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♪
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[Campbell] It's probably very
cathartic why horror works.
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It takes you
to the edge of life.
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It's one of the few genres
that can get an audience
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to react viscerally.
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That's all horror is.
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These six kids are gonna die,
one by one.
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Maybe one schmo
will make it to the end.
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But it's all life and death.
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[Englund] For over a century,
horror films have been
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an essential part
of American culture.
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They have thrilled us.
They have entertained us.
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And they have also exorcised
our collective demons.
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The horror genre has always
reflected our shared fears
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and anxieties.
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People-- they want
to be scared.
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They're coming to get you,
Barbara.
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[screams]
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[Blum] The world is always
throwing up new terrors
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that we can
turn into horror movies.
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[Englund] Blumhouse's
Compendium of Horror examines
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how those films have held
a mirror up to society
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and allowed us to experience
and purge our national fears
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in the shared experience
of cinema.
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The scariest fucking thing.
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[man] We wanted Blair Witch
to come from a place
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of that primal motivation.
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Really get under your skin
and really scare you.
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[Englund]
From the brutality of war
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to national financial disasters,
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foreign or alien threats,
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uncomfortable challenges
to the social fabric,
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to the struggle for progress,
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all these cultural shifts
and movements
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have manifested
in our collective fears.
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They have inspired horror's
greatest filmmakers
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and resulted in the creation
of some of the most
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terrifying and unforgettable
films of all time.
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[woman screams]
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Invasion of
the Body Snatchers--
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one of the most
disturbing movies ever made.
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I was not ready for it.
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[man #2] Of course,
Leatherface was terrifying.
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He was just this awful,
faceless entity
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that was in this house
killing teenagers.
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We've got no money, but we scare
the hell out of you.
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They don't make that movie,
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I don't get inspired
to make mine.
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I came up with the title
Friday the 13th,
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and I took out
a big ad in Variety.
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"The most terrifying film
ever made-- Friday the 13th."
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And I didn't have anything.
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Nightmare on Elm Street.
It's so simple.
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Somebody that terrorizes you
in your dreams.
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And if he gets to you, you die.
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Sleep kills.
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[Bell] Horror fans--
they want to be scared.
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[audience gasping]
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Anybody with a video camera
can make a horror film.
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There's a certain dedication
to it that no other genre has.
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They wanted to [Blows raspberry]
bump it up and like,
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"Whoa, did you see that?"
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[Blum] The communal experience
of screaming together
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in a dark theater
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is an experience that
draws us back again and again.
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Big old monster walks in
the room, we all jump.
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Aah!
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Fear and fun are co-mingled.
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And the audience
gets to sit and scream and yell
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and come out of the theater
unharmed at the end.
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♪
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♪
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♪
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♪
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♪
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[Nicotero]
My folks are big movie buffs.
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So we saw everything.
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For me, as a kid,
I was fascinated with monsters.
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I was just absolutely enthralled
with Frankenstein,
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The Wolf Man,
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Dracula,
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all the Universal
monster movies.
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I was kind of the weird kid
in high school.
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I was into monsters
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and I was into all this kind
of strange stuff
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back before nerds
or geeky people
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that loved this kind of stuff
were embraced.
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There was one guy
that I hung out with,
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and we saw every movie together.
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But other than that, people were
just-- didn't get it.
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I got it.
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♪
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I am Dracula.
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[wolf howls]
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[Blum] The most iconic
horror characters
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come from the best imaginations,
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but also, they come
from the culture.
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Dracula.
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the Creature
from the Black Lagoon...
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- [chainsaw revs]
- ...Leatherface,
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Jason,
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Michael Myers,
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Freddy,
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Candyman,
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Pennywise,
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and Red in Us...
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Little girl,
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run!
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...are all uniquely
American monsters.
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Sometimes, the divide between
the real world
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and a horror movie
is a very, very thin line.
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[Englund] The birth of the
American horror experience
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dates back nearly 100 years.
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In the wake of World War I,
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German artists created
seminal horror films
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that echoed societal fears
overwhelming the population.
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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
and Nosferatu
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were dark
and disturbing stories
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that expressed audiences'
shared sense of dread.
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The idea that audiences
would embrace unsettling films
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which allowed them to experience
and purge those fears
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quickly caught on in America.
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[Roosevelt] The only thing we
have to fear is fear itself.
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[Nicotero] The '20s and '30s
were a really interesting time
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for the United States
with post-World War I.
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They needed escapist.
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They needed something
to get away to.
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[reporter] More than 70 million
people in the United States
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go to the movies each week.
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Horror films function as, like,
a mirror of society.
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They're gonna reflect
whatever is going on.
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So whatever political,
whatever national trauma,
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whatever wartime we are seeing,
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we're gonna see horror
reflect what's going on.
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Good day, Herr Baron.
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Well, what do you want?
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If it's trouble, go away.
I've trouble enough.
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Oh, there's no
trouble, sir.
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What do you mean, no trouble?
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There's nothing but trouble.
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[Englund] America
and the rest of the world
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were barely recovering from
the horrors of World War I
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when a new threat
was unleashed--
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the terror
of financial catastrophe
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in the form
of the Great Depression.
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It's interesting.
In tough times, horror thrives.
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The monsters of the era
of right around the Depression
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were relatable to all of us.
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There's pathos
in these characters.
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[wood creaks]
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[eerie laughter echoes]
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♪
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♪
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[Blum] The 1930s saw the birth
of the American horror movie.
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Carl Laemmle Jr.,
son of Carl Laemmle
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who founded Universal,
made a big bet on horror,
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and his instincts were right.
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He put together adaptations
of Dracula and Frankenstein.
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[Englund]
Before Dracula and Frankenstein
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became iconic movie monsters,
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Carl Laemmle Jr.
had to find a way
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to make these large-scale,
ambitious films
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in the midst
of financial hardship.
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The stock-market crash of 1929
devastated the global economy
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and decimated movie budgets.
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But nothing-- nothing could
kill the pictures.
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Carl Laemmle Jr. found
a workaround by optioning plays
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that were easily adapted
into film scripts.
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With these ready-made
stories in hand,
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Laemmle tapped directors
with dark sensibilities.
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Laemmle recognized that
audiences wanted horror movies
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to purge their fears
now more than ever,
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and he tasked his directors
to fulfill that vision.
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But they needed the perfect
leading men
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to bring the monsters to life.
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[Blum] He hired James Whale
to direct Frankenstein
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and Tod Browning
to direct Dracula.
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[Hendrix] Tod Browning,
the director,
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as a kid, worked in carnivals,
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and one of his shticks was
he was the living corpse.
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He would get buried alive
for hours at a time
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and then dug up,
sometimes overnight.
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And so he was someone
who was very acquainted
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with living death
and being in a coffin.
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Director James Whale
was a World War I vet.
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He spent a lot of his war in
a German prisoner-of-war camp.
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He was a tremendously
troubled individual.
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Carl Laemmle Jr.--
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he also approved
casting Bela Lugosi
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and Boris Karloff
in those films.
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[Lugosi] Frankenstein.
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[Karloff] Dracula.
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And those actors are still
synonymous with 1930s horror.
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Dracula and Frankenstein,
which really do kind of become
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an embodiment of society
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where it is these very wealthy
people in these castles.
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But the castles
are all crumbling.
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And the townsfolk are all
down below, struggling.
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Castle Dracula?
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Yes.
That's where I'm going.
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No, you mustn't go there.
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And this is what we see
in Dracula.
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[Englund] In 1931,
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the world was introduced
to the first Universal monster.
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I bid you welcome.
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[Englund]
The sinister Count Dracula.
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Ouch!
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00:12:06,508 --> 00:12:08,510
Oh, it's nothing serious.
