Horror fans met Godzilla, and took a trip to the Pet Cemetary and Silent Hill!
This week in horror history, April 21-28
Welcome to Misty Oracle Grove! Hopefully, your week was pleasant. Come in, the Hall of Fear awaits and the portal is open to explore this week in horror history. Have a seat in the comforting shadows, brew up some tea or perhaps something stronger, and look into the swirling scarlet mist!
April 21:
Pet Semetary (1989)
In Stephen King’s unique take on zombie tales, the Creed family moves into a new home in rural Ludlow, Maine. Shortly after, Dr. Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff) is introduced to the local pet cemetery, where if you bury a loved one, they’ll come back to you but not as you remember them. After his toddler son dies in a tragic accident, the temptation to bury him there is too strong to resist.
The film was successful upon its release earning it a sequel, Pet Sematary Two, released in 1992. Another film adaptation of King’s novel was released in 2019.
Silent Hill (2006)
Based on a video game the story follows Rose da Silva (Radha Mitchell) as she searches for her adopted daughter, Sharon (Jodelle Ferland), in the mysterious town of Silent Hill. The cast includes Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coates, Tanya Allen, and Alice Krige.
Director Christophe Gans tried for five years to acquire the film rights from Konami, the video game developer. After Gans outlined his plans for the film in a video interview, Konami finally granted him the rights. He and writer Roger Avery began work on the screenplay in 2004. Avery used Centralia, Pennsylvania as the inspiration for the town, but the film was shot in Ontario, Canada.
Critics panned the film but that didn’t stop moviegoers from going to see it. Shot on a $50 million budget, the film grossed $100.6 million worldwide. The follow-up film, Silent Hill: Revelation was released in October 2012 and a third installment is in the works, Return to Silent Hill with Gans returning as writer and director.
April 27:
Godzilla (1956) (filmed in 1954 as Gojira)
Released in the U.S. as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! this film spawned one of the longest-running franchises in the history of sinema. A series of inexplicable disasters occur off the coast of Japan, leading investigators to the existence of a creature thought to be a myth, Godzilla. The cast includes Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kōchi, Akira Takarada, and Akihiko Hirata, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla.
The 1956 film was an Americanized version of the Japanese kaju film Gojira, which was filmed in 1954. The film was revised for American audiences with the Japanese dialogue dubbed into English plus some key plot points and themes removed. Burr’s character, American journalist Steve Martin was added with scenes filmed with Burr interacting with body doubles and Japanese-American actors. The 1954 film, Gojira was made available to audiences outside of Japan in 2004.
Frightfully Fun Facts:
The titular creature in the 1979 sci-fi/horror classic Alien had a real human skull incorporated into its head. In response to questions regarding the skull’s origins, creature designer, the late H.R. Giger said “Don’t ask me where I got it.”
M. Night Shyamalan director of mind-bending films such as The Sixth Sense, The Village, and Split, chose to become a filmmaker instead of following in his family’s footsteps to become a doctor. He didn’t become a physician in real life but has a cameo as one in the film The Sixth Sense.
When Tobe Hopper was making the classic horror film, Poltergeist, he added jalapeno pepper to his diet because he thought they gave him an energy boost.
Stephen King loves the screen adaptation of his novel Carrie. King viewed the film three days before its release and reportedly said that it was better than his novel.
Sources: Movie blurbs culled from the pages of Wikipedia and frightfully fun facts from the following articles:
34 Horror Movie Facts You Probably Didn't Know (buzzfeed.com)
15 Cool (On Set) Facts From The Best Horror Movies (thethings.com)