2. INTRODUCTION
๏ถ Most horror films were American products as at the time, they were banned in Britain.
๏ถ The Americans saw themselves as being safe, where as anything coming from Europe was
seen as dangerous.
๏ถ As much as they tried, the Americans could not keep themselves separate with their basic
European roots coming through. Links with lands of their ancestors eventually pulled them into
world war two. Many horror films of the time also deal with roots peeking through. In the form
of men and women who were subject to the emergence of a primal animal identity
๏ถ An example of an animal state being used as a negative way to show a person can be found
in the 1940โs film Pinocchio where the bad boys in the film turn into donkeys.
3. LINK BETWEEN HORROR
AND WOLVES
๏ถ It wasnโt donkeys but wolves who became a threat in the early 1940s. Hitler
himself strongly identified with the iconography and legends of a wolf. The name
Adolf means โnoble wolfโ in old German. Hitler became quite obsessive with
wolves, with many Nazi Party HQ being named after the animal. For
example, Wolfsschulcht (Wolfโs Gulch) being in France, Werwolf (manwolf) in the
Ukraine and more. Even his SS forces were referred to as โMy Pack of Wolvesโ by
Hitler himself.
๏ถ Not surprisingly, Universal chose to use the wolf as a figure of menace for the
late 1930โs and early 1940โs.
4. THE WOLFMAN (1941)
๏ถ Although at this point, there had been Werewolf films prior
to this film being released, for example โWerewolf in
Londonโ, there was no single Werewolf story that was easy to be
adapted into film.
๏ถ It was the job or screen writer Curt Siodmak to write a story
line for the film. Siodmak had fled the Nazis in 1937
๏ถ In the film, the characters flee America to return back to their
home in wales, this could be linked with Siodmakโs flee from the
Nazi army
5. CAT PEOPLE (1942)
๏ถ resulting from men coming back from world war
2, women were removed from their jobs in factories etc.
for the men to regain their roles in those industries.
๏ถ As a result of this, women weren't happy with the way
they were being treated
๏ถ This is linked to the film cat people because women
in this film were shown as being a dangerous, and
powerful because of what they were able to d in the film.
๏ถ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ADPSaybusM
