This is just a brief history of the medical field and things to help give a focus on what has contributed to the horror films and how we might identify with the characters.
Sanatariums as we know them today are more commonly associated with TB cases in the early 20th century before vaccines and antibiotics came into being. By the 1950s with vacccines and antibiotics in play most sanitariums were closed and many had already been demolished years before. Some that still stand are interests to urban explorers and ghost hunters. Some that had still stood were converted to psychiatric hospitals but most all of those are closed or torn down today.
Separately Psychiatric hospitals were established in the 1800s to help deal with individuals with acute mental illness. Initially the patients were put into rooms in isolation to protect other from them and their dangerous behaviors. In the 1900s there was a push to try a moral treatment of patients and rehabilitate them so that they can rejoin society by giving patients privilidges, meaningful work, and recreation.
Things changed over time (1890s or there abouts) and definitions and treatments to deal with the elderly and other undeisirable societal population elements caused them to also be forcibly admitted into the santariums by the 1890s. This created a funding paradox and some creative solutions such as placing nursing training schools in the same institutions so as to have cheaper staff to support the patient population.
By the 1950s nursing homes popped up to care for the elderly. new medications came into being that helped treat and even cuare some of the most long standing psychiatric problems.
The 1960s saw the beginning of modern EMS (ambulance drivers) to officially founded with the EMS Systems act of 1973. previously it was just the funeral home driving a hurst to the hospital to deliver patients.
In 1968 ATT announced the intention to establish 9-1-1 as the emergency doe throughout the United States. This was after some high profile deaths occured from out of town visitors that did not know the local phone number for the police.
A series of scandals that came out and published works basically called for the closure of almost all psychiatric hospitals. This was more or less done around 1960-1970. This was also the same time there arose a sex and drug epidemic world wide. Today 90% of the homeless possess mental health issues and with ample support mechanisms in place it is a choice to be homeless for more than a few days.
In 1970 Nixon signed the Controlled substances act and in 1971 declared the war on drugs which many now argue has been lost.
The HMO act of 1973 made it legal for a hospital to make a profit from healthcare. Prior to that all healthcare was done as a not for profit endeaviour, fundamentally changing the face of healthcare and leading to the rise of the healthcare insurance industry and the coming healthcare crisis of the coming decades.
In the 1700 and 1800s orphanages were created to house children whose parents were either killed in indian raids or whoose parents died in epidemics. around the 1900s progressive movements gave rise to the foster care system at the conclusion of World War 2. Orphanages more or less disappeared after the Georgia Tann scandal with the Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage that kidnapped children and created illegal adoptions where thousands of children were adopted into prospective families. Tann died in 1950 before the state cold release its findings on her activities. She had most all paperwork destroyed surrounding the adoptions so the true number of children she was involved with may never be known.
The family court system in the united states was established in 1910 via the family court act (varies by name and state bus is generally under that or a similar name) and was established to deal with legal problems arising out of family relations and is a consolidation of severly types of courts dealing with narrower family problems such as children's and orphan's courts. This also got rolled into the juvile court system as well which focused on the needs of the child with a hand towards rehabilitation versus incarceration. As it stands right now anything in family or juvinile court disappears off of a persons record after they reach the age of 18 and below the age of 18 basically a person falls under a different set of much more lenient rules. This disparity of rules creates its own set of quirks with in the greater society at large with youth that were not receptive to help or received insufficient help during their developing years as they ran into issues and this issue has persisted throughout the decades.
The Child abuse and prevent act of 1974 exploded the foster care system. The Adoptions assistance and child wilfare act of 1980(AACWA) provided better fit for children's needs. A system which was modeled after the system put in place in nazi germany to place children with outstanding german citizens starting in the 1950s.
With the passage of the ACA (passed March 23 2010) it doubly hurt hospitals as things became a quagmire ore regulations changes and healthcare reimbursements and contract change with insuring entities. Plus there was the changover of hospital coding from ICD-9 to ICD-10 (implemented Oct 1 2015). When it was changed to ICD-9 (implemented in 1968) from ICD-8 there was a 5-10 year period that insurance companies figured every creative way to get out of paying medical entities. THey were prepared for that possibility this time around.
