-Christopher Lee.
Anyone who went to the movies in 1996 may recall a promo which had a guy taking on various guises and giving patrons the usual rules of being in the theater (such as no smoking or no talking during the film), while pointing out that the cinema was a century old. That same year also saw the release of a documentary which is appropriate viewing for this time of year, and which, yes, is hosted by this site's favorite actor. This multi-part opus discusses many types of stories within the horror genre, going from the silent era to the present day.
Sir Christopher even brings wit at various points of his hosting, such as when he seemingly vanishes in the segment on sorcerers. I also enjoyed his thoughts on playing the title role in The Mummy (1959). He even mentions his role in The Man With the Golden Gun. Among the other segments are ones devoted entirely to Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. But other actors, including Lee's peers Peter Cushing and Vincent Price, are also referenced.
One segment is, naturally, devoted to the slasher genre, which is often credited (or blamed on, depending on your point of view), Halloween (1978) and which was declared dead by some at the start of the 1990s. Interestingly, the end of 1996 would see the release of Scream, which basically brought the slasher genre back to theaters, with, sadly, the same results.
Some may be disappointed that classics such as Jaws (1975) and Phantasm (1979) are not mentioned (missing out on one or two things is a risk whenever trying to cover any topic, I suppose), but there is no denying that research and devotion went into this production.
Interestingly, this documentary is available in an abridged 1 hour, 40 minute version, and in its multi-part format. Happily, both are available on DVD, although I personally recommend the latter for the simple reason that it's longer and, thus, has more info.
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