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A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss

Mark Gatiss

John Das

Michael Poole

A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss: Episode 3: The American Scream

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The American Scream

Episode 3

Episode 3: The American Scream

BBC Four - A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss, The American Scream

Mark Gatiss explores the American horror films of the late 1960s and 70s.

Mark Gatiss explores the US films of the late 1960s and 70s which dragged horror cinema kicking and screaming into the present with their uncompromising content.

Three-part series in which League of Gentleman star, Doctor Who and Sherlock writer Mark Gatiss celebrates the greatest achievements of horror cinema.

Mark explores the explosion of American films of the late 1960s and 70s which dragged horror kicking and screaming into the present day. With their contemporary settings and uncompromising content, films like Night of the Living Dead and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remain controversial.  But Mark argues that these films - often regarded as only being for hardcore fans with strong stomachs - have much to offer. Made by pioneering independent filmmakers, they reflected the social upheavals of American society and brought fresh energy and imagination to the genre.

Mark gets the inside story from a roster of leading horror directors, including George A Romero, whose Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead turned zombies into A-list monsters; Tobe Hooper, director of the notorious Texas Chain Saw Massacre; and John Carpenter, whose smash hit Halloween triggered the slasher movie boom.

Mark also celebrates the other great horror trend of the era - a string of satanically-themed Hollywood blockbusters, including Rosemary's Baby, the Exorcist and the Omen. Along the way Mark visits the Bates Motel, gets mobbed by zombies and finds out what happened to Omen star David Warner's decapitated head.

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Actor and writer Mark Gatiss celebrates the greatest achievements of horror cinema

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