me In’ and Hammer’s first feature based on a ghost story ‘The Woman In Black’ grossing $128.5 million.

Korean Cinema

A Fight for Freedom

Korean cinema has had a difficult past developing a sense of creative freedom due to political involvement. Artistic expression was limited by both big and small changes by means of censorship and strict, progressive rules and regulations towards film production. Japan forced the citizens to adopt more and more of Japanese culture, for example the ban on Korean language in films by the government in the 1940’s and the adoption of Japanese names. The government(s) desired propaganda or films portraying a certain purpose, knowing full well the influence of mass media.

The first feature film was released, titled ‘Plighted Love Under the Moon’ in 1923. 3 years later ‘Arirang’ was produced and created mass controversy around its time of release, promotional material  for the film was all removed by censors due to the film containing anti-Japanese subtext. It became one of the most famous, nationalistic films of its time and started the ‘Golden Age of Silent Films’ lasting until 1935.

A Newspaper headline regarding the Korean War

Arirang –  Na Un’gyu

It was only in 1945 when Korea reattained independence which saw a distinct rise in films being produced. Korea then divided into North and South in 1950 starting the ‘Korean War’ lasting just over 3 years. The 1950’s on wards was when the Korean film industry finally began to rise, however censorship did remain. Hollywood studios stretched out to the west in 1988 to 1993 to open branch offices and films were distributed through South Korea, however filmmakers and consumers a-like reacted negatively, especially in some particular cases. With the direct distribution of Hollywood films, the Korean film industry felt threatened having to compete with the productions of the American studios.

Korean New Wave

Along with the public disapproval towards Hollywood films, filmmakers in the late 1980’s and 90’s began emerging. Jang Sun-Woo, Park Kwang-Su, Lee Myung-Se and Chung Ji-Young  were some of the directors exploring new themes and ways of story telling through films, on top of obtaining much more freedom, leading the ‘New Wave’ for Korean cinema. The blockbuster film ‘Shiri’ was among the films that were successful in the late 90’s. The film itself featured good choreography in terms of action and a story driven by themes of conflict between the North and South, evidently the budget and techincal resource was equal to a Hollywood mainstream title, in fact, he film surpassed films such as ‘Titanic’ and ‘Star Wars’ in South Korean cinemas.

A notion of cult cinema can also be compared to the approach most Korean films take in terms of narrative and mise-en-scene. When we think of a cult classic we think of films that have defied our expectations in some form of way. Park Chan Wook is the director of ‘OldBoy’, a Korean film that has received lots of attention internationally for its dark story line and creative violence. Korean films such as ‘OldBoy’ have evidently shown that it can be quite transgressive in terms of subject matter, unlike Hollywood films.

In conclusion, Korean cinema cannot be comprehended by Hollywood or any other international film industry because Korean film has been held back by policies and censorship for so long, almost purposely breaking boundaries to fully express creative opportunity in the writing and film making aspects.

New Zealand Cinema

Forging an Industry

Unlike the film industry of America who quickly rose to the top in terms of the cinema, New Zealand as a country has always had trouble finding itself an identity. 1890’S was the first of New Zealand cinema live shows rather than features such as the screenings of Thomas Edison’s “kinematograph”. The two films to firs be screened in theatres back during 1896 were ‘Sandow the Strong Man’ and ‘The Serpentine Dance’ .

Short, silent films like these were popular and more cane to be screened as years went on, it was in 1914 that the first ever feature film was produced titled ‘Hinemoa’. The film told the love story of the Maori legend ‘Hinemoa & Tutanekai’. Although Hinemoa was a milestone for New Zealand film its budget was minuscule, as well as being a small country,  there was a lack of audience, which isn’t to say New Zealand were not interested in film, only that financially it didn’t work.

Hinemoa(1914)

The country’s Government weren’t interested in funding feature films, however began showing interest in documentary films, portraying the beautiful landscapes New Zealand had to offer to the rest of the world. Thus, much later in 1941 The ‘National Film Unit’ was formed, producing more shorts but concentrating on the scenic factor. Even before this year however New Zealand’s promotional material as well as the majority of feature films were ‘wild’ and ‘adventurous’. From 1922 – 1940, over 300 documentary films were funded for the purpose of promoting New Zealand.

Sadly, New Zealand continued to lack financial backing, leading to most the shorts produced by the film unit to also lack technical, professional resource. Within the late 1970’s, the film commission was established, assisting New Zealand filmmakers. A year before the commission arrived introduced one of the very first features to capture attention internationally, ‘Sleeping Dogs’ directed by Roger Donaldson. The film was released during 1977 and transitioning to the 1980’s saw the emergence of a lot more feature films, it was around this period New Zealand had their new wave of cinema.

