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"Depressing, Degrading!": The Reception of European Horror Film in Britain 1957-68

This chapter examines in detail a range of press reactions to a plethora of British and European horror films which were released during the period under consideration. The debate about the extent to which horror film should deal with visceral horror images on screen and the potential effect on audiences is discussed in relation to the often patronizing BBFC censorship apparatus. Primary research also reveals the extent to which some directors began to be identified as ‘auteurs’ within their limited field. Unlike most British films, some mainland European films were also seen as potentially part of a more avant-garde art cinema.

This is the first time that a broad overview of this key period in film history has been undertaken. Primary research in un-indexed popular magazines such as Picturegoer and the letter columns of more serious journals such as Films and Filming reveals more detailed information about both critical and audience reaction than has previously been available. Close analysis of popular magazine’s reviews and articles, combined with letter columns explains that the most famous and vitriolic reactions to Hammer films in particular (labelled by one critic as SO – for sadists only) were only a part of the story, and arguably a patriarchal response to a popular working class form of entertainment. The analysis of a wide range of reactions to horror films between 1950 and 1970 underlines that there was a much more complex response to these films than the ‘moral panic’ that is normally assumed to have taken place. The article also explains how quickly the mood of critics changed, initially in relation to some key French and Italian directors, and subsequently when considering British horror film directors in relation to auteur theory.