The seventeenth century on film: patriarchy, magistracy and witchcraft in British horror films, 1968-1971
Article
Article Title | The seventeenth century on film: patriarchy, magistracy and witchcraft in British horror films, 1968-1971 |
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ERA Journal ID | 10287 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | |
Author | Harmes, Marcus K. |
Journal Title | Canadian Journal of Film Studies |
Journal Citation | 22 (2), pp. 64-80 |
Number of Pages | 17 |
Year | 2013 |
Place of Publication | Montreal, Canada |
ISSN | 0847-5911 |
Web Address (URL) | http://www.filmstudies.ca/journal/#3 |
Abstract | This article argues that the a series of films made between 1968 and 1971 and set in the seventeenth century mark a departure not only from the typical setting of British horror films, but also from what was then the prevailing portrayal of patriarchal authority in Britain's horror output. While the films examined in this paper have often been read as aligned with and sympathetic to counter cultural forces, and thus as a refraction of contemporary 1960s social unrest through a seventeenth century lens, this paper finds in them a contrary position. It suggests that bringing the seventeenth century onto the screen allowed horror filmmakers working for the smaller Tigon company to re-endorse the fatherly authority that Hammer, Britain's largest horror studio, was then calling into question. |
Keywords | witchcraft; Britain; horror cinema; Tigon Films; English Civil War; Michael Reeves (film director); Gordon Hessler (film director); Piers Haggard (film director); American International Pictures |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 360501. Cinema studies |
430304. British history | |
441005. Social theory | |
Public Notes | This publication is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for the purposes of study, research, or review, but is subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source. |
Byline Affiliations | Open Access College |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q224w/the-seventeenth-century-on-film-patriarchy-magistracy-and-witchcraft-in-british-horror-films-1968-1971
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