Great TV - Masters of Horror (part one)

Great TV shows: Masters of Horror (Series 1, Vol.1)

Masters of Horror was an anthology style TV show that started airing in the US in 2005. Created by Mick Garris, of multiple Stephen King adaptations fame, the show invited famous horror directors to direct unrelated hour-long TV movies in the vein of classic shows like Tales From The Crypt or Night Gallery. Unlike the EC Comics style of ...Crypt though, there's no morality, and rarely a twist, these are just pretty cool little horror movies.

I heard of Masters of Horror after catching John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns whilst flicking channels one night, I think it was on Bravo, that manliest of stations. After learning more about it, I was pretty gutted to find that you could only get Cigarette Burns and Dreams In The Witch House on a double pack for about £20. All the others were single film edition DVD's from the US.

Imagine my surprise when I walked into my local secondhand shop about 4 months later and found the first three volumes of the collected films for £10 each! £30 later, you've got one happy Mav. Over the next couple of weeks I devoured these, watching one or two a night, always starting at 10pm. Don't ask me why, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I got the fourth volume from Amazon for about £15, and completed my collection.

The DVD's are brilliantly put together, with top notch picture quality, full DTS 5.1 or stereo options, and most discs contain a 30 minute or so 'Making of' documentary, as well as written or filmed profiles of the directors. It's one film to a disc, so there's no cramming and compressing involved. Good stuff.

Anyway, on to the point of this blog, I thought I'd give you all a little break down of what episodes are in each volume, let you know my thoughts on the film itself and my feelings on that particular "Master of Horror".

Please note that the films in the box sets aren't necessarily in the order in which they aired originally.

So, I present Masters of Horror: Series One, the first seven films....

Film 1: Cigarette Burns by John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing)

What a bonkers film. John Carpenter's tale of suicide, insanity, snuff films, murder, obsession, this one's got it all. Featuring genre legend Udo Kier (the notorious Blood for Dracula, Shadow of the Vampire, Suspiria) in a supporting role as an obsessed film collector trying to track down a film, 'La Fin Absolut du Monde', which was reported to have caused a riot/killing spree at it's one and only showing. As we follow the main protagonist, a cinema owner in heavy debt, trying to track down the film, we encounter everyone left alive who has seen it, and surprise! They've all gone mad and/or homicidal. It's a pretty good introduction to the show, and doesn't feel like a TV show at all, the film is so rich, it's literally dripping with mood.
Whilst not the best episode, it's definitely up there.
My rating? 4/5

Film 2: Dreams In The Witch House by Stuart Gordon (Re-animator, Dagon)

If you thought it would be quite tame as it's on TV, watch this one and think again. Trust Stuart Gordon to ramp up that gore. Not exactly known for his suspense work, he takes a story by the original Master of Horror, H.P. Lovecraft, and applies it to a modern setting. This ones got some really out-there stuff going on, with anthropomorphic rats, a creepy-ass witch, baby sacrifices and a literally mental ending. Nice little nod to the Miskatonic University as well. My rating? 5/5

Film 3: Incident On and Off a Mountain Road by Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Bubba HoTep)

Don Coscarelli, who will always be a legend to me purely for Phantasm, heads up this take on the stalker/slasher movie, and even drops in an deformed killer for us 80's fans. A woman has a car crash, gets chased through the woods (lucky she's had survivalist training from her husband!), ends up at the creepy cabin, so far, ticking all them genre boxes. Add in a crazy man (played by none other than Phantasm's Tall Man, Angus Scrimm) and some very nifty gore shots, and you've got an average slasher movie with some fanboy winks. Whilst kudos is due for a decent (and unexpected) ending, it's still by the numbers.
My rating? 3/5






Film 4: Chocolate by Mick Garris (every Stephen King TV movie known to man)

Mick Garris knows how to work for television, that's for sure. This episode looks just lovely. Like a summers day. Starring EELLLLIIIIOOOOOTTTT himself, Henry Thomas, this story revolves around a man with an exceptional palate who begins to feel and experience life through a mystery woman's eyes whenever he tastes chocolate. With me so far? She also happens to be a bit messed up in the head and kills folk. Whilst it sounds really odd, it actually works quite well, and Garris' work on umpteen Stephen King adaptations has obviously given him an eye for characterisation and descriptive technique. Massively underwhelming on paper, for me, this was the standout film of this set, mainly because it's just so elegant. Look out for the cameo from 80's legend Max Headroom as well. My rating? 5/5