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Just a small cut
from that paperclip.
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It's just a scratch.
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[Kusama] The notion of Dracula
as a character
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is that he is an eternal evil.
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To die, to be really dead--
that must be glorious.
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00:12:27,747 --> 00:12:32,882
He's someone who takes great
pleasure in the victimization
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of mostly female victims.
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He has a sadistic love affair
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with other people's pain
and humiliation.
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♪
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Bela Lugosi's Dracula
is very revolutionary for me
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in that he's the one
Universal monster
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that's not tormented
at what he is.
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He's actually enjoying himself
as best he can and go, "Well,
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since whatever can't
be remedied must be endured.
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And if I have to endure it,
I may as well enjoy it."
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Excuse me. Count Dracula,
Professor Van Helsing.
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A most distinguished scientist
whose name we know.
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Even in the wild Transylvania.
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[Carpenter] Bela Lugosi--
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he was kind of an evil
Rudolph Valentino.
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He was originally written
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as an aristocrat
back in the old days.
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For one who has not lived
even a single lifetime,
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00:13:44,258 --> 00:13:47,130
you are a wise man.
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Slicked-back hair, and he was
all-- got the girls.
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You see, I am 30 years
here in America.
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And eight months ago,
I was called to come to England
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to revive the American
version of Dracula.
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Doesn't Dracula
ever end for you?
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No, no.
Dracula will never end.
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[Williamson] I always
was scared of Dracula
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00:14:07,281 --> 00:14:10,153
because there was something
very sensuous about him.
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He was the most sexual
of our sort of monsters.
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It's, you know,
the power of seduction,
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00:14:19,206 --> 00:14:21,469
the power of the danger.
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You know, he is there
to either kiss or kill you,
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and you don't know which.
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And in the moment,
you don't really care.
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Come here.
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00:14:30,130 --> 00:14:32,436
Come...
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00:14:32,567 --> 00:14:33,873
here.
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00:14:39,443 --> 00:14:41,184
[Oswalt] I think the reason sex
is so connected to Dracula
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00:14:41,315 --> 00:14:43,099
and to vampires
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00:14:43,230 --> 00:14:44,535
is that a lot of people's kink
254
00:14:44,666 --> 00:14:47,321
is being completely dominated
and drained
255
00:14:47,451 --> 00:14:49,758
and used up
as someone else's fuel.
256
00:14:49,889 --> 00:14:52,979
There's something really
kind of beautiful about that.
257
00:14:54,241 --> 00:14:57,635
[Kusama] There's something about
the notion of the vampire.
258
00:14:57,766 --> 00:15:02,292
The thing that, in this case,
literally sucks your blood
259
00:15:02,423 --> 00:15:07,602
but, in other ways,
can get in your head,
260
00:15:07,732 --> 00:15:10,170
can change you
from the inside out.
261
00:15:12,737 --> 00:15:17,481
Can make you a version
of the monster he is.
262
00:15:17,612 --> 00:15:20,310
No, master, please.
263
00:15:20,441 --> 00:15:22,399
Please don't ask me to do that.
264
00:15:24,227 --> 00:15:26,229
That, to me, says a lot
265
00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:30,190
about the corrupting power
of power.
266
00:15:31,147 --> 00:15:32,583
[Englund] In the wake
of the Great Depression,
267
00:15:32,714 --> 00:15:34,890
Americans were angry
268
00:15:35,021 --> 00:15:37,371
at the corrupt
and selfish wealthy class
269
00:15:37,501 --> 00:15:39,590
that they blamed
for the economic crash
270
00:15:39,721 --> 00:15:42,724
that left 12 million Americans
without work.
271
00:15:42,854 --> 00:15:49,339
A staggering 12,000 jobs
were lost every day.
272
00:15:49,470 --> 00:15:55,302
Over 20,000 Americans
committed suicide.
273
00:15:55,432 --> 00:16:01,264
And Hollywood delivered them
a monster fit for the times.
274
00:16:01,395 --> 00:16:05,486
The money-sucking upper class
was personified
275
00:16:05,616 --> 00:16:10,404
by the handsome and wealthy,
bloodsucking nobleman
276
00:16:10,534 --> 00:16:13,668
feeding on his
less fortunate victims.
277
00:16:13,798 --> 00:16:15,844
[Williamson] Dracula resonated
with a lot of people
278
00:16:15,975 --> 00:16:18,368
because here comes this man
who's just sucking the life
279
00:16:18,499 --> 00:16:20,544
out of us, and I think
280
00:16:20,675 --> 00:16:23,243
[chuckles] people living
in that time felt like
281
00:16:23,373 --> 00:16:26,986
life was sucking the life
out of them.
282
00:16:27,116 --> 00:16:28,726
Everyone was thirsty
and hungry for food,
283
00:16:28,857 --> 00:16:30,554
so they understood
the need for blood.
284
00:16:33,949 --> 00:16:37,518
[Englund] Dracula was
an overnight success,
285
00:16:37,648 --> 00:16:39,476
selling 50,000 tickets
286
00:16:39,607 --> 00:16:42,392
within days of its opening
in New York.
287
00:16:45,526 --> 00:16:48,529
[man] Here is Bela Lugosi,
the screen's numbere vampire
288
00:16:48,659 --> 00:16:50,357
who's decided to pay back
some of that blood
289
00:16:50,487 --> 00:16:52,489
that he's borrowed.
290
00:16:52,620 --> 00:16:53,751
I can't help thinking
what a perfect payoff
291
00:16:53,882 --> 00:16:55,666
it would be if Dracula Lugosi,
292
00:16:55,797 --> 00:16:57,712
after all the jugular veins
he's tapped,
293
00:16:57,842 --> 00:17:00,149
should be found too anemic
to donate blood.
294
00:17:02,847 --> 00:17:05,763
[Englund] The success of Dracula
gave Universal confidence
295
00:17:05,894 --> 00:17:09,593
to greenlight its next
monster movie, Frankenstein...
296
00:17:12,074 --> 00:17:16,513
based on a play and inspired by
Mary Shelley's novel from 1818.
297
00:17:16,644 --> 00:17:20,865
The brain you stole
fits the brain of a dead man,
298
00:17:20,996 --> 00:17:25,218
waiting to live again in a body
I made with my own hands.
299
00:17:25,348 --> 00:17:26,610
With my own hands.
300
00:17:26,741 --> 00:17:34,488
♪
301
00:17:34,618 --> 00:17:38,492
It's alive! It's alive!
It's alive!
302
00:17:38,622 --> 00:17:42,539
[Turek] Imagine being in a movie
theater, seeing Boris Karloff
303
00:17:42,670 --> 00:17:44,585
lumber out of the dark
for the first time.
304
00:17:46,804 --> 00:17:48,676
You know, they do
that great cut
305
00:17:48,806 --> 00:17:51,418
where it just goes boom, boom--
right into his face.
306
00:17:52,854 --> 00:17:55,422
It's so scary.
307
00:17:55,552 --> 00:17:57,598
There's something very taboo
308
00:17:57,728 --> 00:18:01,384
about a mad scientist
screaming about playing God.
309
00:18:06,476 --> 00:18:07,825
There was that moment, too,
that was always cut,
310
00:18:07,956 --> 00:18:09,653
where Frankenstein meets
a little girl
311
00:18:09,784 --> 00:18:12,308
who's picking flowers
and throwing them into the lake.
312
00:18:12,439 --> 00:18:13,614
Would you like
one of my flowers?
313
00:18:17,357 --> 00:18:18,706
See how mine floats?
314
00:18:18,836 --> 00:18:21,230
- [grunts]
- No, you're hurting me!
315
00:18:21,361 --> 00:18:22,492
No!
