A FRANKENSTEINIA EXCLUSIVE Being Scared: Jason Zinoman on his book Shock Value

Carrie White’s hand explodes out of the grave, an appropriately iconic image for the cover of Shock Value, a new book chronicling how a handful of young filmmakers revolutionized the horror film genre in the Seventies.

Investigating a generational shift in the understanding of what scares us, author Jason Zinoman tracks the lives and early careers of, among others, George Romero, John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, Brian De Palma, Dan O’Bannon and Wes Craven, and examines the genesis and impact of such films as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, The Exorcist and Night of the Living Dead.

Frankenstein films are hardly mentioned in the book, if only to note the failing fortunes of Hammer Films, whose polite gothic chills were being superseded by a new breed of brutal, modern horror films.

I asked author Jason Zinoman if he might reflect on his inspiration and motive for writing Shock Value and the work involved. I asked him what he had learned from his research and if he would revisit or expand on the horror genre in the future. His answers are fascinating.

I am delighted to have Jason Zinoman as a Guest Blogger…

When I asked George Romero what part of making his debut hit Night of the Living Dead was he most proud of, he responded instantly: Finishing. Considering the impact the movie had on the world, that answer seemed strange when I first heard it, but no longer. Doing anything for the first time is hard, and while I had tried writing books several times over the past decade, I always hit a dead end. I recall being particularly disappointed after abandoning a biography of Shel Silverstein, which I think would make for a wonderful book. I am convinced that Shock Value was the first book I completed because of the reason I wrote it in the first place. It was a book that I desperately wanted to read.

To be more specific, I wanted to read a book about the great scary movies of this fertile period rooted first and foremost in reporting. I am a critic who has a strong perspective on these films, but in talking to those who made them, I tried to keep an open mind and follow my curiosity. So I did not set out to redress the fact that Dan O’Bannon’s contributions have been overlooked or to explain that the influence of Hitchcock is more complicated than has been presented or argue that Brian De Palma’s movies are more personal than critics have given him credit for. That’s just where my reporting led me. As I talked to more and more actors, writers, directors, producers, publicity people, etc, certain narratives started to emerge and I developed stronger opinions about what made these movies great or scary. But they began with on the ground interviews plus a deep immersion in the journalism about horror movies from the 60s and 70s. I read as many books and articles about the genre as I could, but the material that I really focused on first was what was written at the time. My goal was to tell a story that recreated the business, cultural and intellectual climate that gave rise to Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween.

The biggest challenge and frustration is that some of the key players had died (William Castle) and others were very difficult to get a hold of. Getting in the same room with a few of the main characters was very tough. And then figuring out a way to get them to recall events from long ago that had in some cases hardened into lore could be even harder. There were many road-blocks. Some of the directors I needed to interview three or four times and others I really worked hard to talk to those who knew them when they were young: Family members, girlfriends, classmates, etc.

I probably ended up interviewing half of the USC Film School class that included John Carpenter and Dan O’Bannon to get a sense of what they were like. What kept me going throughout the process of working on the book, which took four years of off and on again work, was that I was never at one moment bored of the subject or anything less than excited to work on it. Horror is endlessly fascinating to me, but also personal, since some of my most vivid and pleasing memories are of being scared. This is a book that aims to tell other people’s stories, but it’s rooted in an interest in my own, which is to say: Why do I like these movies so much? What scares are the most potent? And why?

What I learned is that the truth can often be elusive, but you can get closer to it the more perspectives that you have. And while these artists were working in very different circumstances, they shared many of the same pool of ideas and influences. Generally speaking, I think these movies are far more personal than many critics think they are, and while the auteur theory is a helpful prism to analyze horror, it has limitations. In many cases, I found the tensions between two artists or traditions more revealing the intentions of just one. Over the course of writing this book, many of its sources passed away (Forrest Ackerman, Dan O’Bannon, William Fraker), so I was glad to have worked on the book when I did. That said, it’s not the final word on this period of horror at all. The subject is far too complex and rich for that. And I am not done with horror. I love getting scared as much as I ever did and horror is growing larger every day. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Brooklyn-based, Jason Zinoman is a theatre critic for The New York Times and he has written on various topics for Vanity Fair and The Guardian. Recently, Mr. Zinoman wrote an insightful and highly recommended series called How To Fix Horror for the web magazine Slate.

