A BBC Four overview over the history of classical horror movies, presented by British screen and tv writer Mark Gatiss. Nowhere near comprehensive, also not presented in a formally interesting way, burdened with too many not very interesting interviews with some survivors of the good old days, on topics sometimes not much above gossip level. However, there are some gems: John Carpenter sits down and talks a bit, there are some nice snippets of very early classics and an interesting bias towards Hammer movies, of which I have basically only seen the Dracula ones, I think. So worth checking out if you like the genre. If you like it a lot, not too much news here, only a bit of nostalgia and a gaping black whole between 1979 and 2010. “Three episodes are not nearly enough to offer even a cursory survey of movie horror”, as the reviewer for the Irish Times correctly wrote.
See also
http://www.suite101.com/content/a-history-of-horror-with-mark-gatiss-on-bbc-four-a295778
http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/screenwriter/2010/11/02/mark-gatisss-history-of-horror/
thomas4cinema 
2 Comments
Somewhat a little harsh on the series which I thought was excellent. The reviewer in the Irish Times is spot-on but given that I think Gatiss does a great job within three short hours to cover 50 years of horror.
I do think it was balanced in favour of Gatiss’ own favourites but he concedes that fact at the beginning of the series. So what we get is his personal journey back across the films he grew up watching and those that have influenced his own work. It’s more interesting than a plotted academic history, I think, as Gatiss puts himself in the story.
Interesting that when writing it down more negative than positive aspects came up. I actually enjoyed watching it while it was on. Something truly original in content or form was missing, however, and most interviews were rather gratuitous. But still: it was a documentary only about horror movies, that is a cool thing in itself, what’s to nag? thanks BBC!