Introduction and Episode Context

• 2017 episode from "Stuff You Should Know" podcast
• Hosts: Josh Clark (middle name Malcolm) and Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant (middle name Wayne)
• Based on Grabster's list from HowStuffWorks.com with Josh and Chuck's modifications
• Not comprehensive list - acknowledge missing films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alien, Ringu, Ring, Saw
• Focus on films that changed horror genre through innovation, popularity, or cultural impact

Current State of Horror Cinema Discussion

• A24 studio producing quality horror films: The Witch, Black Coat's Daughter, It Comes at Night
• Torture porn era ending, found footage genre overplayed
• Creative renaissance with films like It Follows, Get Out
• Mention of friend Toby's upcoming film "A Ghost Story" (July release)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

• Widely considered first horror movie
• German expressionism artistic movement
• Plot: sideshow hypnotist uses sleepwalking patient to commit murders
• Revolutionary visual elements:
  • Constructed, non-realistic sets with sharp angles and curves
  • Pointy rooftops and grass blades
  • Masterful use of shadows
• First film to use camera/sets to mess with viewer's mind rather than capture realism
• Influenced by WWI horrors and Germany's post-war isolation
• Established template for using set design to create psychological horror

Blood Feast (1963)

• Directed by Hershel Gordon Lewis, produced by David F. Friedman
• Budget: $20-30,000, grossed $7-30 million
• Shot in 6 days in Miami from 14-page outline (no script)
• First "splatter" film showing graphic gore aftermath
• Plot: serial killer caterer
• Filmmakers saw movies as business, not art
• Chose gore because no one else making such films
• Showed brains, entrails, dismembered body parts on screen
• Inspired generation of special effects artists including Tom Savini
• Connected to Grand Guignol theater tradition from Paris (closed 1962)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

• Director: George Romero (age 26-27)
• Budget: $115,000, grossed $12 million domestic, ~$20 million worldwide
• Shot in black and white outside Pittsburgh
• Created modern zombie genre (flesh-eating ghouls)
• Cast Duane Jones as black lead actor based purely on talent
• Revolutionary narrative choice: killing hero senselessly at end
• Roger Ebert's 1969 review described traumatic effect on child audience
• Spawned zombie subgenre and sequels
• Selected by Library of Congress for National Film Registry

The Exorcist (1973)

• Based on William Peter Blatty's 1971 book
• Directed by William Friedkin
• First horror film nominated for Best Picture
• Sold 6 million tickets in 2 months
• Extreme audience reactions: woman carried from theater after 20 minutes ($4 ticket)
• Max von Sydow (age 44) aged with makeup to play elderly priest
• Almost cast Marlon Brando but rejected to avoid "Brando picture"
• Blatty's goal: scare America back to church
• Religious controversy: Billy Graham believed film was demon-possessed
• Themes: intergenerational conflict, good vs. evil
• Green projectile vomit: Anderson's pea soup with oatmeal

Jaws (1975)

• Director: Steven Spielberg (age 26)
• Budget: $4 million, final cost $12 million
• Schedule: 55 days planned, took 159 days
• Grossed $260 million domestically
• Revolutionary impact on film industry:
  • Created summer blockbuster concept
  • Wide release strategy (435 screens vs. traditional gradual rollout)
  • Heavy marketing spend
  • First film to hit $100 million (78 days)
• Mechanical shark "Bruce" (named after Spielberg's lawyer Bruce Ramer) rarely worked
• Changed entire film industry model for releases and marketing

Halloween (1978)

• Director: John Carpenter
• Originally titled "The Babysitter Murders"
• Jamie Lee Curtis's first film
• Shot in 20 days in South Pasadena
• Budget: ~$300,000, grossed $47 million domestic
• Established slasher genre template
• Michael Myers mask: painted white Captain Kirk Star Trek mask
• Revolutionary elements:
  • Faceless, emotionless killer
  • Killer walks (doesn't run) but still catches victims
  • Relentless stalking
• Carpenter composed iconic score in couple days
• Spawned slasher film boom

The Blair Witch Project (1998)

• Directors: Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick
• Budget: minimal, shot in 8 days
• Established found footage genre
• Viral marketing campaign presented as real
• 64-page script
• Revolutionary marketing: website presented story as real events
• Left scares to viewer's imagination due to budget constraints
• Influenced by earlier films: Mondo Cane (1962), Cannibal Holocaust
• Cultural impact: people believed footage was real

Scream (1996)

• Director: Wes Craven, writer: Kevin Williamson
• Originally titled "Scary Movie"
• Highest-grossing slasher film of all time
• Spawned "meta-horror" subgenre
• Characters reference horror movie tropes while living them
• Drew Barrymore chose to play opening victim instead of lead
• Mask was off-the-shelf product
• Weinstein Brothers initially offered to George Romero and Sam Raimi
• Influenced later meta-horror: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Zombieland, Cabin in the Woods

Psycho (1960)

• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Based on Ed Gein's story
• Revolutionary narrative: killing protagonist (Janet Leigh) halfway through
• Shower scene shocked audiences
• Subverted audience expectations about hero safety
• Changed horror from external monsters to internal human evil
• Bates house: Victorian mansion as homage to traditional horror
• Norman Bates: monster hiding in plain sight
• Impact: audiences afraid to shower for extended periods
• Influenced understanding that anyone could be dangerous