Now it gets even worse. Within the past 20 years, the City of New York closed 20 hospitals. This led to a health crisis of international notice during the COVID-19 epidemic. The same homeless and mentally and/or chronically ill patients are recurring visitors to hosptials and are not a recurring source of revenue for the hospital as most state and federal funds barely cover costs of such patience as they have no money and one can not squeeze blodd from a turnip. It also creates a catch-22 as any entity that receives federal or state funds can not refuse a patient in emergent need, and defining that emergent part and accurately diagnosing the issue without further endangering the patient's health is the stickler indeed.
Now all that said this made for some great material for horror movies and stories.
halloween 1978
halloween II 1981
halloween III 1982
halloween IV 1988
Halloween V 1989
Halloween: curse of michael myers 1995
Halloween H2O 1998
Halloween: resurrection 2002
halloween 2007
halloween II 2009
halloween 2018
Michael Myers: autistic kid. nonverbal kid that kills mother and is committed until of age and then is released upon the populace due to lax security at a psychiatric hospital. Being autistic has a couple of quirks. Did he realize what he was doing was wrong? Did he have ill intent from the get go or was he ruled primarily through other means?
friday the 13th may 9 1980
friday the 13th april30 1981
friday the 13th part III august 13 1982
firdya the 13th the final chapter april 13 1984
friday the 13th a new beginning march 22 1985
friday the 13th part VI Jason lives august 1 1986
friday the 13th part VII the new blood may 13 1988
friday the 13th part VIII jason takes manhattan july 28 1989
jason goes to hell: the final friday august 13 1993
jason x april 26 2002
freddy vs. jason august 15 2003
friday the 13th february 13 2009
Jason Vorhees: autistic kid or aspergers kid. Dies (or did he?) of drowning due to negligence of staff but then camp is closed and then has a curse or is haunted in some way. horror ensues. He proceeds to kill any of the counselors at the camp as it always tries to re-open. Was this revenge for lack of care? Was he unable to vocalize his frustrations? Did lack of socialization and a horrible mother create a monster that killed so many through so many movies?
A nightmare on elm street November 9 1984
A nightmare on elm street 2: freddy's revenge Novvember 1 1985
A nightmare on elm sreet 3: dream warriors February 27 1987
A nightmare on elm street 4: the dream master August 19 1988
A nightmare on elm street 5: The dream child August 11 1989
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare September 13 1991
Wes Craven's New Nightmare October 14 1994
Freddy Vs Jason August 15 2003
A night mare on elm streen April 30 2010
(there are talks about a new movie in the works )
Freddy Kreuger's mother was a sanitarium patient who got pregnant and gave birth to him. Given the systems at the time he would have then been placed into foster care. The other children in the town as a kid always taunted him as the son of a thousand fathers. This touches on a unique aspect of the sanitariums before things were shut down it was common practice to sterilize patients upon entry as it was unwritten but known that shenannigans occured that could give rise to such circumstances. Freddy then grew up and had a child who was later taken away from him as it was discovered he was mutilating people and animals. He was driven to a cabin and burned to death but made a pact with some spirits that gave him the power to enter dreams of others and kill them in their dreams. He used this power to gain revenge upon those who had tormented him as a child and wronged him as an adult. The last film kind of painted him in a pedophile picture as he was using a child as a medium to go after the protagonist.
He knew what he was doing was wrong or did he?... He was a creation and a monster that acted the way that those around him made him.
Could he have turned out better had he gotten help and been removed completely from the town where everyone knew his family history? Do we need to admit that anyone is a foster child or adopted?
Hellraiser 1987
Hellound: Hellraiser II 1988
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth 1992
Hellraiser: Bloodline 1996
Hellraiser: inferno 2000
Hellraiser: Hellseeker: 2002
Hellraiser: deader 2005
Hellraiser: Hellworld 2005
Hellraiser: Reveleations 2011
Hellraiser: Judgement 2018
many comics and novels further expanded the mythos and story line
The whole story is around a puzzle box (lament configuration) that opens a gateway to a different dimention and gives access to the creatures three called the cenobites. Pinhead or Helllord is the leader of things and upon being access grants a request of the handler of the box. But really their purpose is to harvest human souls. The movies cover various aspects of mythos around the box, its creation, the family lineage of the cration and what pinhead ultimately wants to do after appearing to lament his creation and desiring to regain a human form and seek salvation only to later desire the form of the person he once was as a cenobite.