316
00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,456
And then it all suddenly cut to
317
00:18:29,586 --> 00:18:31,719
her dad carrying her corpse
through the village.
318
00:18:35,810 --> 00:18:37,899
[Nicotero] There is
something scary about
319
00:18:38,029 --> 00:18:40,336
something that is
unstoppable and...
320
00:18:40,467 --> 00:18:42,512
Maria-- she's drowned.
321
00:18:42,643 --> 00:18:47,256
♪
322
00:18:47,387 --> 00:18:48,605
...and pursues you...
323
00:18:50,564 --> 00:18:52,653
[screams]
324
00:18:52,783 --> 00:18:54,481
...and is relentless.
325
00:18:54,611 --> 00:18:57,571
[screams]
326
00:18:57,701 --> 00:18:59,268
And that's what I kind of
love about it.
327
00:18:59,399 --> 00:19:02,576
[grunting]
328
00:19:02,706 --> 00:19:06,449
[Englund] For audiences in 1931,
329
00:19:06,580 --> 00:19:11,411
Dr. Frankenstein and the monster
he pieced together
330
00:19:11,541 --> 00:19:13,674
were another potent symbol
331
00:19:13,804 --> 00:19:16,590
of the relentless evil
that had ruined their lives
332
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,462
through war
and financial hardship.
333
00:19:20,246 --> 00:19:26,469
Frankenstein really created
the text for horror
334
00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:27,688
for many decades.
335
00:19:31,344 --> 00:19:34,869
[Halberstam] Basically,
every era remakes Frankenstein.
336
00:19:34,999 --> 00:19:36,392
Back into the closet.
Back, back.
337
00:19:36,523 --> 00:19:39,569
Back, back, back,
back, back!
338
00:19:39,700 --> 00:19:43,051
[Turek] They were there to lay
the foundation for what works.
339
00:19:43,182 --> 00:19:45,227
Dr. Frankenstein, I presume.
340
00:19:45,358 --> 00:19:51,451
♪
341
00:19:51,581 --> 00:19:53,540
[growls]
342
00:19:54,323 --> 00:19:57,979
Frankenstein is a story
about a mad scientist
343
00:19:58,109 --> 00:20:00,547
whose greatest dream
is to create life.
344
00:20:04,812 --> 00:20:07,641
And he does so by cobbling
together a body,
345
00:20:07,771 --> 00:20:10,209
galvanizing that body with
the use of a lightning storm.
346
00:20:12,863 --> 00:20:14,822
Child's Play.
347
00:20:14,952 --> 00:20:17,346
- Hi. I'm Chucky. Wanna play?
- [screams]
348
00:20:20,828 --> 00:20:22,743
The Chucky films
are Frankenstein movies...
349
00:20:25,963 --> 00:20:31,099
about a doll that comes
to life after the warehouse
350
00:20:31,230 --> 00:20:34,581
that the doll is stored in
is struck by lightning.
351
00:20:34,711 --> 00:20:36,539
[glass shatters]
352
00:20:39,977 --> 00:20:41,675
That's a Frankenstein myth.
353
00:20:41,805 --> 00:20:43,024
I said talk to me, damn it,
354
00:20:43,154 --> 00:20:45,505
or else I'm gonna throw you
in the fire.
355
00:20:45,635 --> 00:20:47,550
I mean, look at Michael Myers.
356
00:20:47,681 --> 00:20:50,031
Michael Myers is
the perfect example.
357
00:20:50,161 --> 00:20:53,600
You can't stop him.
You can't kill him.
358
00:21:00,824 --> 00:21:03,305
[Carpenter] Michael Myers
was written as a blank.
359
00:21:05,829 --> 00:21:08,354
He had no defining
characteristics, really.
360
00:21:08,484 --> 00:21:10,007
He had no face.
361
00:21:10,138 --> 00:21:12,706
It was a thing without a face.
362
00:21:12,836 --> 00:21:15,709
Almost a force of nature,
as opposed to a human being.
363
00:21:15,839 --> 00:21:18,668
[grunting]
364
00:21:18,799 --> 00:21:20,714
You can draw a direct line
from Frankenstein's monster
365
00:21:20,844 --> 00:21:22,455
to Leatherface in
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
366
00:21:22,585 --> 00:21:25,806
[chain saw revving]
367
00:21:25,936 --> 00:21:27,547
Frankenstein's monster
is always terrified,
368
00:21:27,677 --> 00:21:28,504
jumping at the light, at fire.
369
00:21:30,811 --> 00:21:33,988
He's tormented
by the other characters.
370
00:21:34,118 --> 00:21:35,859
And there's a scene
in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
371
00:21:35,990 --> 00:21:39,080
where Leatherface is genuinely
frightened and agitated
372
00:21:39,210 --> 00:21:40,429
that why are so many people
coming into his house.
373
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:41,909
[screams]
374
00:21:46,479 --> 00:21:50,483
You actually kind of feel bad
for him in a weird way
375
00:21:50,613 --> 00:21:51,527
because he's frightened.
376
00:21:52,354 --> 00:21:53,790
[Turek]
Because we're all rooting
377
00:21:53,921 --> 00:21:57,011
for the Frankenstein monster
378
00:21:57,141 --> 00:21:59,883
who's pulled into this world
and abandoned,
379
00:22:00,014 --> 00:22:02,495
and we all feel bad for him.
380
00:22:03,626 --> 00:22:06,760
[Englund] Like Dracula,
Frankenstein also told a tale
381
00:22:06,890 --> 00:22:09,589
of elites unleashing a horror
on the masses.
382
00:22:09,719 --> 00:22:14,811
In this case, a scientist
who wanted to play God.
383
00:22:14,942 --> 00:22:19,642
It was the perfect allegory
for a traumatized America
384
00:22:19,773 --> 00:22:22,341
still reeling from facing
its own monsters--
385
00:22:22,471 --> 00:22:25,866
the First World War,
financial disaster,
386
00:22:25,996 --> 00:22:30,697
and the prospect of another
global conflict on the horizon.
387
00:22:30,827 --> 00:22:35,005
The movie struck a chord.
388
00:22:35,136 --> 00:22:39,662
[Hendrix] Frankenstein became
a huge, huge hit,
389
00:22:39,793 --> 00:22:43,927
because I think it tapped
into a lot of these fears.
390
00:22:44,058 --> 00:22:46,713
Frankenstein-- it's almost
like an autobiography
391
00:22:46,843 --> 00:22:48,541
by director James Whale.
392
00:22:48,671 --> 00:22:51,718
It is a cry for help.
393
00:22:51,848 --> 00:22:53,676
James Whale.
394
00:22:53,807 --> 00:22:55,852
He was a war veteran
who saw a lot of combat.
395
00:22:58,768 --> 00:22:59,900
He had a hard time sleeping
without being drunk
396
00:23:00,030 --> 00:23:01,945
or doped up on pills.
397
00:23:02,076 --> 00:23:04,557
These things haunted him.
398
00:23:04,687 --> 00:23:08,169
He talked a lot about suicide.
399
00:23:08,299 --> 00:23:12,260
He didn't like water,
yet he had a swimming pool
400
00:23:12,391 --> 00:23:16,046
and would ultimately kill
himself with that swimming pool,
401
00:23:16,177 --> 00:23:18,048
almost like he had
the instrument
402
00:23:18,179 --> 00:23:21,965
for his own self-destruction
there at his house,
403
00:23:22,096 --> 00:23:24,403
waiting until
he was ready for it.
404
00:23:28,755 --> 00:23:30,626
[McKendry]
Universal saw the success
405
00:23:30,757 --> 00:23:32,846
of Dracula and Frankenstein.
406
00:23:32,976 --> 00:23:35,283
They hit, and they exploded.
