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As great as the 1960s were for cinema, the argument can be made that the '60s belonged more to countries other than the United States. American cinema needed a significant shift where Hollywood could capitalize on the changes taking shape in the industry. For decades, Hollywood movies were restricted by the motion picture production code, and it kept them from depicting heavy realism on screen. Then came the end of the motion picture production code in 1968 and the rise of the New Hollywood era. The 1970s is the greatest decade in American cinema history and a big reason for that is a more director-driven market where filmmakers had a lot of control over the stories they could tell.

With art being prioritized, the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers gave audiences many of the greatest classics of all time. This generation included directors such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton,...

The horrors of sleep paralysis are amplified by composer Marc Vanocur's score in the upcoming horror film Dead Awake. Ahead of the film's May 12th release, we caught up with Vanocur for our latest Q&A feature to discuss making the music for Dead Awake and to reflect on his time working as a sound editor on the Tales from the Crypt TV series.

You just finished Dead Awake and are already working on Phillip Guzman's second film, 200 Hours. Had you collaborated with him in the past? Did the film forge the creative partnership?

Marc Vanocur: I hadn't worked with Phil before Dead Awake. We met while working on the movie, got along well, and things just naturally progressed. I think it has to do with the communication than anything else. When you collaborate through a hurdle in a way that is constructive and not offensive, it...

If you're a lover of film then there's no doubt that you're a fan of Alfred Hitchcock. The guy was a genius who made some incredible films in his career. I love everything that he's done, but my favorite would have to be Psycho. I don't need to sit here and tell you how amazing that film is because you already know.

What you may not know, though, is that one of the main reasons behind why Hitchcock wanted to make Psycho was because of that shower scene in which Janet Leigh's Marion Crane is murdered. He was so obsessed with it that he spent seven days shooting it, and it was only three minutes long. That three minutes of had to be perfect, though. It had to be exactly what he wanted it to be, and it had to get his message across loud and clear. This one...

Have you ever wondered what are the films that inspire the next generation of visionary filmmakers? As part of our monthly Ioncinephile profile (read here), we ask the filmmaker the incredibly arduous task of identifying their top ten list of favorite films. Tim Sutton (Pavilion), provided us with his all time top ten film list (dated: March 2013).

Ballast – Lance Hammer (2008)

“A film of strung-together moments that make up a whole becomes not only mesmerizing, but truly sublime. I saw Ballast and decided not to give up on making a feature. The fact that people in the industry refer to this film as a cautionary tale rather than as a masterpiece is sad to me.”

Beau Travail – Claire Denis (1999)

“Simply, Clair Denis and Agnes Godard are one of the sweetest director/cinematographer teams in cinema, and this is their masterpiece – effortless in its rhythm and sun-baked imagery, with an ending that makes you think for days.

Throughout the month of October, Editor-in-Chief and resident Horror expert Ricky D, will be posting a list of his favorite Horror films of all time. The list will be posted in six parts. Click here to see every entry.

As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.

****

Special Mention:

Shock Corridor

Directed by Samuel Fuller

Written by Samuel Fuller

1963, USA

Shock Corridor stars Peter Breck as Johnny Barrett, an ambitious reporter who wants to expose the killer at the local insane asylum. In order to solve the case, he must pretend to be insane so they have him committed. Once in the asylum, Barrett sets to work, interrogating the other patients and keeping a close eye on the staff.

Lucas Vidal may not be a name that you’re familiar with at the moment but I’d put money on the fact that it’s a name you’re going to hear a lot more from in the coming years.

Lucas Vidal is a 28 year old Spanish composer whose recent work includes Hollywood movies The Raven and The Cold Light of Day which stars the latest Superman, Henry Cavill and movie legend Bruce Willis (and is out tomorrow 6th April in the UK).

I got to sit down with Lucas yesterday to chat through how he got into making music for the movies, where his influences come from and what he wants to do next. It was an absolute pleasure chatting with him as we talked at length about the many of the challenges that he has faced with his music and with his health which he has overcome...

