British horror movies are back from the dead
Flash back 40 years and Britain was a world leader in horror movies. Studios like Hammer, Amicus, Tigon, Planet and Tyburn were churning out product – good, bad and often indifferent – at the rate of several a year.
A guarantee of quality was the involvement of Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee. Sometimes it was Vincent Price, who propped up the cast lists of various American International films.
Now, in 2008, there appears to be something of a minor revival going on. And it's growing.
Breakthrough filmmakers like Neil Marshall are specialising in horror, releasing atmospheric little shockers like Dog Soldiers, The Descent and Doomsday.
Paul Andrew Williams made the Screen Yorkshire-funded comedy/horror The Cottage and penned this week's release The Children.
And, on TV, Charlie Brooker's blood-spattered Big Brother zombie-fest Dead Set surprised everyone with its cult appeal.
The revival began with 2004's Shaun of the Dead, a loving homage to George Romero's '70s zombie epics. Since then it has gathered momentum on both sides of the Atlantic, with continental releases like The Orphanage and (Rec] delighting horror buffs and proving, if proof be needed, that you can't keep a good monster down.
Britain's horrific reputation really did die out with the downfall of Hammer in the late 1970s. An attempt to revive the brand with Beyond the Rave earlier this year showed just how far we
have come since those cosy X-certificate days of Cushing and Co.
While released under the Hammer banner, Beyond the Rave was a critical and commercial failure and was barely seen by anyone.
So much for Hammer. Instead, we now have a growing band of horror aficionados who are turning their love of the genre into bonafide releases that are being seen and appreciated by a wide cross-section of buffs. Give the audience what they want and they'll love you for it. Ingenuity is the key to continued success. In that respect, 21st century wannabe auteurs like Neil Marshall are treading in the footsteps of Hammer's greats by making viable movies on ridiculously low budgets. Long may it continue.
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