407
00:23:35,414 --> 00:23:38,895
And so in the 1930s,
that's what we see is Universal
408
00:23:39,026 --> 00:23:41,245
owns the game
with these movie monsters.
409
00:23:41,376 --> 00:23:43,944
And with that,
they keep just churning them out
410
00:23:44,074 --> 00:23:44,901
as fast as they can.
411
00:23:45,032 --> 00:23:51,691
♪
412
00:23:51,821 --> 00:23:53,736
[shouts]
413
00:23:53,867 --> 00:23:55,477
[screams]
414
00:23:55,608 --> 00:23:57,740
♪
415
00:23:57,871 --> 00:23:59,089
[screams]
416
00:23:59,220 --> 00:24:00,047
Stop where you are.
417
00:24:00,177 --> 00:24:05,008
♪
418
00:24:05,139 --> 00:24:06,445
[man] Oh, no!
419
00:24:08,838 --> 00:24:09,622
No!
420
00:24:13,930 --> 00:24:16,585
Inspector Crow,
District Police.
421
00:24:16,716 --> 00:24:18,892
- Smoke.
- [grunts]
422
00:24:19,022 --> 00:24:19,849
[woman]
What strange-looking country.
423
00:24:22,112 --> 00:24:23,897
[man screaming]
424
00:24:24,027 --> 00:24:31,905
♪
425
00:24:32,035 --> 00:24:34,995
[Campbell] I saw The Mummy
on television.
426
00:24:35,125 --> 00:24:39,173
I was pretty familiar with
all of the Universal monsters
427
00:24:39,303 --> 00:24:41,871
because they did the best job
selling them.
428
00:24:45,962 --> 00:24:47,137
I mean, they had the package.
429
00:24:47,268 --> 00:24:50,793
If you wanted horror,
it was Universal.
430
00:24:50,924 --> 00:24:53,013
They treated their genre seriously.
431
00:24:58,148 --> 00:25:01,891
I told you not to disturb me.
432
00:25:02,022 --> 00:25:03,371
[Englund] The Invisible Man,
433
00:25:03,502 --> 00:25:07,157
adapted from H.G. Wells'
horror novel of the same name.
434
00:25:07,288 --> 00:25:08,898
There must be a way back.
435
00:25:09,029 --> 00:25:10,813
[Englund] After Frankenstein,
436
00:25:10,944 --> 00:25:13,599
audiences were hungry
for more monster movies.
437
00:25:13,729 --> 00:25:15,296
Only, this time,
438
00:25:15,426 --> 00:25:19,256
the monster literally
was the mad scientist himself.
439
00:25:19,387 --> 00:25:23,043
A scientist playing dangerously
with nature.
440
00:25:23,173 --> 00:25:27,177
An arrogant, elite doctor,
indulging his dark impulses
441
00:25:27,308 --> 00:25:30,485
and, as a result,
unleashing horror
442
00:25:30,616 --> 00:25:34,141
on an unsuspecting
and innocent public.
443
00:25:34,271 --> 00:25:37,187
You're crazy to know who I am,
aren't you?
444
00:25:37,318 --> 00:25:40,364
All right, I'll show you.
445
00:25:40,495 --> 00:25:44,194
There's a souvenir for you,
and one for you.
446
00:25:44,325 --> 00:25:46,719
I'll show you who I am
and what I am.
447
00:25:46,849 --> 00:25:49,939
[laughing maniacally]
448
00:25:50,070 --> 00:25:52,768
Look. He's all eaten away.
449
00:25:52,899 --> 00:25:54,944
[The Invisible Man]
How do you like that, eh?
450
00:25:55,075 --> 00:25:58,557
[laughing]
451
00:25:58,687 --> 00:26:04,040
[Nicotero] Ironically,
the most effective killer
452
00:26:04,171 --> 00:26:06,739
of every Universal monster
is the Invisible Man.
453
00:26:06,869 --> 00:26:08,958
[train horn blares]
454
00:26:22,145 --> 00:26:23,930
Invisible Man,
like, derails a train.
455
00:26:27,803 --> 00:26:32,025
[people screaming]
456
00:26:32,155 --> 00:26:33,635
And the entire train
goes off a cliff.
457
00:26:36,377 --> 00:26:39,249
It kills a whole trainload
full of people.
458
00:26:39,380 --> 00:26:42,165
And basically, he's the one
that's not a monster.
459
00:26:42,296 --> 00:26:43,950
He's the one
that's a human being,
460
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:45,908
which I always find fascinating.
461
00:26:46,039 --> 00:26:48,389
[The Invisible Man] Thank God
for the fire. Sit down.
462
00:26:48,519 --> 00:26:49,869
Unless you want me
to knock your brains out.
463
00:26:51,261 --> 00:26:53,046
Sit down!
464
00:26:53,176 --> 00:26:56,049
You're frightened
out of your wits, aren't you?
465
00:26:56,179 --> 00:26:58,051
[Dickerson]
When I was growing up...
466
00:26:58,181 --> 00:27:00,923
[The Invisible Man] Oh,
it's no good talking like this.
467
00:27:01,054 --> 00:27:03,273
...there was a show
that used to come on,
468
00:27:03,404 --> 00:27:04,971
I think it was Friday nights
and Saturday nights,
469
00:27:05,101 --> 00:27:06,929
called Shock Theater.
470
00:27:11,194 --> 00:27:14,633
And that's when I first saw
the old Universal horror films.
471
00:27:17,331 --> 00:27:19,159
Frankenstein, Dracula,
472
00:27:19,289 --> 00:27:21,291
The Invisible Man,
473
00:27:21,422 --> 00:27:22,379
The Wolf Man.
474
00:27:22,510 --> 00:27:24,773
Yeah, I loved The Wolf Man.
475
00:27:24,904 --> 00:27:26,122
[woman screams]
476
00:27:26,253 --> 00:27:27,994
Larry Talbot, man.
477
00:27:28,124 --> 00:27:29,648
Talbot Castle, Mr. Larry.
478
00:27:32,389 --> 00:27:34,522
You know, he was just so cool.
479
00:27:34,653 --> 00:27:37,351
[Englund] The Wolf Man gave us
yet another monster
480
00:27:37,481 --> 00:27:41,050
who represented audiences' fear
of the unknown events
481
00:27:41,181 --> 00:27:42,878
that continued
to upend their lives.
482
00:27:45,272 --> 00:27:47,883
The Wolf Man was the monster
483
00:27:48,014 --> 00:27:51,147
who could not control
his own actions.
484
00:27:51,278 --> 00:27:55,108
It was in the Wolf Man's
nature to kill.
485
00:27:55,238 --> 00:27:56,849
Go ahead and shoot
before he bites you.
486
00:27:56,979 --> 00:27:59,329
A monster
too many could relate to.
487
00:27:59,460 --> 00:28:01,375
It shows the wolf
in the pentagram.
488
00:28:01,505 --> 00:28:04,247
- The sign of the werewolf.
- Werewolf? What's that?
489
00:28:04,378 --> 00:28:06,336
Oh, that's a human being who,
at certain times of the year,
490
00:28:06,467 --> 00:28:07,990
changes into a wolf.
491
00:28:08,121 --> 00:28:10,036
[woman screams]
492
00:28:10,166 --> 00:28:22,222
♪
493
00:28:22,352 --> 00:28:24,267
Sir John!
494
00:28:24,398 --> 00:28:25,094
- Master Larry, what happened?
- He was bitten by a wolf.
495
00:28:25,225 --> 00:28:27,227
- A wolf?
- Yes.
496
00:28:27,357 --> 00:28:28,271
Nonsense. Haven't been wolves
around here for years.
