The three part The History of Horror presented by Mark Gatiss was an excellent series. The second episode (Home Counties Horror) was particularly interesting as it concentrated on British horror films of the 1950's and 60's of which I was particularly keen. Although by today's standards, they now seem pretty tame.
It all started for me (and for Mark) with The Quatermass Experiment. This was a BBC TV drama shown in 1953. I can remember that at eight years old I was packed off to bed well before the six half hour episodes started. It was actually a regular sci fi thriller, but one deemed too scary in those days. Now it would be as horrifying as Doctor Who. Two years later, I was still banned from watching Quatermass II. The third and final serial Quatermass and The Pit was shown in 1958/9. I cannot quite remember if this was allowed or not. But I do remember the fuss it caused at the time.
So it was probably my fascination with science fiction that led me to horror films of the 1960's, particularly the British made Hammer films that Mark Gatiss described in his programme. He also surprised me with the fact that Robert Wise made The Haunting in the UK in 1963, in between West Side Story and The Sound of Music. I know which movie I preferred. And to come full circle, Hammer Films are the producers of Let Me In, a remake of the wonderful Swedish movie Let The Right One In, a vampire movie for those who don't like vampire movies.
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