Film 5: Sick Girl by Lucky Mckee (May, The Woods)

Lucky McKee? A Master of Horror? Really? With only one decent film to his name (the excellent May) I was a bit wary going in to this one. I shouldn't have been, it's awesome. Quirky characters, tongue in cheek body horror (it's no Cronenberg), lesbians (always a winner in horror), some really quite impressive effects by masters KNB studios and a really, really tight script, McKee goes toe to toe with his peers. An insect obsessed entomologist receives a package from Brazil containing a new species of parasitic insect. Turns out it likes to infect things and alter their DNA. As you can tell, hilarity ensues. A top notch little film, and a nice look at the self-aware side of horror. My rating? 4/5

Film 6: Deer Woman by John Landis (American Werewolf in London, Coming to America)

A pretty odd tale of sex and North American mythology, Deer Woman is an ultimately forgettable entrance to the series from movie legend John Landis. The tale of a tortured detective attempting to investigate a series of bizarre deaths is let down by some paper-thin supporting characters and a monster of the week X-Files style plot, which ranks up there with the weakest ones from that show. The film has it's good moments, one of which is the eponymous Deer Woman of the title, who is (a) stupid hot and (b) brings enough mysteriousness to the role to be interesting, but I couldn't help feel that this was by the numbers Tales From The Crypt style TV, and was not in the same league as the episodes viewed so far. One neat thing though, keep an ear out for a little nod to Landis' seminal An American Werewolf in London. It was pretty nifty. Apart from that though, not much going on. Must try harder Landis.
My rating? 2/5

Film 7: Homecoming by Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Howling)

Aah, Joe Dante. What a guy. A literal walking encyclopedia of cult film knowledge, through his early days in the Roger Corman film school to his later years now running the awesome Trailers From Hell website, this man loves a good tongue in cheek horror movie. And whilst this is one, he's also making a very serious political statement. To sum it up simply, dead soldiers are reanimating into flesh-eating ghouls, sorry, disgruntled voters. Yep, voters. Whilst this all sounds quite silly, Dante's actually making his feelings about the then Bush administration's war policies public. And he's pretty pissed. The politicians are shown to be cold, inhuman killing machines, whilst the zombies are calm, collected, reasonable and intelligent. After some Cheney style underhandedness, it all gets a bit rowdy and the zombies make their point again.Whilst I didn't really dig this at first, on a second viewing I appreciated all the little parallels with the Bush presidency and it's war on terror/playground bullying. Definitely a lot more going on in this than first meets the eye. Dante fans, keep an eye out for Robert Picardo, of Innerspace and The Howling fame as a more evil Dick Cheney.
                                                              My rating? 4/5.

So there you have it, my thoughts on the first Masters of Horror box set. Next week, I'll go through the remainder of Season One, which features such heavy hitters as Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper and the quite mental Takashi Miike. Unfortunately, it also contains the biggest turd of the series. But which one is it?

Dario Argento - A beginners guide

DARIO ARGENTO - A BEGINNERS GUIDE

There are many words that you could use to describe Dario Argento, gifted, visionary, macabre, pioneering, handsome (probably not that one to be fair), but I'm not sure a word even exists in our language that describes just how great the man can be. He even opened a shop in Rome that's dedicated to how awesome he is. Not even Tarantino has done that (yet).

Whilst there a lot of horror fans who happily worship at the altar of the "master of Giallo" (Italian for yellow, as this was the colour of the cheap paperbacks that inspired the early thrillers, thus becoming a trademark word for lurid Italian slasher thrillers), he is criminally neglected amongst the mainstream horror fans, and frankly, this is a disgrace. So, because of that, I felt that I'd write up a little beginners guide to the work of the Italian legend, and if that inspires even one of you who've never seen his films to check him out, then for my part, that's a victory right there.

Biography

The son of an Italian film producer and a Brazilian photographer, Argento was born in Rome in 1940. After finishing school, Argento started his career as a film critic for various newspapers before shifting his career to focus on screenwriting. A few dramas of little importance later, Argento got his big break in 1969, collaborating on the spaghetti Western epic Once Upon a Time In The West with Italian legend Bernardo Bertolucci. Spurred on by spending time with Bertolucci and ...West director Sergio Leone, Argento started work on his first feature, the crackingly titled The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.

