The Years of Fear

 

      The House of the Devil is just over three minutes.  It's a silent film that simply depicts Mephistopheles conjuring up spirits and pesky demonic minions to do his bidding, before being driven off by the power of the cross-wielding soldier.     The important thing to talk about when we bring up this film isn't whether or not it's a good horror movie.  Obviously, if your stacking it up against the Exorcist or even Paranormal Activity, it's a lesser film in the sense that our capacity to make great horror films was quite limited.  The thing to think about here is the year it was made and who made it.     Marie-Georges Jean  Méliès was a French illusionist and stage performer who was discovering all kinds of technical innovations.  He used special effects like time-;apse, stop-motion, hand painted color on film, and various dissolves to get his desired results.     His follow up films, A Trip to the Moon in 1902 and...

  "Good evening."   Those two words were never as terrifying as they were, coming out of Bela Lugosi's mouth in the 1931 film, Dracula, directed by Todd Browning. Welcome to The Years of Fear: Exploring Over a Century of Horror in Cinema.   Within this blog, we'll look at horror movies through the ages- from the grainy melodramatic flair of the old silent pictures, to the high intensity, high body count, gore splattered psycho flicks of today. We love these movies and we can't seem to get enough, so "listen to them- the children of the night."   And answer their call, because we are in their thrall and we are at their mercy. As a fan myself, I see growth and an education coming my way, as I embark on this journey and I want you with me. -Eblison Grun