Costume Horror
A type of horror film set in a particular time period or place, usually Gothic in tone. The best examples of this form are in the British Hammer studio's films, and the Edgar Allan Poe adaptations of Roger Corman. Making up for what they lacked in cash, the Hammer films flaunted elegant costumes and a literary tone which became a trademark throughout their Dracula, Frankenstein and other monster films. Also made on the cheap, Corman's films were elegant and made great use of already standing sets and mansions to add flavor to these surprisingly solid translations of Poe's creepy dread. Nicholas Roeg even cut his cinematic teeth as cinematographer in Corman's Masque of the Red Death, lending even more elegance to the picture. Interestingly enough, this style, with it's grandiose aspirations, never caught on in the mainstream, and the few examples of what seems like an expensive subgenre that we have left are from these much-overlooked sources. Capitalizing on their recognizable stars (Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing), Corman and Hammer Films put every penny they had into the look and design of these films and let the names carry them the rest of the way.
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