Leofwine_draca You can't fault Mark Gatiss's enthusiasm for the horror genre and that's something that shines through in this three-part documentary tracing the genre from the Universal Classics of the 1930s to '70s grit like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and beyond. Gatiss makes it clear from the outset that this is a personal history - note it's "a" history, not "the" - so it's a question of sitting back and letting the man talk to us about why he loves the films he does.As something of a horror obsessive, I've already seen most of the films featured here, but even so my attention never wavered for a second. There's a good selection of discussion on what makes the films so effective, copious use of clips as well as interviews with key luminaries (Corman, Carpenter, etc.). The main topics covered are the Universal horrors, the Val Lewton flicks, Hammer and other British horror and then finally '70s classics such as The Exorcist and Halloween.A wonderful package which, sadly, doesn't look like it will ever be coming out on DVD - Gatiss has explained that it would cost too much to license all of the film clips for such a release.

filthydeeds I don't know why so many people have such a problem with this TV show as it was fantastic, it personally taught me an in depth history of Horror, and gave me a whole new outlook on movies I now see.People who say he is a snob and whatever probably just don't like his taste in movies. It was a shame this was originally aired on BBC 4, and it deserved to be moved to BBC 1 or 2 around Halloween.The only problem I had was that he should have done 2 more episodes, one of the horror movies of the 80's and early 90's and a final episode on horror movies of the mid 90's up until today.In conclusion this is a highly underrated and wonderful TV show and I would give it 9/10.

Jackson Booth-Millard I am a big fan of horror films, and from the opening of this three part series I could see that the host was obsessional about them too, so with Halloween approaching, I wasn't going to miss this. Presented by Mark Gatiss, best known for spoofing horror films with the guys behind The League of Gentlemen and Psychoville, these programmes gave us an insight into creating many of the greatest horror films. Starting from the beginning, to what is considered almost the last great horror to use the simplest scares without resorting to loads of blood, Gatiss goes through all the decades and themes to show us how these great films came to be. Gatiss goes to all the sets where stars like Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Sir Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Anthony Perkins, and many others filmed the scariest moments of cinema, sees some of the props and tricks to create the frights, and really gives us an insight into how much horror films mean to him. With contributions from some of the people behind and involved in the horror films featured, including John Carpenter, Sara Karloff (Boris's daughter), Roger Corman, Donnie Dunagan, Tobe Hooper, George A. Romero, Barbara Shelley, Barbara Steele, Gloria Stuart, David Warner and many more. Films featured and mentioned in the series of programmes included The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, Mystery of the Wax Museum, The Old Dark House, Bride of Frankenstein, The Black Cat, Freaks, Son of Frankenstein, Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The Body Snatcher, The Quatermass Experiment, The Curse of Frankenstein, The Horror of Dracula, The Revenge of Frankenstein, Black Sunday, The Masque of the Red Death, Night of the Deomn, The Haunting, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Dead of Night, The Wicker Man, Psycho, Night of the Living Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Omen, Shivers, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween and many more. Very good!

carolyn thorburn This series is absolutely essential for anyone who has a love of horror movies which Mr Gatiss obviously has. It is honest, respectful and informative, has excellent interviews with some huge names involved in the genre and brilliant film clips. The interviews with Barbara Steele and Roger Corman were outstanding. Although in three hours it only skims the surface of the subject, I still find, after years of being totally obsessed by horror films, I'm learning something new with each episode and now have a long list of more DVDs to buy. I hope there will be more episodes in the future and that it is released on DVD, there must be some excellent stuff not included in the current TV programme.