Shock Value: How a few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood and Invented Modern Horror, published by The Penguin Press, is in bookstores now, and available from Amazon through The Frankenstore.

With Thanks to Trish Collins of TLC Book Tours.

Fantasia Fest Premiere: Monster Brawl

In an abandoned and cursed cemetery, eight legendary monsters go skull to skull in the squared circle. Who will be left standing as the most powerful monster of all time?

Here’s a trailer, narrated by a gravel-gargling Lance Henricksen, for Monster Brawl, the Canadian-made horror-comedy that gets its world premiere today, July 23, at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival.

That’s New Brunswick-born Robert Maillet as “Frankenstein”. A WWF star turned actor, he was the giant Uber Immortal in 300 (2006) and Dredger, the juggernaut who smashes Robert Downey around in Sherlock Holmes (2009). As our favorite monster, he’ll be using his special Monster Chokehold and Ogre Rampage moves against the brain-eating Zombie Man. It’s a rastling match where one combatant will go from Undead to just plain Dead.

The Official Website for Monster Brawl is well done, with lots of info and a nice photo gallery. Early Concept Art shows The Monster in classic flattop and bolts mode.

Report from Fantasia

Proud to say I’ve got a guest post up at the Love Train for the Tenebrous Empire, covering the Fantasia Film Festival in Montréal and my review of Jean Rollin, The Stray Dreamer.

More from Fantasia coming up here and elsewhere. I’ll keep you posted.

Frankensteined Girl

Killed in a lab accident, a girl is frankensteined back to life by Victor, her mad scientist boyfriend. Problems ensue.

Here’s a lovely stop-motion short, a fresh take on an oft-told story, directed by David Cowles, Jeremy Galante and Brad Pattullo. It’s set to (Baby) It’s You, written by Danny Shonerd and Allen Havicek, performed by The Boys.

Enjoy!

Baby, It’s a Blog, the official blog and production diary of the film.

Found on Danny Shonerd’s Tumblr.

The Art of Frankenstein : Noah Klocek

Pursued by agitated villagers, Frankenstein’s Monster is stopped in his tracks by a little girl. She just wants to play with the friendly-looking giant.

Over the last decade, New Jersey-born artist Noah Klocek has devoted his considerable talent to animation, working at ILM, PDI/Dreamworks and, currently, as an Art Director for Pixar. Recent credits include production art for Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008) and Up (2009).

The Frankenstein illustration reflects Klocek’s personal illustration work, with meticulous character design and atmospheric backgrounds rendered with an impressionist’s eye for light and open space drenched in color. Klocek’s blog is a wonder to behold.

Noah Klocek’s website, blog, and an interview with the artist.

Fantasia Festival 2011

The world class and world-beating Fantasia International Film Festival opens its fifteenth anniversary edition in Montréal today, July 14, and runs an incredible three weeks through August 7.

You can begin to appreciate the scope of this event by scanning the jaw-dropping schedule of features and shorts on view, all wrapped up in panels, live events and parties. Some of the highly anticipated films this year include Finland’s Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale — you’ll never think of Santa Claus the same way ever again — and Norway’s The Troll Hunter ­—you’ll never think of trolls the same way ever again, either. Director John Landis will present Burke and Hare, whose cast includes Christopher Lee, Jenny Agutter, and Ray Harryhausen! Robin Hardy will also be on hand to present The Wicker Tree, also featuring Sir Christopher, evoking — 38 years later — the spirit of the classic The Wicker Man.

Among the major events of Fantasia 2011 will be the world premiere of The Theatre Bizarre, a Grand Guignol anthology, in the presence of its seven directors (including Tom Savini) and cult star Udo Kier, and the feverishly anticipated official closing film, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, produced by Guillermo del Toro. This last one, in fact, is already sold out!

