In many ways, horror has both elevated and remained true to itself throughout the past century. Cinema has allowed the craft to remain both traditional and exceptional in many different ways. It’s perhaps among the most influential genres out there, and that’s certainly evident in Diego Carrera’s new video, “A History of Horror in 122 Films 1895-2016.”
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As the title would suggest, Carrera takes a look at the best the cinema had to offer (in his opinion, of course) inside the genre throughout each respective year. 1895’s “The Execution Of Mary, Queen Of Scots” kicks things off, and the 12-minute video eventually makes it way to this year’s stand-out, “The Witch.” But many other films, including classics like 1910’s “Frankenstein,” 1920’s “The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari,” 1922’s “Nosferatu,” 1928’s “The Fall Of The House Of Usher,” 1932’s “Freaks,” 1933’s “King Kong,” 1941’s “The Wolf Man,” 1956’s “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers,” 1960’s “Psycho,” 1963’s “The Birds,” 1968’s “Night Of The Living Dead,” 1973’s “The Exorcist,” 1975’s “Jaws,” 1978’s “Halloween,” 1980’s “The Shining,” 1981’s “The Evil Dead,” 1991’s “The Silence Of The Lambs,” and 1996’s “Scream,” to merely name a handful, creep their way onto the list as well. And even a few sorta odd ducks, at least for this compilation, like 1902’s “A Trip To The Moon,” 1948’s “Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein,” 1954’s “Godzilla,” and 1992’s “Dracula,” manage to find a spot. Accompanied by swift editing and Murcof’s single, “Camino,” however, they all ring in the spookiness.
Selecting the most influential shots and highlighting the most haunting scenes of each, Carrera provides a finely edited, appropriately unsettling reminder of the influence of cinema, particularly in horror, and how it continues to provoke, spook and inspire year after year. And though it remains to be seen if the likes of “It Follows” or “The Cabin In The Woods” will be respected and admired the same as many other films on this list in the years ahead, it’s likely each of these films will earn their due diligence in the generations to come, if they haven’t already, for their contributions to the genre. Yes, even “Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein.” To begin that process, check out the video below. [The AV Club]
