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Day of Wrath
Derry cites two films as "the most important
forerunners in this genre": Day of Wrath (Carl Dreyer,
Denmark, 1943) and The Devil’s Wanton (Ingmar Bergman,
Sweden, 1948), although Derry qualifies the second film
as "not a horror film." Four themes that are common to
these films lend a consistency to this genre.
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the idea of vengeance, noted especially in The
Haunted Palace (Roger Corman, 1963), Horror Hotel (John
Moxey, 1960), and The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
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the corruption of innocence, noted in The Other
(Robert Mulligan, 1972), Rosemary's Baby (Roman
Polanski, 1968), The Exorcist, The Devil’s Own (Cyril
Frankel, 1966), Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg, 1973), and
The Mephisto Waltz (Paul Wendkos, 1971)
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mystic phenomena, especially possession, noted in
The Mephisto Waltz, Burn, Witch, Burn (Sidney Hayers,
1962), The Other, Rosemary's Baby, The Possession of
Joel Delaney (Waris Hussein, 1972), The Innocents (Jack
Clayton, 1961), and The Exorcist.
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the emphasis on Christian symbology, noted in
Horror Hotel, Rosemary's Baby, The Other, Don’t Look
Now, The Exorcist, Burn, Witch, Burn, The Haunted Palace
(Roger Corman, 1963), Witchcraft (William J. Hole Jr,
1962), Diary of a Madman (Reginald Le Borg, 1963), and
the “Morella” segment of Tales of Terror (Roger Corman,
1962).
Horror-of-demonic - Index
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