"The Later Days" I am referring to now is basically movies made in the mid-late 20th century.
Shirley Jackson wrote The Haunting of Hill House which was published in 1959. The story basically tells of a doctor who wishes to get proof of paranormal existence. This doctor chooses Hill House to do his study and also musters up a list of people aka employees to help him on his quest. There the story begins... The book has been so highly renowned that even the Wall Street Journal claimed it to be one of the greatest ghost stories ever written.This novel has been made into two film adaptations both titled The Haunting. The first one premiered in 1963 (pictured right) and the second one premiered in 1999 starring Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Owen Wilson. In 1968 an incredibly popular movie came out in which the famous Roman Polanski directed and Mia Farrow starred: Rosemary's Baby. Interestingly enough a year before, the novel in which the movie was based off of was published in 1967! And written by Ira Levin. I don't think I've ever known ANY film to come out so quickly after the novel that it is based off of came out. That was faster than Twilight! Just so you all know Rosemary's Baby is about a woman, Rosemary, who is
impregnated by the devil. All I have to say about that is her husband is one bad guy...Not long after the phenomena of Rosemary's Baby did another horror story top Levin's. In 1971 William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist burst onto the scene in the literary world. The movie The Exorcist came out in 1973 directed by William Friedkin and gave fame to the actress Linda Blair for all her vomitting of pea soup and bizarre headspinning. The film as also nominated for ten Academy Awards including Best Picture. I don't know about you but what freaks me out about this whole story is that Blatty's novel is based on a demonic posession account of Robbie Manheims aka Roland Doe that took place in the 1940s...CREEPY. I'm not going to even put a picture here because I'm already creeping myself out.
After The Exorcist, Ira Levin came out with another ingenious novel which was published in 1972 (a year before Friedkin's Exorcist came out) called The Stepford Wives. The only way I personally know anything about this novel is because Matthew Broderick and Nicole Kidman starred in the 2004 remake. There was of course an adaptation long before this one came out in 1974 of the same name. Levin meant this novel to be a satirical thriller in which these perfect wives are too perfect and that the town suspects they are robots. You get the idea. For the moment there is one more novel I would like to mention. This novel was written by Thomas Harris. He actually also made a prequel to this novel as well as two sequels that have also been made into films along with the original novel he wrote. Can you guess it? Well it's The Silence of the Lambs! The Silence of the Lambs was published in 1988 and of course was adapted into a movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster in 1991. Now we all remember the sequels in which Anthony Hopkins starred in: Red Dragon and Hannibal. Interestingly enough, Red Dragon was the first novel he had written in the Hannibal Lecter series which came out in 1981. Hannibal came after Lambs in 1999 and Hannibal Rising did not come out until 2006. All these movies have been made into a film at one time. For the most part the movies did well (except the film Manhunter which was based on Red Dragon). The Silence of the Lambs won the Top Five Academy Awards: Best Picutre, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
With all that being said, stay tuned for the last installment of "Notable Horror Novels Made Into Films" in which I talk about the many novels Stephen King wrote that have been made into films over the years. I hope you are all enjoying!"Well, Clarice - have the lambs stopped screaming?"
I love that movie...
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