The film was a hit in Italy, and Argento decided to stick with Giallo thrillers, as this was where he felt his true talents lay. His next two films Cat o'Nine Tails and Four Flies on Grey Velvet further showed his emerging mastery of the use of light and colour to stimulate mood and fear amongst the viewer. After a brief mis-step away from his comfort zone (Five Days in Milan), Argento went on a critical killing spree with Profondo Rosso, Suspiria, Inferno, Tenebrae, Phenomena and Opera.

Since then, with the exception of his fine work for the Masters of Horror anthology show, Argento's films have struggled to find an audience outside of his dedicated fan base, and if we're being honest, even a lot of them think he's lost his way. With the recent Amer raising the profile of Giallo again, and with Argento currently working on a US remake of Suspiria and his own Italian Dracula 3D (yes, really), 2011 could be the year that Argento gets back his mojo.

Now you know a little about the man, let's get to business, and this little guide should hopefully point you in the right direction when checking out the King of Italian horror.

The Essential Films

Profondo Rosso/Deep Red (1975)

Synopsis from IMDb: A musician witnesses the murder of a famous psychic, and then teams up with a feisty reporter to find the killer while evading attempts on their lives by the unseen killer bent on keeping a dark secret buried.

Argento's greatest film, arguably the greatest Giallo film ever made, the influence of Profondo Rosso on the horror genre can not be denied. From it's synth heavy Prog-Rock score by regular collaborators Goblin inspiring John Carpenter's iconic work on Halloween, to its groundbreaking use of visual trickery, double shocks and sheer brutality, the film deposited it's seed into a cult film sperm bank and fathered a hundred little slasher films in the same vein.
Drenched in what would become Argento's trademark shots and dialogue, the film makes you feel the same things as David Hemmings' frustrated jazz musician, it evokes fear and isolation more than any Giallo to date. Taking the slasher into the arthouse, the film is a stone cold masterpiece, and easily gets a 10 out of 10 for me.

Suspiria (1977)

Synopsis from IMDb: A newcomer to a fancy ballet academy gradually comes to realize that the staff of the school are actually a coven of witches bent on chaos and destruction.

Wow, that synopsis makes it sound like a Roald Dahl book. It really isn't. Easily Argento's most beautiful film (being processed in glorious Technicolor helped), Suspiria was the first feature of the directors 'supernatural' period and also the first part of his "Three Mothers" trilogy (followed by Inferno and Mother of Tears). Kicking off with a brutal (and frankly breathtaking) double murder, what follows is a masterclass in the use of music and lighting. Using colour to signify mood and tone (beating Zhang Yimou by 15 years) as well as a hypnotic score by the perennially great Goblin, the film draws you into it's dream-like story, snapping you out every now and then with a shock dose of vicious cruelty. The film is quite rightly lauded as a cult masterpiece, and with not one, but TWO remakes on the horizon (one US with Natalie Portman, one as anime) the film is once again back in the public eye.

Worth A Watch

Phenomena (aka Creepers) (1985)

Synopsis from IMDb: A young girl, with an amazing ability to communicate with insects, is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders.

Yes, it's as weird as it sounds. Starring a young Jennifer Connolly, Halloween legend Donald Pleasance and Argento collaborator Daria Nicolodi, this was Argento's first film to be shot fully in English. It's an odd film, with Connolly controlling swarms of flies, Pleasance having a chimp as a friend? Butler? I'm not sure. There's even a grossly deformed kid in the tradition of the best haunted house movies. Wrapped up in this weirdness through are some incredible set-pieces, ambitious effects shots, and once again, top notch music from Goblin (although they're not alone, I'm pretty sure there's a Maiden track in there as well!). Well worth a watch, but watch the 110min Phenomena as opposed to the shorter US cut Creepers.


Tenebrae/Tenebre (aka Unsane) (1982)

Synopsis from IMDb: An American writer in Rome is stalked by a serial killer bent on harassing him while killing all people associated with his work on his latest book.

What. A. Film. I was torn between this and Suspiria for the Essential place, but Suspiria just made it. Easily Argento's most thematic film, full of underlying subtext, eroticism, the stigma of sexual humiliation, the film follows American writer John Saxon (of Enter the Dragon and ...Elm Street fame) on his Italian ordeal at the ends of an obsessed 'fan'. Literally drenched in gore shots, the film has had a tumultuous release history, even ending up on the DPP's Video Nasty list. Not getting a proper re-release until 1999, unless you count  the AWFUL Unsane, which had all of the killing cut out, it's only in the last 10 years that people have finally got to see what all the fuss was about. Look out for the stunning single take shot leading up to one of the murders, it's simply breathtaking.