Forging an Identity

A big impact on New Zealand was the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. Being a medieval, fantasy adventure, New Zealand with its vast, beautiful landscapes proved to be an exceptional shooting location. ‘Lord of the Rings’ was hugely successful, thus widely known and as time went on New Zealand was referred to as ‘Middle-Earth’ a place home to the films fantasies.

Of course New Zealand’s culture and tradition integrated into film, not just now but throughout the previous years. The primary example would be the ‘Maori’ culture, shown in many films of New Zealand. Early ‘Kiwi’ Gothic suggests imprisoning environment and psychological challenges also. In the case of ‘Once were Warriors’ the film features mention of the Maori as well as elements of ‘Kiwi’ Gothic.

Once were Warriors(1994)

The premise of the film is an abusive male character portrayed as the ‘former warrior’, equating masculinity with violence and dominance. The character’s (Jake Heke) family are the ‘imprisoned’ so to speak, suffering from the torment of abuse. Once were Warriors actively debunks the ‘myth’ that New Zealand is a place of paradise, setting the film in a urban, poor location.

The Hollywood Film Industry

The Classic Studio Era

Hollywood reigns supreme as the highest grossing and most prolific film industry, however to explain the dominance of Hollywood we must look back to the early 1900’s and to its origins.  In the late 80’s, the illusion of motion was just being introduced to the world, with film pioneers such as the Lumiere Brothers; creating effective means to capture this motion through the invention of the ‘cinematographe’. Exhibitions, theatres and ‘film houses’ internationally began showcasing the emerging motion film productions and by 1910 these venues became progressively refined.

People were engaging with cinema all across the country and with WW1 happening during this time, filmmakers produced films with war story narratives and propaganda, enticing more viewers.

The war came about a cultural boom in America and with the Great Depression right around the corner came a nation that wanted to escape from the troubles of reality. With studios rising in the United States, an oligopoly was formed between the 8 ‘Majors’. Universal pictures, Columbia and United Artists made the ‘Little 3’ studios along with:

The Big 5

• Loew’s/Metro Goldwyn Mayor
• Warner Bros
• RKO Productions
• Paramount
• FOX/20th Century-FOX

 

Adolf Zukor had been the first to exploit the studio system for all its worth. Zukor was founder and leading president of the Paramount company and during the 1930’s onward, made the studio the most largest within Hollywood. Possessing a chain of more than 1000 theatres only solidified they’re corporate dominance. Adolf would later go into an advisory position, passing the torch onto Barney Balaban, leading to both men recreating Paramount as more of a strategic, business operation. Before long, the other 4 big studios followed in Paramount’s footsteps, bringing forth the ‘Golden era of Hollywood’.

 New Hollywood Era

In 1948, the end of the golden era arrived. The ‘U.S. v. Paramount Pictures’ case lead to the US Supreme Court declaring the abolishment of ‘Block-Booking‘  and forced the studios to sell their theatres, the 8 majors had lost control. Both revenue and influence declined and with television entering the fold in the 1950’s,  it was more difficult to sell films to the new exhibitors. Films based on forms of history and musicals, as well as widescreen and 3-D viewing were now being introduced. Hollywood was used to simplistic narrative films, the influence of the ‘French New Wave‘ and other European styles inspired filmmakers, ultimately forcing the studios to adapt.

Cleopatra (1963)

3 dimensional viewing in the 1950’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

The major 8 had changes in leadership and executive positions giving opportunity for new independent filmmakers to take the risks required. Smaller theatres brought international films to the screen, guaranteeing different genres and styles. One major studio that succeeded in such a period was United Artists, with James Bond and Sergio Leone’s ‘Dollars Triology‘ which first introduced the ‘spaghetti western’ genre.

Dr. No (1962)

Not as many films were being produced from 1950-1960’s, however a considerable rise in budget for films.  It was only in the 1970’s where the studio system rose once again with the appearance of the first ‘Blockbuster’ film. ‘Jaws’ was the first blockbuster, it surpassed the $100 million mark and profiting three weeks of release. ‘Star Wars: A New Hope‘ was the next notable blockbuster and by the 1980’s a wave of film spectacle hit the big screen. It was no coincidence that Jaws and other blockbuster hits were released during the summer, as targeted moments such as the holiday periods became popular.

Jaws (1975)

As of today, Hollywood blockbusters are now considered the ‘mainstream’, film sequels, mass-marketing and distribution is now a regular within the industry. Just like the ‘New Hollywood’ era, some viewers are now favouring films featuring elements/techniques normally expected of independent films.