497
00:28:28,402 --> 00:28:29,490
Where did all this happen?
498
00:28:29,620 --> 00:28:31,753
By the marsh.
That woman came to help.
499
00:28:31,884 --> 00:28:34,016
[Oswalt] The main thing that
the Lon Chaney Jr. Wolf Man
500
00:28:34,147 --> 00:28:36,279
did was, if you're gonna do
a werewolf movie,
501
00:28:36,410 --> 00:28:39,239
you'd better have
the transformation scene,
502
00:28:39,369 --> 00:28:41,328
and it better be
something amazing.
503
00:28:41,458 --> 00:28:47,856
♪
504
00:28:47,987 --> 00:28:54,123
♪
505
00:28:54,254 --> 00:28:56,952
[growling]
506
00:28:57,083 --> 00:28:58,345
[Oswalt] That is the sizzle.
507
00:28:58,475 --> 00:29:00,521
[screaming]
508
00:29:00,651 --> 00:29:02,305
[growling]
509
00:29:02,436 --> 00:29:04,220
So that became the standard
for a long time.
510
00:29:04,351 --> 00:29:16,624
♪
511
00:29:16,755 --> 00:29:21,150
[Carpenter] The Wolf Man is
a really interesting monster.
512
00:29:21,281 --> 00:29:24,371
He's completely innocent
of anything.
513
00:29:24,501 --> 00:29:26,547
Richardson was killed
last night. The gravedigger.
514
00:29:26,677 --> 00:29:29,202
The tracks
lead up to this house.
515
00:29:29,332 --> 00:29:31,030
Footprints?
516
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,162
No. Animal tracks. A wolf.
517
00:29:33,293 --> 00:29:35,164
He got bitten by a werewolf.
518
00:29:35,295 --> 00:29:37,297
What the hell, man?
519
00:29:37,427 --> 00:29:39,255
You killed the wolf.
520
00:29:39,386 --> 00:29:42,084
Well, there's no crime
in that, is there?
521
00:29:42,215 --> 00:29:43,520
Bela became a wolf.
522
00:29:43,651 --> 00:29:45,827
- And you killed him.
- You're insane.
523
00:29:45,958 --> 00:29:48,395
I tell you, I killed a wolf.
A plain, ordinary wolf.
524
00:29:48,525 --> 00:29:51,659
[Carpenter]
It's unbelievably depressing.
525
00:29:51,790 --> 00:29:55,228
It's like what was going on
in the culture at the time.
526
00:29:55,358 --> 00:29:58,318
Hell, I'm out of a job. Why?
527
00:29:58,448 --> 00:30:01,060
Why am I a werewolf?
528
00:30:01,190 --> 00:30:04,106
And it's-- you know,
it's tragic.
529
00:30:04,237 --> 00:30:06,152
[woman]
Your suffering is over.
530
00:30:08,371 --> 00:30:11,418
Now you will find peace
for eternity.
531
00:30:11,548 --> 00:30:22,429
♪
532
00:30:22,559 --> 00:30:24,387
[Turek] And then there was
kind of, like, another wave.
533
00:30:25,562 --> 00:30:28,261
There was another boom,
and you saw movies like
534
00:30:28,391 --> 00:30:30,306
the Universal classic
movie-monster sequels.
535
00:30:32,787 --> 00:30:36,312
[Englund] Bride of Frankenstein
is considered by many
536
00:30:36,443 --> 00:30:39,838
to be a perfect sequel.
537
00:30:39,968 --> 00:30:42,231
It picks up
where Frankenstein left off,
538
00:30:42,362 --> 00:30:46,496
scaring audiences with its tale
of unnatural monsters
539
00:30:46,627 --> 00:30:48,847
threatening the world
around them...
540
00:30:51,371 --> 00:30:53,373
and ups the ante
with spectacular
541
00:30:53,503 --> 00:30:55,418
and unnerving effects
542
00:30:55,549 --> 00:30:58,247
unlike any that were seen
at the time.
543
00:30:58,378 --> 00:30:59,901
I think Bride of Frankenstein
is one of the best films,
544
00:31:00,032 --> 00:31:00,859
period.
545
00:31:07,300 --> 00:31:08,649
Baron Frankenstein.
546
00:31:08,779 --> 00:31:12,305
- What do you want?
- We must work together.
547
00:31:12,435 --> 00:31:14,307
Bride of Frankenstein
is super interesting
548
00:31:14,437 --> 00:31:18,789
because it's modeled on a piece
from the Mary Shelley story.
549
00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:21,096
[Henry]
I give you the monster.
550
00:31:21,227 --> 00:31:22,489
Frankenstein, the scientist,
551
00:31:22,619 --> 00:31:26,362
decides he should
make a mate for his monster.
552
00:31:26,493 --> 00:31:29,061
Oh, I thought I was alone.
553
00:31:29,191 --> 00:31:34,022
You make man like me?
554
00:31:34,153 --> 00:31:35,719
No.
555
00:31:35,850 --> 00:31:38,897
Woman. Friend for you.
556
00:31:40,333 --> 00:31:42,335
[The Monster] Woman. Friend.
557
00:31:42,465 --> 00:31:44,598
Why?
558
00:31:44,728 --> 00:31:48,384
James Whale takes up
Mary Shelley's lost plot
559
00:31:48,515 --> 00:31:49,342
and brings it to life.
560
00:31:51,213 --> 00:31:53,389
Isn't it amazing, Henry?
561
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,739
[Oswalt] Bride of Frankenstein
is genuinely frightening
562
00:31:55,870 --> 00:31:58,133
when you realize
what a scientist wants to do
563
00:31:58,264 --> 00:32:00,527
is to make a world
of gods and monsters.
564
00:32:00,657 --> 00:32:04,400
To a new world
of gods and monsters.
565
00:32:04,531 --> 00:32:09,536
Universal Horror really nailed
the idea of the monster
566
00:32:09,666 --> 00:32:11,538
is never really
the evil perpetrator.
567
00:32:12,191 --> 00:32:14,149
- [grunting ]
- [man] Keep still!
568
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:16,369
If anything, they're the biggest
569
00:32:16,499 --> 00:32:18,588
and most frightened victim
in the film.
570
00:32:18,719 --> 00:32:20,460
- [hammering]
- Oh!
571
00:32:20,590 --> 00:32:22,592
I'd hate to find him
under my bed at night.
572
00:32:22,723 --> 00:32:24,638
Bride of Frankenstein
is amazing.
573
00:32:24,768 --> 00:32:27,684
It is a feminist film
without ever even realizing
574
00:32:27,815 --> 00:32:29,599
that it is a feminist film.
575
00:32:29,730 --> 00:32:31,340
[machine powering up]
576
00:32:31,471 --> 00:32:34,691
[electricity crackling]
577
00:32:34,822 --> 00:32:38,217
We see this woman who has been
created for the sole purpose
578
00:32:38,347 --> 00:32:40,436
of being a mate
for this monster.
579
00:32:43,613 --> 00:32:46,442
She's alive. Alive!
580
00:32:46,573 --> 00:32:49,054
The bride of Frankenstein.
581
00:32:49,184 --> 00:32:57,540
♪
582
00:32:57,671 --> 00:33:01,457
But once she's born to light,
she looks at him and she's like,
583
00:33:01,588 --> 00:33:03,242
"Nah, I'm not into that."
584
00:33:03,372 --> 00:33:05,592
[grunts]
585
00:33:05,722 --> 00:33:08,638
[screams]
586
00:33:08,769 --> 00:33:10,510
"This is not what I want.
I don't want to do this."
587
00:33:13,643 --> 00:33:16,820
So we're seeing this beautiful
feminist reaction in a movie
588
00:33:16,951 --> 00:33:20,128
that no one really
kind of perceived it being in.