Opera (aka Terror at the Opera) (1987)

Synopsis from IMDb: A young operetta is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.

And deranged he is! Arguably the last great Argento film, Opera is as ambitious and bombastic as the name would suggest. As is a given for Argento now, the soundtrack is top notch (no Goblin, instead Goblin frontman Claudio Simonetti teams up with Brian Eno) and there is a fantastic A Clockwork Orange inspired set-piece. Young opera singer Betty is tied up and has needles put under her eylids to force them to stay open and watch the killer slice up her friends. Seriously, how badass is that? This film also marks the last cinema appearance of Ian Charleson (of Chariots of Fire and Ghandi fame) before his death of AIDS-related illnesses in 1980. It's not Argento's best work, but it's well worth watching just for that needle scene alone.


Avoid!

Il Cartaio/The Card Player (2005)

Synopsis from IMDb: A Rome policewoman teams up with a British Interpol agent to find a crafty serial killer whom plays a taunting game of cat-and-mouse with the police by abducting and killing young women and showing it over an Internet webcam.

During games of Poker. They forgot that bit. Following 2001's Sleepless, Argento's next film was originally conceived as a sequel to his 90's film The Stendhal Syndrome and was to star his daughter Asia (reprising her role from Stendhal) and French auteur Mathieu Kassovitz, both dropped out to work on other projects (presumably after reading the script) and the film was recast. With some frankly awful re-dubbing, cheesy computerised Poker games and massively overplayed and cliched set-pieces, the film pretty much rips up Argento's reputation and uses it for kitty litter. If you've only seen this film, forget it exists and watch one of the others I've recommended. If you've never seen it, congratulate yourself for being awesome at picking films.

Hopefully that's got you interested in checking out some Argento. If you do though, do yourself a favour and do a little research before you buy any DVD's. There's some really bad ones out there, and there are some really bad ones. Copied from VHS, damaged prints, cut to hell, sketchy sound, you name it. Best thing to do is keep your eyes out for any releases from Arrow Films or US company Blue Underground.

Now go and watch Deep Red!

Argento's filmography (incl. notable writing jobs)
1968: Once Upon a Time In The West (Writer only)
1970: The Bird With The Crystal Plumage/L'Ucello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo
1971: The Cat o'Nine Tails/Il Gatto a Nove Code
1971: Four Flies on Grey Velvet/4 Mosche Di Velluto Grigio
1973: Five Days In Milan/Le Cinque Giornate (non-horror)
1975: Deep Red/Profondo Rosso
1977: Suspiria
1980: Inferno
1982: Tenebrae (aka Unsane)
1985: Phenomena (aka Creepers)
1985: Demons/Demoni (writer only)
1986: Demons 2/Demoni 2 (writer only)
1987: Opera (aka Terror at the Opera)
1989: The Church/La Chiesa (aka Demons 3) (writer only)
1990: Two Evil Eyes/Due Occhi Diabolici (with George A.Romero)
1991: The Sect/La Setta (aka Demons 4) (writer only)
1993: Trauma
1996: The Stendhal Syndrome/La Sindrom de Stendhal
1998: The Phantom of the Opera/Il Fantasma Del'Opera
2001: Sleepless
2004: The Card Player/Il Cartaio
2005: Do You Like Hitchcock?/Ti Piace Hitchcock?
2005: Jenifer (from Masters of Horror)
2006: Pelts (from Masters of Horror)
2007: The Mother of Tears
2009: Giallo

Night of the Living Dead

"They're coming to get you Barbra; they're coming for you..."

Night of the Living Dead - George A. Romero (1968)

Well, what can I say about Night of the Living Dead that's not been said before? Not much really, so I'll just re-hash old knowledge, things that everybody knows and my own biased opinion.


I have a love affair with Romero's original Dead trilogy that's been hot and heavy for 15 years now. I've worn out copies taped off the telly (good old Channel 4!), had numerous real VHS copies, a few DVD's (some good, some poor) and finally, I'm enjoying them in high definition. It's as close as I'll ever get to seeing them on a real film print, and to be honest, it's hard not to feel genuine joy when scenes you're intimately familiar with are presented as if brand new, like you're truly seeing it for the first time.


