PublicI define "the long 1970s" as from 1968, when the Hays Code in the United States
was abandoned, to 1982, the year of
the Twilight Zone disaster. This period saw an almost "Wild West" era in which previously restricted kinds of film and subjects were made in large numbers, and undoubtedly there was a great deal of innovation and ingenuity going on. However, when people say, as some do, "It's such a shame movies will never be made that way again", that is where I say, "Now, wait a minute".
Among other things, that period saw:
- The Last House on the Left (1972), in which an actress was seriously psychologically and emotionally abused by co-stars, with her director failing to protect her. Later, a live chainsaw in a fight scene.
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), in which an actress's finger was deliberately cut by one co-star and her blood non-consensually sucked by an unknowing (ie thought it was stage blood) second actor.
- The Exorcist (1973), in which two separate actresses were seriously injured and their director chose to keep their genuine cries of pain in the final movie.
- Cannibal Holocaust (1980), notorious for its on-screen real animal killings, but also the use of a local Indigenous girl (possibly as young as 14) to act a victim in a rape scene without clear certainty that she knew exactly what would happen.
- The Deer Hunter (1978), in which a real bullet was placed in the revolver (even if not in the next chamber) for the Russian Roulette scene.
- Roar (1981), in which dozens of cast and crew were injured, some seriously, through being surrounded by untrained big cats on set during the multi-year production.
That's off the top of my head; there are plenty of less famous films that had similar problems. I have seen half of these (
Last House,
Texas Chain Saw and
The Deer Hunter) and the number of those where my experience was heightened from knowing about the abuse, recklessness and danger was zero. I will never watch
Cannibal Holocaust, and I'm not especially inclined to watch the other two either.
Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, William Friedkin etc are forever being lauded as geniuses. In some ways they were. But I am absolutely
delighted that films can no longer be made the way they made them. The human (and animal in certain cases) cost was simply too high. Friedkin in particular is someone I've gone right off in recent years. If you have to traumatise your cast to make a film,
you are doing it wrong.
And if that makes me a pearl-clutcher, sign me up for shares in the oyster farm!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
guardianworldnews_feed