589
00:33:20,259 --> 00:33:22,565
[screams]
590
00:33:22,696 --> 00:33:25,438
She hate me.
591
00:33:25,568 --> 00:33:28,354
Get away from that lever.
You'll blow us all to atoms.
592
00:33:28,484 --> 00:33:29,703
[Elizabeth]
Henry! Undo the door!
593
00:33:29,833 --> 00:33:31,183
[Henry]
But I can't leave them.
594
00:33:31,313 --> 00:33:33,446
Yes, go. You live.
595
00:33:34,708 --> 00:33:36,840
You stay.
596
00:33:36,971 --> 00:33:39,017
We belong dead.
597
00:33:39,626 --> 00:33:43,630
[hissing]
598
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:47,025
It's the most nihilistic ending.
599
00:33:48,939 --> 00:33:57,296
♪
600
00:33:57,426 --> 00:33:59,559
[Turek] Universal
making those movies
601
00:33:59,689 --> 00:34:02,562
gave all the other studios
permission to go,
602
00:34:02,692 --> 00:34:04,259
"Horror movies are lucrative."
603
00:34:06,522 --> 00:34:08,394
It gave, like, you know,
604
00:34:08,524 --> 00:34:10,570
Paramount the right to go make
a slate of horror movies.
605
00:34:13,921 --> 00:34:16,184
Give MGM the right to go make
some films.
606
00:34:20,754 --> 00:34:23,322
It's like the landscape
just opened up.
607
00:34:23,452 --> 00:34:34,202
♪
608
00:34:34,333 --> 00:34:44,647
♪
609
00:34:44,778 --> 00:34:55,528
♪
610
00:34:55,658 --> 00:35:06,539
♪
611
00:35:06,669 --> 00:35:08,889
[Blum] After he
directed Dracula,
612
00:35:09,019 --> 00:35:11,370
Tod Browning went on
to make Freaks.
613
00:35:16,244 --> 00:35:19,943
An incredibly important,
unique early horror movie.
614
00:35:20,074 --> 00:35:23,382
[Englund] Freaks was based on
the short story Spurs,
615
00:35:23,512 --> 00:35:27,908
written by American horror
author Tod Robbins.
616
00:35:28,038 --> 00:35:33,348
Director Tod Browning, regarded
as the Edgar Allan Poe of film,
617
00:35:33,479 --> 00:35:35,524
had worked for
a traveling carnival
618
00:35:35,655 --> 00:35:37,918
and urged MGM
to secure the rights
619
00:35:38,048 --> 00:35:40,964
to a story
some considered grotesque,
620
00:35:41,095 --> 00:35:44,446
thus putting his reputation
on the line.
621
00:35:44,577 --> 00:35:46,666
[all] ♪ We accept her,
we accept her ♪
622
00:35:46,796 --> 00:35:48,624
♪ Gooble, gobble,
gooble, gobble ♪
623
00:35:48,755 --> 00:35:50,626
♪ One of us, one of us
624
00:35:50,757 --> 00:35:53,629
When looked at through the lens
of the Great Depression,
625
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:57,459
Freaks is about
the class struggle.
626
00:35:57,590 --> 00:35:59,635
The supposedly
normal characters,
627
00:35:59,766 --> 00:36:01,898
Cleopatra and Hercules,
628
00:36:02,029 --> 00:36:05,772
have disdain for the people that
make their carnival possible.
629
00:36:05,902 --> 00:36:10,168
The so-called freaks
are the working man.
630
00:36:16,826 --> 00:36:18,611
♪ Gooble, gobble,
gooble, gobble ♪
631
00:36:18,741 --> 00:36:20,787
No!
632
00:36:20,917 --> 00:36:22,528
Dirty!
633
00:36:22,658 --> 00:36:24,312
Slimy!
634
00:36:24,443 --> 00:36:25,487
Freaks!
635
00:36:25,618 --> 00:36:27,359
Freaks! Freaks!
636
00:36:27,489 --> 00:36:29,622
Get out of here!
637
00:36:29,752 --> 00:36:31,014
[Bress] Freaks disturbed me.
638
00:36:31,145 --> 00:36:33,756
[Hercules] Get out.
You heard her! Get out!
639
00:36:33,887 --> 00:36:35,628
[laughing]
640
00:36:35,758 --> 00:36:39,458
And I think it did it in a way
that was probably
641
00:36:39,588 --> 00:36:42,504
really advanced for its time.
642
00:36:46,726 --> 00:36:49,859
And a lot of that, I'm sure,
had to do with the casting.
643
00:36:49,990 --> 00:36:53,428
[Blum] The cast of Freaks
was groundbreaking--
644
00:36:53,559 --> 00:36:55,300
putting people on screen
who'd never been seen
645
00:36:55,430 --> 00:36:57,215
in movies before.
646
00:36:57,345 --> 00:36:59,217
[Bress] I mean, it really
felt like, "Oh, wow,
647
00:36:59,347 --> 00:37:03,395
we're hearkening back to
a time where creepiness
648
00:37:03,525 --> 00:37:08,051
and exploitation was acceptable
649
00:37:08,182 --> 00:37:10,010
and thrived upon."
650
00:37:10,140 --> 00:37:13,753
Watching it, I found myself
kind of like,
651
00:37:13,883 --> 00:37:15,711
"This is a little bit more
than exploitation.
652
00:37:15,842 --> 00:37:19,367
There's actual story going on
with a lot of layers to it."
653
00:37:23,023 --> 00:37:25,460
[Blum] Freaks follows a
trapeze artist who joins a group
654
00:37:25,591 --> 00:37:27,680
of carnival sideshow performers
655
00:37:27,810 --> 00:37:29,682
with a plan
to murder a little person
656
00:37:29,812 --> 00:37:31,684
in the troupe
for his inheritance.
657
00:37:33,860 --> 00:37:35,688
[Turek] Any horror filmmaker
wants to set out
658
00:37:35,818 --> 00:37:39,561
to give you
a level of discomfort.
659
00:37:39,692 --> 00:37:42,521
[thunder rumbling]
660
00:37:52,313 --> 00:37:55,708
Make you confront feelings that
you don't normally confront.
661
00:38:18,165 --> 00:38:19,949
Sometimes when you're
a horror fan,
662
00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:21,734
you have to listen
a little deeper
663
00:38:21,864 --> 00:38:23,779
than what people
automatically lead with,
664
00:38:23,910 --> 00:38:25,738
which is,
"This movie's exploitive."
665
00:38:28,175 --> 00:38:32,048
In the end, it becomes this
kind of, like, revenge movie,
666
00:38:32,179 --> 00:38:33,876
almost in a way
like I Spit on Your Grave.
667
00:38:35,704 --> 00:38:36,923
[screams]
668
00:38:37,053 --> 00:38:38,794
[Turek]
It's a rape revenge film.
669
00:38:38,925 --> 00:38:40,405
[sobs]
670
00:38:41,928 --> 00:38:46,062
[choking]
671
00:38:46,193 --> 00:38:48,935
These movies are that window
into the darkness of the world.
672
00:38:52,852 --> 00:38:54,114
[McKendry] At the same time,
673
00:38:54,244 --> 00:38:55,898
Freaks came out
in a time period
674
00:38:56,029 --> 00:38:57,683
where we're having people
return from war.
675
00:38:59,902 --> 00:39:01,687
[Man] Terrible was
the price to be paid.
676
00:39:01,817 --> 00:39:04,516
A million men laid dead.
677
00:39:05,517 --> 00:39:07,910
Hospitals coped with
the unending flow of wounded.