The appeal to the series is the carnal aspect of offer of otherworldly levels of pleasure as your soul is harvested and how evil has a way of turning on itself and those around it. An irony and evil that many can relate to in various ways.
Poltergeist 1982
pltergeist II: The other side 1986
Piktergeist III 1988
Poltergeist 2015
Poltergeist the Legacy (TV) 1996-1999
This is a story of the Freeling family who moves in to a house that was built over a cave of cult followers that believed the end of the world was upon them. Through the daughters closet (Carol Anne) is a portal but they talk to her through the TV. The ghosts are under the control of a demon known as the Beast and the ghosts are attracted to Carol's life force believing she can lead them to the light and abduct her through her closet to accomplish this. A medium named Tangina Barrons and a group of parapsychologists eventually retrive her from the other side following a second attack by the beast that revealed the ghosts originated from an improperly relocated cemetary underneath the neighboorhood. The second film follows Carol Anne and adds an alternate explanation to the ghosts and the beast's origins. The Third film follows carol anne as she is relocated to skeptic relatives who live in a skyscraper as the ghosts attempt to contat her and abduct her again with Tangina rescuing her again. The actress who played Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein) mysteriously died after the film and some of the other actors had as well. The 2015 reboot follows the same basic story as the first.
Many can identify with this story line as there are so many stories of haunted houses and many, many stories of improperly relocated cemetaries or cemetaries that were never relocated at all. A grim reminder that we need to respect our dead and study the history of the properties that we live upon.
Exorcist 1973
Exorcist II: The Heretic 1977
The Exorcist III 1990
Exorcist: The Beginning 2004
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist 2005
Reboot (2021)
The plot centers around an archaeologist that became possessed and was later exorcised. The second follows the priest who investigates a priest killed during hte exorcism of Regan MacNeil and the church questions to possibility of the possession posthumously. The third one follows a detective from the first film who investigates a series of serial killings around the time of the Macneil exorcism. The fourth follows a WWII vet turned archaeologist into a dig and investigation on a seemingly perfectly preserved church the the evil surrounding it. The fifth follows a priest who hooks up with some arcaheologists seeking a church buried for centuries and helps the archaeologist battle the demon Pazuzu same demon referenced in the Exorcist.
Possessions and evil entities have been a curiosity and obsession by many. Many can relate to seeing folks possessed and that evil exists. Exorcist makes it personal and you connect with the protrayls through the story as you wonder, was it a posession, or, something, else.
Psycho 1960
Psycho II 1983
Psycho III 1986
Bates Motel 1987
Psycho IV: The Beginning 1990
Psycho 1998
Bates Motel (TV) 2013-2017
The first surprise act murder of the star in a film shocked many and created the slasher subgenre. This touched upon the vulnerability of run aways and how much in danger they are. That appeal and ability to relate makes this such a stock film many can relate to and inspiration for many more films to follow. The Second film follows Norman Bates after his release from a mental institution 22 years later and is a road to insanity and a repeat of history. The third is a prequel of sorts that follows Norman as he becomes a psycho killer. The bates motel is the story of Normans Sanitarium room mate and how he has to deal with some insanity on the outside surrounding the bates hotel which he inherited. Psycho IV covers the creation of the monster Norman Bates and his alter ego Norma which does the killings. The 1998 reboot is a retelling of the original story. The TV series is loosly based on the novels and movies and covers the story of what made Norman crazy.
Many relate to Psycho as insanity is not always something that happens overnight. It is something that goes on for months, weeks, years, of abuse. Alternate personalities are a way of a mind to stay sane and deal with trauma and as the full story unfolds you almost feel sorry for the villain and what he became from the monsters that raised him.
Scream 1996
scream 2 1997
scream 3 2000
scream 4 2011
scream 5 2022
Scream is a parody film that is credited with revitalizing the horror genre. Parodying many films and leaving not so many things untouched at all. We all can relate to it as the humor is as horrifying as it is entertaining.
