How I Learned To Love Being Scared

In August 1975, BBC2 started showing late night horror movie double bills; these ran for a couple of months every year until 1981. Some of the fondest memories of my childhood are watching these with my Dad. He wasn’t a big horror fan, but seeing these films with him was how my fascination with the genre started.

That year, I was ten and Saturday not being a school night, I was allowed to stay up a little later than normal, much to my younger brother’s annoyance. The movies usually started somewhere between ten and eleven; the first was a '30s or '40s classic, while the second was of a more recent vintage and was considered too adult for my tender years. This probably had more to do with sex and nudity than violence and gore.

The only film I remember seeing from that first season was The Beast with Five Fingers (1946), and while I remember it having a very creepy atmosphere, it is most memorable for introducing me to Peter Lorre. His twitchy, nervous performance is easily the highlight and I’ve been a fan ever since.

I had to wait a whole year for my next installment of vintage thrills, and once again, only one film has really stuck in my memory. Like The Beast With Five Fingers the previous year, The Walking Dead (1936) introduced me to a horror icon; this time, Boris Karloff. He’s the walking dead of the title, an innocent man executed for murder who’s brought back to life by the usual mad scientist only to use his second lease on life to exact revenge on those who set him up. It’s a fairly standard '30s shocker but it makes the most of Karloff, allowing him to bring a little pathos to the part. The director, Michael Curtiz, would go on to much bigger things, including Casablanca.

Each year had an overall theme; the first two were "Fantastic Double Bill" and "Masters of Terror" respectively. In 1977, it was "Dracula, Frankenstein, and Friends" and it introduced me to the classic Universal monsters.

The first week brought Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931) and marked the first time I was allowed to watch both movies. This had less to do with my advancing years (I was 12, for those keeping score) and more to do with the films broadcast that week.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dracula, not least for the wonderfully theatrical performance of Bela Lugosi. Bela wasn’t as good an actor as Karloff — he was hampered by that accent, for a start — but made the most of his big break. He was already familiar with the role, having played the part in the theatre a few years before.

Article Author: Ian Woolstencroft

Ian Woolstencroft was brought up on a diet of John Wayne movies and Marvel Comics and still has a passion for both. Now as a blogcritic he finally understands what Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben meant when he said ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ …

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