The Festival’s penultimate event is a showing of The Phantom of the Opera, with Lon Chaney, quote the Festival program: “Special gala event featuring a pristine 35mm print screened with a live original score composed by Gabriel Thibaudeau and performed by a 30-piece orchestra at the prestigious Théâtre Maisonneuve concert hall at Place des Arts!”

Frankenstein will pop up a few times through the festival. I’ll be reporting later this month on the Canadian-made Monster Brawl, a wrestling horror-comedy where our Monster goes up against a who’s who of horror creatures. Then there's a panel on “Hammer Film Mythology” followed by Terence Fisher’s Frankenstein Created Woman (1967).

An extended tribute honoring Canadian producers John Dunning and André Link will include a rare big-screen showing of Frankenstein 2000/The Vindicator (1986). Other Dunning & Link films shown include cult classics Shivers (1975), Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS (1975) and Les lèvres rouges/Daughters of Darkness (1971).

Too much to see — three weeks is too short a time! — but I’ll definitely get in line to catch the new documentary about director Jean Rollin, Le rêveur égaré (The Lost Dreamer). The screening includes a three-minute promo reel of Throat Sprockets, directed by the formidable Tim Lucas!

Time and sanity permitting, I’ll be reporting back on Fantasia 2011 in the days to come.

Wish you were here!

The Fantasia International Film Festival website carries the full schedule, film info and trailers.

Dick Briefer's Lost Frankenstein

A rare, unpublished page of Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein comics shows the Merry Monster making a blood bank delivery, unaware of a vampire stowaway. Note the pencils still showing and the squiggles in the margins where the artist brought a freshly ink-dipped brush to a fine point. Click the art to see it large.

Another page from this story appears in Craig Yoe’s book, Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein, showing “Duke Tracer”, Briefer’s take on Chester Gould’s the oft-lampooned straight arrow detective Dick Tracy.

According to Yoe, this story was one of three orphaned episodes, finished but never to appear, after the publisher pulled the plug on the Frankenstein comic book in 1949. When the title rebooted in 1952, it was as a horror comic, bringing Briefer’s Frankenstein series full circle.

Briefer had first introduced his version of Frankenstein as a horror strip in Prize Comics number 7, in 1940, creating the first ongoing horror series in comic book history. Briefer’s gruesome, angular Monster rained panic and mayhem on New York, fighting superheroes, and terrorizing Nazis during WW2. After the war, Briefer surprised his readers with a bold switcharoo, turning the nasty, snarling, split-faced monster into a lovable lunk with his nose up on his forehead.

The sublimely silly, surrealistic, so-called “Merry Monster” version ran concurrently in Prize Comics — until the title folded in February 1948 — and its own comic book, Frankenstein, through 17 issues, from 1945 to February 1949. There followed a three-year hiatus until Frankenstein started back up as a horror series, again, with No.18 in March 1952. It ran 16 issues until its final demise, with No.33 in October 1954, the year Frederic Wertham published Seduction of the Innocents, setting the stage for the notorious Congressional inquiry that would sweep horror comics from the nation’s newsstands.

In the mid-50’s, Briefer drew up some samples for a funny Frankenstein daily strip that prefigured The Munsters, but when syndicates passed on the project, Briefer quit comics and went into commercial illustration.

Dick Briefer always preferred the strip’s funny version, and he was obviously enjoying himself creating wildly inventive and genuinely funny storylines, drawn in a loose and elegant brush style evident in the examples shown here. This is Briefer at his peak, at once exuberant and confident.

Thanks go out to comics writer John Arcudi for generously sharing this wonderful original art with Frankensteinia readers, and Craig Yoe, author of Dick Briefer's Frankenstein, for expert information.

Related:
Previous posts about Dick Briefer.

A Premiere in Perth

He sought to be a god… using modern science he made a frightful monster from dead bodies… he sewed in an abnormal brain and sleeked down the hair over the purple furrow… When it stirred with life, he became a screaming madman and let it escape, snarling, gibbering and roaring with murderous frenzy upon a peaceful countryside… until the monster that had never felt a woman’s kiss turned upon him.

