The SHOCK! / Son of SHOCK! Viewing Project

[newspaper clipping from the Hutchinson (KS) News, 27 October 1957]

In the months that follow, I will be blogging about all 72 of the Universal and Columbia films sold to television in the "SHOCK!" and "Son of SHOCK!" syndication packages in 1957-58. In addition to information and reflection on the films themselves, I'll also be commenting on some of the contexts for these movies, including those surrounding the experience of seeing them on television from the late 1950s and on through the 1960s and 1970s.

SHOCK! and Son of SHOCK! launched a cultural revolution for horror movies and all things monster in the US. I hope that this viewing project can provide some bit of understanding for how that radical change happened, starting as it did in the midst of a politically and socially reactionary historical era.

I encourage horror movie fans both young and old to view along and to add their own ideas and observations on this remarkable phenomenon, whether you are seeing some of these films for the first time or for the five hundredth.

Following the order listed in the SHOCK! promotional brochure sent to TV stations in 1957, our first viewing in two weeks will be Universal's FRANKENSTEIN (1931); between now and October 16th, I will put up a few short posts on the creation of the SHOCK! and Son of SHOCK! series in the interests of background.