31 – Rosemary’s Baby

Directed by Roman Polanski

USA, 1968

Roman Polanski’s brilliant horror-thriller was nominated for two Oscars, winning Best Supporting Actress for Ruth Gordon. The director’s first American film, adapted from Ira Levin’s horror bestseller, is a spellbinding and twisted tale of Satanism and pregnancy. Supremely mounted, the film benefits from it’s strong atmosphere, apartment setting, eerie childlike score and polished production values by cinematographer William Fraker. The cast is brilliant, with Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes as the young couple playing opposite Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer, the elderly neighbors. There is ominous tension in the film from first frame to last – the climax makes for one of the greatest endings of all time. Rarely has a film displayed such an uncompromising portrait of betrayal as this one. Career or marriage – which would you choose?

30 – Eraserhead

Directed by David Lynch

USA, 1977

Filmed intermittently over the course of a five-year period,...

25 – Halloween

Directed by John Carpenter

1978 – Us

A historical milestone that single-handedly shaped and altered the future of the entire genre. This seminal horror flick actually gets better with age; it’s downright transcendent and holds up with determination as an effective thriller that will always stand head and shoulders above the hundreds of imitators to come. Halloween had one hell of an influence on the entire film industry. You have to admire how Carpenter avoids explicit onscreen violence, and achieves a considerable power almost entirely through visual means, using its widescreen frame, expert hand-held camerawork, and terrifying foreground and background imagery.

24 – Black Christmas

Directed by Bob Clark

1974 – Canada

We never did find out who Billy was. Maybe it’s for the best, since they never made any sequels to Bob Clark’s seminal slasher film, a film which predates Carpenter’s Halloween by four years. Whereas Texas Chainsaw Massacre, released the same year,...

Part one of this interview with Billy Corgan where he discusses finding spirituality, misogyny in female wrestling, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.can be found here.

What about the idea of the band, what's changed?

In essence the band isn't a real thing anymore. I mean, we work as a band, but much of the public doesn't accept that it's a band because it no longer falls into the traditional model -- the four people who rode around in a van. Of course that was a true story, the four of us did ride around in a van and became successful. But I treat it more as a collective now, the band means more as a symbol than a literal thing. I'm tired of trying to sell people on the literal thing because that falls into an old way of thinking which isn't really relevant anymore. Where is this great love for...

A few weeks back this writer had the opportunity to chat with up-and-coming composer Jermaine Stegall while he was at the La Screamfest Horror Film Festival supporting the two features he had scored that were selected entries: Rogue River and The Psycho Legacy.

After quickly realizing that a few moments on the red carpet wasn’t enough time to learn about this new rising genre talent, Dread Central recently caught up with Stegall again to talk about his work on scoring both The Psycho Legacy and Rogue River, what inspired him to become a composer, and how it felt to be working on a documentary about a film series that featured one of the most memorable scores not in only the horror genre but in the entire history of cinema as well.

Dread Central: Can you talk about how you got interested in scoring movies and how you started off in the industry?...

Danny Elfman came to Comic-Con for the first time today to talk about his 25 year, 13 film collaboration with Time Burton. Coincidentally, a giant boxset of CDs and DVDs and a book and a Zoetrope chronicling that relationship is hitting shelves just before Christmas. Pre-order now.

What's great about Danny Elfman is that he's either sincerely humble or a fantastic actor. He was actually blushing during (and after) the lengthy standing ovation he received when he took the stage. When someone yelled, "You're a genius!" and someone else yelled, "I agree!" he seemed baffled as to how to respond. Combined with his habitual self-deprecation, it was all very charming.

The initial discussion, moderated by I don't know who, sorry, focused mainly on his many collaborations with Tim Burton, and was mainly really simple and interesting. What's the secret to his long collaboration with Burton? Burton doesn't have anybody else's phone number.

Roman Polanski has never been one to avoid the spotlight, both in his private life and in his work with cinema. The Ghost Writer is no exception. Based on the novel by Robert Harris (one which I admittedly am yet to read), The Ghost Writer tells the story of an anonymous journalist (McGregor) sent to interview disgraced former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Brosnan) after his predecessor mysteriously drowns. This is a sophisticated political thriller which takes its time unravelling (at 2 hours and 30 minutes, it is long yet never dull) and rightly treats its audience like adults. The narrative is relatively traditional with familiar story-telling techniques however they are all done with great efficiency and confidence. Polanski is clearly a man with a proven track record. Brilliantly filmed with frequent echoes of Alfred Hitchcock (the low-key yet effective score at times reminiscent of Bernard Herman), the vast, and constantly overcast Island...