Even before Jaws changes the box office rules forever, eco-horror was a somewhat popular horror subgenre in the 1970s. Frogs, Phase IV, and Night of the Lepus found nature in a foul mood with humanity. And technically, Jaws isn’t really an eco-horror in its narrative design. But Spielberg’s classic killer shark movie inspired a host […]
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By the 1970s, horror found itself in a transition stage. Studios like Hammer Films and American International Pictures, which had dominated the genre in the previous decade, were looking pretty dated. That is, the Gothic horror of Hammer’s Dracula and Frankenstein series and AIP’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations struggled to compete with horror’s shift to […]
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Few movies can claim to have the impact of Jaws. In addition to scaring people away from the beach, Steven Spielberg re-defined blockbuster movie-making. And yes, Jaws had a pretty adverse effect on the shark population. Though eco-horror movies were around before its release, Jaws predictably triggered a wave of killer animal movies. It didn’t […]
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Along with The Last House on the Left and I Spit On Your Grave, I Drink Your Blood is one of the more controversial exploitation movies of the 1970s. Its story of a Satanic hippie cult on a rabies-fueled rampage clearly took cues from the Manson Family murders. At the time of its release, the […]
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If you didn’t know, animals can be pretty scary. Zoophobia refers to the general fear of animals. Not surprisingly, horror movies have exploited the more obvious choices. Are you afraid of spiders? If so, you’re not alone. Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders and several horror movies have dangled these eight-legged beasts into our laps. […]
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Following the massive success of Jaws, studios rushed several ‘man vs nature’ movies into production. Not surprisingly, producers saw dollars signs as they capitalized on Spielberg’s formula. From giant octopi to man-eating bears, Hollywood left few stones unturned in a bid to scare up ticket sales. What was surprising was the number of celebrated actors […]
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