UKRuss wrote:
It's one of those things I mean to do sometime, read up on the 'otherness' and allegorical nature of US sci fi, and also horror. The golden era horror from the States in the 60s and 70s, Romero stuff, Original chainsaw massacre, really reflective of the watergate, 'Nam era. I did start to read 'Planks of Reason' once...but like everything in life. I NEED 36 HOURS IN THE BLOODY DAY!
More power to you. Your proposition that the 60's & 70's were the golden era for horror & sci-fi in the states is interesting. For sheer volume of films, you may be right. Plus the subject matter was maturing. But we did have a wealth of sci-fi throughout the 1950's, much of which does illustrate your point about xenophobia, fear of communist takeover, etc. In fact, I would argue that it is in these films from the 50's that we witness these particular fears articulated more than in any other era.
In the 60's, & particularly the 70's, we began to see new horrors emerge: the fear of our own dissolution from within, brought about by our own children, our government, radical political movements, our bodies, & our very psyches. George Romero showed us a daughter killing & eating both her mother & father. The Exorcist scared us with a child misbehaving in a most remarkable way. Director David Cronenberg gave us his 'body horror' films with Shivers (aka They Came From Within), Rabid, & The Brood, then later one of his masterpieces: the remake of The Fly.
Psycho & a slew of other films in its wake, showed us that the boy or girl next door could murder us at the first opportunity. Add the rise of documented serial killers & mass murderers to the mix, & apparently no one is safe.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre & Deliverance articulated the urbanites fear of what later became known as the Backwoods Brutality films.
Interesting, many of these films are being remade in more recent times (1990's & 2000's). The USA is again mired in a war that is not supported by the majority of the people, scandals that make Watergate look fairly tame are rocking society, & people are seeing their futures becoming increasingly uncertain. In short, people are afraid.
UKRuss wrote:edit: The thing about the mass appeal of ID4 is that it strikes a chord in the psyche of the majority of the US public. A malignant enemy, seemingly unbeatable but one man, one american hero, can save the world. And at the end of the film the whole world cheers in appreciation of being freed!
It appeals to the masses, for a reason. It wasn't a big film in Iran I suspect...
ID4 was an embarrassment. A big budget Ed Wood Jr. film! ~My apologies to Ed Wood, I really enjoy his films!