Night of the Living Dead 1968
Dawn of the dead 1978
day of the dead 1985
land of the dead 2005
diary of the dead 2007
survival of the dead 2009
road of the dead TBA
A story of flesh eating zombies and their containment. It was one of the most gross scenes that grossed out many and the effects still top any cgi you could do today arguably. Retold different ways. But a stock of horror. This film really started the zombie genre. The story made many think of how useful attics can be. But many can relate as some feel that hordes are out to get them and choose to hide from society to cope with things. Zombie films tend to be popular during downturns in the economy as it can be an allegory to hordes of people with issues though on the flipside in economic upturns, vampire and werefolf flims are popular.
Manhunter 1986
Silence of the lambs 1991
Red Dragon 2002
Hannibul Rising 2007
A story surrounding a psychotic narcissitic cannibal, Hannibul Lectur who was a psychologist tho served his victims to his guests and had as patients some of of the psychopaths on the rampage that FBI Agent(Jodie Foster) was trying to catch one that cross dressed and collected women's well moisturized skin. The allure to the whole story was how manipulative Hannibul was and how damaging and disturbing a narcisstic could be and the later is something that many can relate to as some have had to deal with similar individuals. And today social workers are still trying to figure out ways to handle narcisssitic and sociopathic parents that make it nigh impossible to figure out is the child OK?
Candyman 1992
Candyman: farewell to the flesh 1995
Candyman: day of the dead 1999
candyman 2021 (in process)
This is a slasher film centered around a man called the candyman who appears when his name is said three times in a mirror. The first movie follows a Student curious on the mythos. The second follows a teacher curious about the mythos and the third her daughter. A fourth set to be released to take place 28 years after events of the first film following another decendent of the candyman. Many can identify with the horror as following a myth has many led many to the edge of sanity as facts and fiction are few and many and far in between. And many more can identify with the fact that they have a horrible ancestor who did horrid things to people long ago and are as curious as they are disintered in learning the truth.
Jaws 1975
Jaws 2 978
Jaws 3-d 1983
Jaws The revenge 1987
Jaws is an interesting story of a shark that will not stop bothering a resort town. The fourth film sees the same family eventually killing the shark on the bow of the boat after it was electrocuted.
The interest in the sea and the dangrous unseen creatures beneath has been a subject of intrinsic interest for thousands of years. The deep sea is one of the last few unexplored, unexploited, and unmapped areas on this planet. We can all relate as we sometimes ask is that a dolphin or a shark?
1910 Life Without Soul
1915 The Monster of Frankenstein
1920 Frankenstein
1931 Mickey's Gala Premier (short cartoon)
1933 Bride of Frankenstein
1935
Hollywood Capers (short cartoon)
Have You Got Any Castles? (short cartoon)
1938 Son of Frankenstein
1939 Hellzapoppin'
1941 The Ghost of Frankenstein
1942 Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
1943 The House of Frankenstein
1944 House of Dracula
1945 Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
1948 The Curse of Frankenstein
1957
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
Frankenstein
1958
The Revenge of Frankenstein
Franken-Stymied (short cartoon)
1961 The Evil of Frankenstein
1964
Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare (short cartoon)
Frankenstein Conquers the World
1965 The War of the Gargantuas
1966 Casino Royale
1967
Frankenstein Created Woman
Mad Monster Party?
