Classic Monster Horror Nosferatu 1922
Director: F.W. Murnau
Writers: Henrik Galeen (screen play),
Bram Stoker (based on the novel: “Dracula”)
Graf Orlok the Vampyre – Max Schreck
Hutter the goul – Greta Schröder
Ellen, seine Frau – Ruth Landshoff
Harding, ein Reeder – Georg H. Schnell
-Professor Sievers, der Stadtarzt – Gustav Botz
King Kong 1933
Directors: Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack
James Ashmore Creelman & Ruth Rose (screen play)
Merian C. Cooper & Edgar Wallace (from an idea conceived by)
Robert Armstrong – Carl Denham
Bruce Cabot – John Driscoll
Fay Wray – Ann Darrow
Capt. Englehorn – Frank Reicher
Godzilla 1956
Director: Ishirô Honda
Writers: Takeo Murata, Ishirô Honda
Hideto Ogata – Akira Takarada
Emiko Yamane – Momoko Kôchi
Daisuke Serizawa-hakase – Akihiko Hirata
Kyohei Yamane-hakase – Takashi Shimura
-Gojira – Jiro Suzuki, Katsumi Tezuka, Haruo Nakajima, Ryosaku Takasugi
The Creature from the Black Lagoon, 1956
Director: Jack Arnold
Writers: Harry Essex (screenplay)
Arthur A. Ross (screenplay)
Richard Carlson as David Reed
Kay Lawrence – Julie Adams
Mark Williams – Richard Denning
The Gill Man (in water) – Ricou Browning
The Gill Man (on land) – Ben Chapman
Genre helps us understand the relationship of film, by comparing and sorting the similarities and differences. “Genre may be defined as patterns, forms style structures which transcend individual films” (Attaman). In this Blog I will discuss Monster Horror and its influential genres and its evolution, including German Expressionism, Science Fiction and Kaijū.
Monster Horror is an ideological topic that deals with our most basic instincts of fear and survival. German Expressionism was a style of cinema that emphasized expression beginning before WW1. (Brief History of Horror) Nosferatu, 1922 was a film based on Bram Stokers Dracula. The immortal vampire incited created fear in its audiences killing numerous victims through exsanguination. The lurking shadows of Nosferatu were used as screen irony to create fear in its audiences.
King Kong 1933 was an influential film not only due to its monster but its advances in stop motion and various other film effects. “Film theorist have traditionally classified films like King Kong as belonging to horror, monster or science fiction…” (Mediating Nature) the defining factor that categorizes the various themes and tropes of monster horror is the fear it evokes. “A canoe full of natives from this island was blown out to sea. When the barque picked them up, there was only one alive.” (King Kong, Denham)
Godzilla, 1954 was a reaction to the suffering of a nuclear attack of WW2. The audience identifies with the theme, inventing a monster to depict the destruction brought upon its people. Kyohei Yamane-hakase: “It’s impossible! Godzilla absorbed massive amounts of atomic radiation and yet it still survived.” (Godzilla, Yamane-hakase) Throughout the film Tokyo was oppressed by violent and destructive attacks by Godzilla. The film was a success and influenced a number of sequels, hence inspiring its own genre Kaiji. “Kaijū is a Japanese word that literally translates to monster”. (Gutenberg)
“With Horror Films Falling out of fashion in the 50s, however the only solution was to rebaptize all these films according to the new science fiction fad” (Film/Genre, Attaman)
Genre is a class or category of artistic endeavor, therefore whatever label we assign, it can surpass it by its own properties. In The Creature from the Black Lagoon, 1954 fear is evoked by the appearance of gill mans web hand. It telegraphed a threat or warning, preparing the audience for the monsters emergence.
The films can transcend its initial label by prime common factors and themes. Monster Horror aims to create tension, terror and fright in its audiences. The existence of a supernatural monster, that creates fear, death and destruction and the protagonists journey of survival, identifies the borders of Monster Horror.
References
Film/Genre, Rick Altman, London 1999 BFI Publishing.
Mediating Nature, Nils Lindahl Elliot, 2006, Publisher: Routledge, UK
Filmmakeriq, (Web), http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/a-brief-history-of-horror/
Gutenberg, (Web), http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/kaiju
IMDB: Nosveratu – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/
IMDB: Creature from the Black Lagoon – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046876/?ref_=nv_sr_1
IMDB: Godzilla – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047034/?ref_=nv_sr_4
IMDB: King Kong – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_wr#writers
Nosferatu, 1922, F.W. Murnau, DVD, Kino Lorber films, DE
King Kong, 1933, Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack, DVD, Warner Bros, US
Godzilla, 1954, Ishirô Honda, DVD, Vivendi Entertainment, JP
The Creature from the black lagoon, 1954, Jack Arnold, DVD, Universal Studios, US
Images
Nosferatu Poster: http://www.traileraddict.com/nosferatu-1922/poster
King Kong Poster: http://www.nitehawkcinema.com/2014/09/post-no-bills-king-kong/
Godzilla Poster: http://galleryhip.com/godzilla-1954-poster.html
The Creature from the Black lagoon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creature_from_the_Black_Lagoon
King Kong: http://www.empireonline.com/features/evolution-of-stop-motion/2.asp
Godzilla: http://www.criterion.com/films/27755-godzilla
The Creature from the black lagoon: http://johnlinkmovies.com/2013/02/22/johnlink-ranks-creature-from-the-black-lagoon-1954/
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