Frankenstein’s arrival in Western Australia was trumpeted with this striking, verbose and highly original newspaper ad in the April 10, 1932 edition of Perth’s Sunday Times. The mysterious Monster appears dead center as a menacing, knockout silhouette.

By the time Frankenstein made it Down Under, the film was already a blockbuster in America, it’s heady reputation preceding it. On March 1st, 1932, Perth’s West Australian met with Dan Casey, a local businessman newly appointed as Universal’s General Manager in Australia. The article stated that “the present types of film most in demand by the public were witty comedies and mystery thrillers of the eerie type.” Universal, according to Casey, “had always been keen on securing good attractions and well-known works likely to be even more valuable when adapted to the screen. The outstanding Universal film for the year would be “Frankenstein”, an eerie drama, written by the wife of the poet Shelley over a hundred years ago. It would be released about April in Perth. The cast includes Boris Karloff, who had been acclaimed as the successor of Lon Chaney, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke and John Boles.”

In a golden era when films still vied with vaudeville, long before the days of corporate advertising and strict “on message” campaigns that make all advertising exactly the same worldwide, local exhibitors were free to create their own ballyhoo. The studios provided an array of posters and promotional materials that could be creatively mixed and matched. Print ads, as seen here, would sometimes feature original art, locally commissioned.

The Ambassadors’ ad uses a couple of Universal’s well-worn tag lines, Dare You See It? and To have seen “Frankenstein” is to wear a badge of courage, otherwise there’s a large block of original copy of pulp prose selling the concept. Nice to know that Frankenstein carefully combed over the scars where the abnormal brain was “sewed in”! The blurb about The Monster’s lips “that had never felt a woman’s kiss” was another line from Universal’s original campaign.

On the same page as the ad, the paper ran a still of Karloff and Clive, with a caption referring to “The widely-discussed film...”, and a short review, shown here at left. The part about the makeup weighing in at 48 pounds was repeated whenever the film was mentioned in Australia.

For all the enthusiastic hype of its Perth release, Frankenstein’s Australian career would be cut short. On June 12, 1932, the Sunday Times published a short, terse notice…

Frankenstein had enjoyed a terrific showcase in the sumptuous Ambassadors Theatre. Built in 1928, it was modeled after the Riviera Theatre of Omaha, Nebraska, a delirious “atmospheric” designed by the legendary playhouse architect John Eberson. The massive, 1993-seat auditorium was ringed with Greek statues, pergolas and Mediterranean courtyards, painted trees on the back wall and a starlit night sky overhead. It boasted Australia’s largest Wurlitzer organ.

Alas, the wedding cake decorations of the silent era-built theatres fell out of favor and by 1938, a mere decade after it first opened, the Ambassadors was given a thourough streamlining, its statues retired and the Moorish façade reworked in a sleek Moderne style. The organ was shipped to Melbourne in 1946 where, after modifications, it would be featured in several recordings. By the Seventies, the theatres of yesteryear could no longer fill their cavernous auditoriums. A few “grand old ladies” were saved, refurbished and repurposed as concert halls, but the storied Ambassadors Theater of Perth was not so lucky. It was closed and quickly demolished in February 1972.

Related:
Frankenstein in Australia
Australian promotion for Bride of Frankenstein

The Posters of Frankenstein : El Fantasma de Frankenstein

An Argentinean poster for The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) trades stylish art for the American original’s photo cutouts.

The layout is improved, with The Monster’s red head — gaining a neck electrode that looks like a radio knob — fully dominating. Ygor is made bigger, and the crowded cast of supporting characters is simply done away with.

Ghost was Universal’s fourth Frankenstein film and the first without Boris Karloff in his signature role.

Lon Chaney Jr. stepped in as The Monster, with Bela Lugosi’s Ygor held over from the previous Son of Frankenstein (1939) providing series continuity.

Related:
The Monster: Lon Chaney, Jr.
When Frankenstein Met The Wolf Man
Frankenstein’s Notorious TV Adventure