This post is about the one that started it all, ladies and gentleman, Night of the Living Dead...


THE FILM


If there's anybody alive (or undead, ho ho ho) that's not actually seen the film, I shall briefly synopsise it now:


Ben, Barbra, The Coopers and a teen couple hole up in an abandoned farmhouse to try and survive an outbreak of "flesh-eating ghouls", the re-animated corpses of the recently deceased. Paranoia, violence, fear and selfishness consume the group and start to take its toll on their chance of survival.


That's all you’re getting. Go watch it if you want more.


Back in the late 60's, George A. Romero was building up a steady portfolio of commercials and industrial films alongside John Russo and Russell Streiner, under the name "The Latent Image", as well as working as a second unit director on Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood, a US children’s show. Having recently become enamoured with Richard Matheson's seminal I Am Legend and growing tired of having their creativity dampened by old-school marketing men, the trio decided to make a horror film, as this would also capitalise on modern society's emerging "thirst for the bizarre". To get funding, the trio contacted Hardman Associates, an industrial film firm that The Latent Image had worked with before, to pitch their idea. Hardman were keen on the idea, so a production company, Image Ten, were formed, made up of Romero, Russo, Streiner, Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman from Hardman Associates and five other investors. It was decided that $6000 should be enough for the film, so they all chipped in $600 for a 10% stake of future revenues.

Filming started in late '67. Evans City in Pennsylvania was picked for both its closeness to the principal filmmakers (all residing in Pittsburgh, 25 miles south) and its absolute remoteness, which Romero felt would add to the sense of isolation on screen. No sets were built, they instead utilised local spots as best they could. The indoor upstairs scenes at the farmhouse were shot in a downtown house belonging to a friend, the downstairs and basement scenes were shot in a derelict farmhouse due for demolition (allowing the filmmakers to do what they wanted to it) and the opening sequence was shot in the Evans City cemetery. It was becoming more and more apparent that the small budget simply wasn't stretching enough, so 10 more investors were brought in to raise another $6000, but again, this was soon depleted. Eventually, Image Ten ended up raising $114,000 to complete the film.

Because of this modest budget, casting had to be done quickly and cheaply, utilising investors, local stage actors and friends. The principle cast was made up of Duane Jones, an unknown local stage actor, who according to Romero, "just happened to be an African American. There was no subtext... he just gave the best audition." Jones played Ben, the lead male and what is closest to the films "hero" role. This casting was potentially controversial, because it was extremely rare for an African American to play the heroic lead in predominately white cast, even as late as '68.

For the role of Barbra, Karl Hardman remembered an actress who had worked for him in Pittsburgh who had recently left for Hollywood. Judith O'Dea was 23 years old at the time, and her harrowed look of shock and disbelief on a seemingly innocent girl, was one which the filmmakers thought could sell the horror and give the crowds a figurehead to identify with.

The rest of the cast were made up of investors and first-time actors. Hardman and Eastman played the married couple of Harry and Helen Cooper, whilst Hardman's daughter Kyra Schon played their daughter, Karen. Russell Streiner played Barbra's brother Johnny, in the process cementing him as a bonafide horror icon, thanks to the immortal line "They're coming to get you Barbra...". Keith Wayne and Judith Ridley, local amateur actors, finished the main cast off as teenage couple Tom and Judy. Romero had no shortage of extras wanting to play the undead, and as Romero recalls, "We had a film company doing commercials and industrial films so there were a lot of people from the advertising game who all wanted to come out and be zombies, and a lot of them did, also, some people from around Evans City who just thought it was a goof came out to get caked in makeup and lumber around for a couple of days".

As we know now, getting the special effects correct is key if you want commercial acceptance, and the money this brings. Image Ten however were doing things on a budget, and approached their ghouls in a few different ways. Due to the budget, Romero was already shooting on low-grade 35mm black and white film, but this allowed them to take some shortcuts. Under the supervision of Eastman, and inspired by Hitchcock's iconic shower scene, chocolate syrup was used for blood, the rich colour and viscosity allowing it to ooze on the screen. Charity shops and cast-members old wardrobes were raided for costumes, and one of the zombie extras, who conveniently owned a string of butcher shops, provided roasted ham and discarded entrails for the scenes of attack and feeding. Not wishing to waste their initial $12,000, make-up at the start of the shoot consisted of white faces and blacked out "panda-eyes". As more money came in, Eastman purchased a supply of mortician’s wax, which was used to create the look of injury and decay.

