Welcome to episode 30 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

This week both films are directed by Robert Wise, a multiple Oscar-winning American director whose works have included The Body Snatcher, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Andromeda Strain, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, West Side Story, and The Sound of Music, as well as this week’s two movies.

So first up, for our Christmas movie we have The Curse of the Cat People from 1944, starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Elizabeth Russell, and Ann Carter. Another film in the series from RKO Studios and producer Val Lewton, this marked Wise’s feature directing debut, although he did in fact share the directing credits with Gunther von Fritsch.

Then we jump forward to 1963 and one of the most famous haunted house movies of all time, The Haunting. This was based on The Haunting of Hill House, written by Shirley Jackson, and stars Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, and Claire Bloom.

Along the way we’ll be discussing in detail the career of Robert Wise, the career and writing of Shirley Jackson, and much, much more.

Recommendations:

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The Summer People by Shirley Jackson

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) Directed by Robert Wise

The Return (TV Ghost Story) :

https://youtu.be/MkPCslMN-ps?si=SEZ6IQTN6v72Vxwo

Sources and References

Val Lewton: The Reality of Terror by Joel E. Siegel

Icons of Grief: Val Lewton’s Home Front Pictures by Alexander Nemerov.

Little Shop of Horrors, (issue 49) - The Roads to Hill House: The Making of Robert Wise’s The Haunting” by Anthony McKay.

https://www.the-haunting.com/index.html

Dance Macabre by Stephen King

The Masterpieces of Shirley Jackson with an introduction by Donna Tartt

Instagram: @thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

youtube: @thehorrordoublebill

artwork by Justin Parker (IG jpkr_illustration.com)

Welcome to episode 29 of The Horror Double Bill; the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts

This week we are continuing our Christmas season, where at least one film in our pairing will have a seasonal theme – or perhaps more appropriately, as this week we are all about anthology movies, at least one of the stories in one of our pairings will have a seasonal theme.

First up this week is Dead of Night from 1945, the first British horror movie released after World War II, and directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Chricton, Robert Hamer, and Basil Dearden. It stars Mervyn Johns, Sally Anne Howes, Googie Withers and Michael Redgrave.

Then we head to 1974 and From Beyond the Grave, the last anthology movie released by British studio Amicus. Directed by Kevin Connor, it stars Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Angela Pleasence David Warner, Ian Bannen, and Diana Dors.

Along the way will be discussing the history of Ealing Studios, the career of writer R Chetwynd Hayes, the Amicus anthology horror series, director Kevin Connor, and much more

References

English Gothic: classic horror cinema 1897 to 2015 by Jonathan Rigby

Hammer and Beyond - the British horror film by Peter Hutchings

Dead of Night written by Jess Connolly and David Owen Bates (published by Devil’s Advocates)

https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/roots%2C%20rituals%20and%20phantasmagoria/2024/09/02/dead-of-night/

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(15)00431-9/fulltext

Remembering Dead of Night, a documentary which can be found on the Criterion collection Blu-ray and 4K special edition releases

British Cult Cinema the Amicus Anthology by Bruce G Hallenbeck

Phantasmagoria Magazine R Chetwynd- Hayes special tribute edition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_of_Night

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Beyond_the_Grave

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicus_Productions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervyn_Johns

https://ealingstudios.com/about-ealing/history-3/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ealing_Studios

Instagram: @thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

youtube: @thehorrordoublebill

artwork by Justin Parker (IG jpkr_illustration.com)

Welcome to episode 28 of The Horror Double Bill the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts

This week we are beginning our Christmas season, and discussing two films that are based on the work of M.R James. First up we have Whistle And I’ll Come To You, directed by Jonathan Miller from 1968 and then Night of the Demon from 1957, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, and Niall McGinnis

Along the way we will be discussing the origins of the ghost stories for Christmas tradition, the works of MR James, and much much more

Sources

Radio play:

https://youtu.be/upE-BdMHHVw?si=kX7W3SpSt--TjFzk

https://www.gothichorrorstories.com/classic-gothic-ghost-stories/a-history-of-winter-tales-and-christmas-ghost-stories-to-make-the-blood-run-wintery-cold/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/plea-resurrect-christmas-tradition-telling-ghost-stories-180967553/

https://visitsleepyhollow.com/how-charles-dickens-stole-christmas/

https://www.history.co.uk/

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2021/12/16/ghost-stories-for-christmas

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-chilling-ghost-stories-became-a-christmas-tradition/

Whistle and I’ll Come to You

https://headpress.com/blog/2024/12/04/whistle-down-the-wind-an-extract-from-no-diggin-here/

https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/ghost-story-christmas-whistle-ill-come-you

https://www.webofstories.com/play/jonathan.miller/23;jsessionid=B9BEC49F95119602BDA6DFAC03EFD09D

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._R._James

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistle_and_I%27ll_Come_to_You_(1968_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Miller

Night of the Demon

English Gothic by Jonathan Rigby

Jacques Tourneur The cinema of Nightfall by Chris Fujiwara

https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/52516

https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/127530/3/FINAL%20Rev%20Writing%20NoTD%20Article%20for%20HJFRT%20Alison%20Peirse%20080216.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Demon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Andrews

https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0000763/

Instagram: @thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

youtube: @thehorrordoublebill

artwork by Justin Parker (IG jpkr_illustration.com)