Dr David Huxley
Manchester Metropolitan University
For Sadists Only: Horror Film and Moral Panic in the British Media 1954-1965
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This paper will relate the American moral panic about horror comics, which was transferred to Britain in 1954, to the ensuing furore about Hammer horror films from 1956 onwards. The gradual change in 'popular' and 'serious' critical reviews between Curse of Frankenstein (1956) and Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1965), and the reasons for this shift, will be examined. Comparisons will be made to the contemporary release of European horror films in Britain, such as Mario Bava's Black Sunday (1960) and the differences between their distribution and critical reception when compared to the output of Hammer or Amicus. The paper will set the critical practice of the period in a wider context and examine the role of cultural and national stereotypes in creating preconceptions about the horror films released in Britain between 1954 and 1965.