Filming wrapped in December 1967, and the film went through a number of titles like Monster Flick and Night of Anubis, before the awesome sounding NIGHT OF THE FLESH-EATERS was agreed on. Unfortunately, a low-rent B-movie was already being distributed around the drive-in's under this name, so it became Night of the Living Dead. Unfortunately for Image Ten, the last minute name changed resulted in an error in the copyright paperwork, a very costly error which has plagued the group to this day. From the day of release, NOTLD has been in the public domain, meaning anybody can make a DVD, VHS or Bluray print, and keep 100% of the profits for themselves. This mistake has cost the Image Ten investors literally MILLIONS of dollars, which is a crying shame.

Truth be told, reaction to the film was initially lukewarm. Released in October '68, the film was initially released without a certificate, as the MPAA ratings system wasn't set until November. Because of this, the film was blasted by early reviewers for exposing young children to such visceral horror. As was custom at the time, the film was screened on a Saturday afternoon as a matinee, meaning the screens were flooded with early teens and their siblings, thirsting for the cheap thrills of Dr. Terror's House of Horror and it's B-Movie buddies. Instead, they were experiencing fear and discomfort. Variety and The New York Times were scathing in their views, calling it "junk", "an unrelieved orgy of sadism" and questioning the film-makers very moral integrity. Not all reviews were quite so reactionary though. The film had fans amongst the elite of film critics at the time, with Pauline Kael, Rex Reed and Roger Ebert championing the film to anyone who would listen. In the modern age, the film is quite rightly lauded as an genre-defining classic. Respected and cult commentators such as Empire magazine, the AFI, Rotten Tomatoes, Leonard Maltin, Ain't It Cool News, Fangoria and Total Film all regard the film as a masterpiece, and the film was placed in the Library of Congress in 1999 as a work of historical and cultural importance.

There's been a lot of discussion of the central themes of the film over the years, and allegories have been made with the Civil Rights movement, racism, the war in Vietnam, the rise of Capitalism, the destruction of old values, Nihilism (I wonder if Karl Hungus is a fan?), the nuclear family and many others. Romero has always denied that film is a tale against racism, stating that the colour of Duane Jones was inconsequential in hs casting decision. In fact, the part was written markedly different, more in line with a simple trucker, but was rewritten on the fly alongside Jones, who wished to be portrayed in a more resourceful and intellectual light. It can't be denied however that there is a very bleak mood throughout the film. America at the end of the 60's was a dark place, with students and veterans disillusioned with the war in Vietnam, the ever-present fear of The Red Menace, the stink of corruption in politics and inner-city tensions. This mood passed over onto the film-makers through their daily lives, beliefs and conversations, and subsequently, the film became entrenched in these feelings, allowing the viewer to associate their own anxieties with those of the survivors, and see their own demons in the faces of the flesh-eating ghouls.

I started this piece planning to write a review, but as I've been typing away, the urge to critique the film has gone, and in its place are just these words: GO AND WATCH IT. Even if you've seen it 50 times, watch it again. It's that good. Whilst it's not the greatest horror film ever made, it's arguably the most important.

Especially to me.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

George A. Romero: Whilst mainly known for his work on his ...Dead series, containing Night, Dawn, Day, Land, Diary and Survival, Romero has had a long and varied career, unfortunately peppered with as many hits as misses. For every Dawn of the Dead, Martin or Creepshow there is a Dark Half or Diary of the Dead. Ignoring the fact that he's kind of destroying his own legacy, he's still one of the most important film-makers in the world of horror.

John A. Russo: After getting stabbed in the head in NOTLD, Russo went on to work on some truly awful films like Santa Claws and Naked Christmas. Russo recently oversaw a re-edit/interpretation of Night, and has been writing comic books set in the same universe.

Russ Streiner: Forever remembered as Johnny, Streiner turned his production job on Night into a career. Unfortunately, that career is based around producing spin-offs and signing autographs at conventions.

Duane Jones: After Night, Jones became the Executive Director of the Black Theater Alliance, and taught acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After being very selective with the roles he took, being careful not to become the jobbing actor he taught his students not to be, Jones passed away in 1988 after a heart attack.

Judith O'Dea: After only making one sketchy TV-film in 35 years, O'Dea came out of semi-retirement to appear in various genre films such as Claustraphobia and the future Poundland chart-topper, Timo Rose's Beast.