678
00:39:09,172 --> 00:39:13,960
Plenty of soldiers came back
with whatever had happened
679
00:39:14,090 --> 00:39:16,832
to them-- their injuries--
and felt less than.
680
00:39:21,359 --> 00:39:25,580
They felt marginalized.
They felt they didn't fit in.
681
00:39:25,711 --> 00:39:26,799
They weren't worthy anymore.
682
00:39:29,845 --> 00:39:32,021
They weren't the high school
quarterback they were
683
00:39:32,152 --> 00:39:33,371
when they left.
684
00:39:35,982 --> 00:39:38,767
They're not just
externally injured.
685
00:39:38,898 --> 00:39:40,856
They're internally injured.
686
00:39:40,987 --> 00:39:44,773
And nobody knows about it,
and nobody ever talked about it.
687
00:39:44,904 --> 00:39:48,777
And then along comes a movie
like Freaks, where...
688
00:39:48,908 --> 00:39:51,040
they can identify
with these people
689
00:39:51,171 --> 00:39:53,956
that are being marginalized
and looked down on
690
00:39:54,087 --> 00:39:55,784
and just don't make
the cut anymore.
691
00:39:55,915 --> 00:39:56,872
And they're the heroes.
692
00:39:59,048 --> 00:40:00,049
[McKendry]
We are actually seeing
693
00:40:00,180 --> 00:40:01,964
these body horrors firsthand
694
00:40:02,095 --> 00:40:04,750
of people coming over,
missing limbs,
695
00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:08,667
and so seeing it up on screen
in an almost exploitive manner,
696
00:40:08,797 --> 00:40:10,930
no one really knew
what to do with it.
697
00:40:13,106 --> 00:40:14,847
[Blum] Freaks was also a film
698
00:40:14,977 --> 00:40:17,153
that when MGM initially
test screened it,
699
00:40:17,284 --> 00:40:19,417
there are anecdotes
that people got up and ran out.
700
00:40:22,768 --> 00:40:24,030
They didn't just leave.
701
00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:25,814
They literally ran out
of the theater.
702
00:40:25,945 --> 00:40:28,861
There was a backlash to that.
703
00:40:28,991 --> 00:40:30,645
[Englund]
After the test screening,
704
00:40:30,776 --> 00:40:32,995
MGM removed more than 30 minutes
of footage
705
00:40:33,126 --> 00:40:35,955
from Tod Browning's
original cut.
706
00:40:36,085 --> 00:40:37,696
Despite the changes,
707
00:40:37,826 --> 00:40:40,916
Freaks was not
a commercial success
708
00:40:41,047 --> 00:40:43,919
and was outright banned
in some places.
709
00:40:46,356 --> 00:40:49,011
With its failure
at the box office
710
00:40:49,142 --> 00:40:51,100
and the controversy
surrounding it,
711
00:40:51,231 --> 00:40:55,801
the film essentially ended
Tod Browning's career.
712
00:40:55,931 --> 00:40:59,021
Although it is now
in the National Film Registry,
713
00:40:59,152 --> 00:41:00,936
at the time of its release,
714
00:41:01,067 --> 00:41:04,113
Freaks was a prime example
of why the Hays Code
715
00:41:04,244 --> 00:41:06,333
was enacted
just a few years earlier.
716
00:41:06,464 --> 00:41:07,943
[Halberstam] At the time,
717
00:41:08,074 --> 00:41:10,163
people did not know
what kind of impact
718
00:41:10,293 --> 00:41:13,079
the cinema might have
on the mass audiences
719
00:41:13,209 --> 00:41:15,995
who were all going to see
the same material.
720
00:41:16,125 --> 00:41:18,998
So the question is,
would people be so mesmerized
721
00:41:19,128 --> 00:41:21,043
by what they saw in the cinema
722
00:41:21,174 --> 00:41:25,134
that they would immediately
go out and mimic what they saw?
723
00:41:25,265 --> 00:41:27,876
And if so,
was there a responsibility
724
00:41:28,007 --> 00:41:31,706
within the community
of filmmaking
725
00:41:31,837 --> 00:41:33,839
to regulate what was shown?
726
00:41:33,969 --> 00:41:37,233
[reporter] Hollywood, the
glamour capital of the world.
727
00:41:37,364 --> 00:41:40,193
Hollywood reaches far,
carrying its cargo of dreams
728
00:41:40,323 --> 00:41:43,283
to almost every city
and village in America.
729
00:41:43,413 --> 00:41:45,677
♪ Clean as a whistle,
fresh as a daisy ♪
730
00:41:45,807 --> 00:41:48,027
♪ Brand-new, clean through
731
00:41:48,157 --> 00:41:51,987
♪ On my way just wearing
that smile of mine ♪
732
00:41:52,118 --> 00:41:54,250
[Hendrix] The Hays Code
was this reaction
733
00:41:54,381 --> 00:41:56,252
by the film industry
to police themselves
734
00:41:56,383 --> 00:41:59,342
before the government
started policing them.
735
00:41:59,473 --> 00:42:01,214
[Man] Things got so hot
in the movies
736
00:42:01,344 --> 00:42:04,130
that the reputable producers
signed up Will Hays
737
00:42:04,260 --> 00:42:07,873
at 100 grand a year
to clean up the picture business
738
00:42:08,003 --> 00:42:11,137
and yet keep the busybodies
off the industry's neck.
739
00:42:11,267 --> 00:42:17,535
Pre-Code movies had cocaine use,
drinking, wild partying.
740
00:42:17,665 --> 00:42:20,146
Pretty racy stuff
that maybe wasn't quite nudity
741
00:42:20,276 --> 00:42:22,714
but was getting awful close.
742
00:42:22,844 --> 00:42:23,976
[woman] I'm ready now.
743
00:42:27,153 --> 00:42:28,850
[McKendry] They looked
at Hollywood and said,
744
00:42:28,981 --> 00:42:30,330
"All of the questionable stuff
that you've been
745
00:42:30,460 --> 00:42:33,159
doing for years,
we're done with that."
746
00:42:33,289 --> 00:42:35,291
And they really started
to regulate
747
00:42:35,422 --> 00:42:39,731
not just things like violence
or murder or nudity on screen,
748
00:42:39,861 --> 00:42:40,949
but also morality.
749
00:42:42,995 --> 00:42:46,172
- [Hendrix] Crime must not pay.
- [laughs]
750
00:42:46,302 --> 00:42:48,914
You cannot show
sexual intercourse.
751
00:42:49,044 --> 00:42:50,872
You can't show drug use.
752
00:42:51,003 --> 00:42:53,919
I mean, really specific stuff
that you could not do.
753
00:42:54,049 --> 00:42:57,096
And that steamrolled all the joy
out of movies for a while.
754
00:42:59,315 --> 00:43:03,102
There were many ways in which
filmmakers figured out
755
00:43:03,232 --> 00:43:05,234
how to circumvent the rules
756
00:43:05,365 --> 00:43:07,454
and the regulations
of the Hays Code,
757
00:43:07,585 --> 00:43:12,241
and that was to eschew realism
for the supernatural
758
00:43:12,372 --> 00:43:15,549
or the extraordinary,
the fantastical.
759
00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,159
[Wilson]
A lot of the studios pulled back
760
00:43:17,290 --> 00:43:18,900
from doing overt horror
761
00:43:19,031 --> 00:43:22,817
because they felt that people
had enough death
762
00:43:22,948 --> 00:43:24,645
and destruction in their lives.
763
00:43:28,301 --> 00:43:30,956
You know, you can't
depict violence,
764
00:43:31,086 --> 00:43:34,089
and it puts a damper on horror.
765
00:43:34,220 --> 00:43:35,874
What you do get
is very psychological horror.