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
1969 The Horror of Frankenstein
1970 Lady Frankenstein
1971 Mad Mad Mad Monsters
1972
Frankenstein '80
Flesh for Frankenstein
1973
Blackenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein: The True Story
The Spirit of the Beehive
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
1974
Young Frankenstein
Terror of Frankenstein
1976
Frankenstein
1984
The Bride
1985
Fracchia vs. Dracula
The Monster Squad
1987
Frankenstein General Hospital
1988
Rowing with the Wind
Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf
Frankenstein Unbound
1990
Frankenhooker
Frankenstein
1992
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
1994
Monster Mash
1995
House of Frankenstein
1997
The Creeps
Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
1999
Rock 'N Roll Frankenstein
Van Helsing
2004
Frankenstein
Igor
2008
House of the Wolf Man
2009
Stan Helsing
Frankenweenie
2012
Hotel Transylvania
Frankenstein's Army
2013 I, Frankenstein
2014 Frankenstein
2015
Frankenstein vs. The Mummy
Hotel Transylvania 2
Victor Frankenstein
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation2018
Depraved
2019
Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein (short film)
Frankenstein is an iconic film and story. In the middle ages science was denounced as sorcery in sorts and the church forbade human research and experimentation. Not so with Doctor Frankenstein. He manages to piece together a being and bring him to life with electricty. The creation is akin to a devoted dog to his creator who tries to push him away and the monster not realizing his appearance until he stares into a mirror to realize abject horror of his looks. It is a human story of coming to terms with separation from your parent and growing as yourself and the fear others have of your looks. The story is as varied as it is retold and is timeless and one to which we can all relate in varying ways.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vampire_filmsDracula is a film even more timeless as are vampire films starting in 1920. A full list is at the link. Dracula was the nick name givin to a transylvanian aristocrat called vlad. His father was called Dracul or the Dragon or Devil in Romainian. Transylvania which covered part of Romania in the 1500s was constantly fending off attacks from the the Turks of the Ottoman empire. Vlad Who was known to impale his victims hence vlad the impaler (Vlad Tepes.) His rule was as blooy as was the defense of his homeland from constant invasion. His infamy was gained from his excessive use of impaling which had literally stopped advances from the stench of rotting corpses. He ruled until 1476 45 years after his birth. His corpse was believed to have been found in 1931 but the skeleton mysteriously disappeared. The evil and the spritual are all theemes the echo throughout all of the vampire films and are themes many cope with daily which allows so many to identify with both the villain and the hero. Some could argu Dracula is the origin of Gothic horror.
28 days later 2002
28 months later
28 days later was inspired by the mad cow disease epidemic and follows a man as he wakes up in a hospital room after recovering from a bicycle accident involving a vehicle. The follow up film follows him 28 months later as society tries to rebuild and things repeat. It is a much more personalized and relateable zombie film that many can relate to with all of the bioweapons terrorism going on in the news.
Blair Witch project 1999
This was supposedly to be a real life documentary of students searchin a local myth and they disappear only leaving footage behind. It all turns out to be a hoax for more interest but the public interest made it a good horror film none the less.
alien 1979
aliens cartoon (1980s never aired)
terminator 1984
aliens 1986
predator 1987
predator 2 1990
terminator 2 1991
alien3 1992
alien resurrection 1997
termnator 3 rise of the machines 2003
aliens vs predator 2004
aliens vs predator: requiem 2007
terminator salvation 2009
predators 2010
prometheus 2012
terminator genisys 2015
alien covenane 2017
the predator 2018
terminator dark fate 2019
Aliens Cartoon (2016ish halted because of fox buyout)
(Scott Ridley persists with rumors of another film in the works)
Comics and Novels exist for all of these along with some games and all build on the universe and mythos though not all fit properly together in the same universe...
These films hold a special place to me and are among my favorite films. Aliens, terminator, and predator are all linked in comics, novels, and films. Dutch who survived predator got put on ice supposedly and ended up being the template for the terminators. Cyberdine Systems got renamed to hyperdine systems (Burke's employer in Aliens). Weyland Yutani was the group trying to capture the predator in predator 2, Aliens versus predatorP Requiem shows WY getting the weapon at the end to a miss Weyland. In Alien it was always theorized the company knew about the organism and wanted to capture it. In aliens an Alien3 that was also a question, but Ripley always threw a monkey wrench into things and defeated them. James Cameron visualized one of the best sequels of all time with Aliens and created a world and technology that is only now being replicated. Even the AI aspect in terminator is only coming to reality now along with the whole cybernetics and robitics aspect actually becoming possible. Predator was one of the most classic flims as it went from a military film to a horror survival film out of nowhere. Much like how Psycho surprised us by killing the lead character in the beginning. AVP was all about the hunt as was predator 2 and AVP:R. But all three were great films on their own merits in many ways. Predators was another great example of a survival horror, but many feel it could stand to have a sequel.
The horror survival and the showdown with the bad enemy by the female heroine were both exemplified and glorified int he ALien and Terminator franchises and that struggle has set them both as franchices to hopefully stand the test of time as they keep coming out with releases every few years as the fan base is so large.
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