766
00:43:36,004 --> 00:43:38,441
You get Val Lewton
and his whole stable
767
00:43:38,572 --> 00:43:42,489
of psychological thrillers
like Cat People.
768
00:43:42,620 --> 00:43:47,320
He kind of reinvents horror
to be this more subtle genre.
769
00:43:47,450 --> 00:43:49,365
[McKendry] Cat People is
incredibly groundbreaking
770
00:43:49,496 --> 00:43:52,455
and has a lot to say about
what it means to be a female.
771
00:43:52,586 --> 00:43:55,894
It explores a lot
of kind of marriage basis,
772
00:43:56,024 --> 00:43:57,156
like, our ground rock
of society,
773
00:43:57,286 --> 00:43:58,940
like what does marriage mean?
774
00:43:59,071 --> 00:44:00,855
What does it mean
to be in love with someone?
775
00:44:00,986 --> 00:44:02,640
[Englund] The studio RKO
776
00:44:02,770 --> 00:44:06,121
gave director Val Lewton
the title Cat People
777
00:44:06,252 --> 00:44:08,471
and told him,
"Develop a film around it."
778
00:44:08,602 --> 00:44:10,343
[Blum] Cat People is about
a fashion illustrator
779
00:44:10,473 --> 00:44:13,085
obsessed with the idea
that she is descended
780
00:44:13,215 --> 00:44:15,174
from an ancient tribe
of cat people
781
00:44:15,304 --> 00:44:18,394
who turn into panthers
when they're aroused.
782
00:44:18,525 --> 00:44:21,484
[Englund] While it didn't claw
its way to success at the time,
783
00:44:21,615 --> 00:44:24,313
Cat People did fulfill
the Hays Code edict
784
00:44:24,444 --> 00:44:27,099
to ensure the audience
is always aware that
785
00:44:27,229 --> 00:44:29,188
in the battle of good
versus evil,
786
00:44:29,318 --> 00:44:32,191
evil is always wrong.
787
00:44:32,321 --> 00:44:35,673
The film did this, in part,
by illustrating one of society's
788
00:44:35,803 --> 00:44:39,285
most notoriously dangerous
temptations--
789
00:44:39,415 --> 00:44:42,680
female sexuality.
790
00:44:42,810 --> 00:44:45,160
Cat People is also
one of the pioneers
791
00:44:45,291 --> 00:44:47,467
of what we know in horror
as the jump scare.
792
00:44:47,597 --> 00:44:49,251
[growling]
793
00:44:49,382 --> 00:44:51,210
[Turek] But like all things,
you know,
794
00:44:51,340 --> 00:44:55,997
there's times that horror boom
started to wane a little bit.
795
00:44:56,128 --> 00:44:58,260
You weren't getting
really beautiful works of art
796
00:44:58,391 --> 00:45:00,132
that, like, Val Lewton
was creating.
797
00:45:02,264 --> 00:45:03,918
[Englund]
With Hitler on the rise
798
00:45:04,049 --> 00:45:05,485
and the threat
of another World War
799
00:45:05,615 --> 00:45:09,489
creating tremendous stress
in people's lives,
800
00:45:09,619 --> 00:45:13,188
the great release
that horror provided
801
00:45:13,319 --> 00:45:15,016
was on the decline.
802
00:45:15,147 --> 00:45:18,150
We started getting more tepid
scary movies.
803
00:45:21,066 --> 00:45:23,242
Some were just incredibly awful.
804
00:45:25,461 --> 00:45:27,246
[woman] How can you defile
this sacred house
805
00:45:27,376 --> 00:45:30,162
with the body of that evil man,
that servant of the devil?
806
00:45:36,516 --> 00:45:38,213
This house is full of it--
something evil.
807
00:45:38,344 --> 00:45:39,998
Evil? Yes, it's you.
808
00:45:40,128 --> 00:45:41,260
[screams]
809
00:45:43,653 --> 00:45:45,568
[Nicotero]
At that particular time,
810
00:45:45,699 --> 00:45:48,746
Universal had sort of been
cycling through their monsters.
811
00:45:53,446 --> 00:45:55,753
Frankenstein Meets
the Wolf Man.
812
00:46:00,627 --> 00:46:02,020
And then it was
House of Frankenstein.
813
00:46:04,544 --> 00:46:08,287
Don't go this way.
Quicksand. Quicksand.
814
00:46:10,115 --> 00:46:11,420
They shouldn't have come here.
815
00:46:11,551 --> 00:46:13,292
[Nicotero]
And then House of Dracula.
816
00:46:13,422 --> 00:46:15,816
[woman screams]
817
00:46:21,430 --> 00:46:24,694
They were getting
a little fatigued.
818
00:46:24,825 --> 00:46:28,046
They didn't know what to do with
those monsters after a while.
819
00:46:32,790 --> 00:46:36,054
[Roosevelt] Yesterday,
the United States of America
820
00:46:36,184 --> 00:46:38,404
was suddenly
deliberately attacked.
821
00:46:39,361 --> 00:46:42,625
[Englund] With America's entry
into World War II,
822
00:46:42,756 --> 00:46:47,195
vampires, werewolves,
and man-made monsters
823
00:46:47,326 --> 00:46:50,546
like Frankenstein
and Invisible Man--
824
00:46:50,677 --> 00:46:54,463
well, they had run their course.
825
00:46:54,594 --> 00:46:59,251
The audiences were engrossed
in a new kind of horror.
826
00:46:59,381 --> 00:47:02,384
Realities of war.
827
00:47:02,515 --> 00:47:06,040
[Turek] People are seeing
stories unfold on a big screen
828
00:47:06,171 --> 00:47:09,478
with sound in black and white
829
00:47:09,609 --> 00:47:13,569
and seeing things
they had never seen before.
830
00:47:13,700 --> 00:47:16,529
[Nicotero] People were
genuinely afraid.
831
00:47:16,659 --> 00:47:19,662
They were afraid because
now there was nowhere safe.
832
00:47:19,793 --> 00:47:22,230
They couldn't just go into their
bedroom and slam the door shut
833
00:47:22,361 --> 00:47:25,320
and be safe from the monster.
834
00:47:25,451 --> 00:47:27,322
Because the monster
could get through the wall.
835
00:47:30,673 --> 00:47:33,285
It's hard to know
where the true monsters are.
836
00:47:33,415 --> 00:47:35,983
It's sort of like
they're everywhere you look.
837
00:47:40,205 --> 00:47:43,208
[Truman] A short time ago,
838
00:47:43,338 --> 00:47:48,169
an American airplane
dropped one bomb on Hiroshima.
839
00:47:50,563 --> 00:47:51,999
The atomic bomb
kind of changed everything.
840
00:47:55,307 --> 00:47:59,572
Changed people's world view, perspectives.
841
00:47:59,702 --> 00:48:04,098
I think people were just like,
"Okay, you know what?
842
00:48:04,229 --> 00:48:07,449
There is clearly
a greater force at work here
843
00:48:07,580 --> 00:48:10,148
and bigger things
to be afraid of."
844
00:48:10,278 --> 00:48:17,329
♪
845
00:48:17,459 --> 00:48:20,114
"Not only do we have to worry
about World Wars,
846
00:48:20,245 --> 00:48:21,507
but there is another threat."
847
00:48:21,637 --> 00:48:26,512
[screeching]
848
00:48:26,642 --> 00:48:28,166
Holy shit. [laughs]
849
00:48:28,296 --> 00:48:39,177
♪
850
00:48:39,307 --> 00:48:49,535
♪
851
00:48:49,665 --> 00:49:00,328
♪
852
00:49:00,459 --> 00:49:11,122
♪
853
00:49:11,252 --> 00:49:21,959
♪
854
00:49:25,527 --> 00:49:27,965
[roars]