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“Horror is simply the most entertaining genre!” – Creepy Crypt and the Anniversary of Scream
Wes Craven’s meta-slasher “Scream” turns 20 this year. That’s reason enough to want to see it once more on the big screen. Creepy Crypt – reminiscent of the 1950s comic series “Tales from the Crypt” or the American TV show of the same name from the 1980s – is a horror film series that takes place every Saturday during the late-night screening at Neukölln’s Rollberg cinema, and is currently the only one of its kind in Berlin. I met with initiator, curator, and projectionist, and therefore practically all-round genius Daniel Schuh, to talk about the logistical challenges of such a project, about German genre cinema, about film censorship, and, of course, about the horror film itself.
Do you have an origin story? How did you come to start a film series, and specifically a horror film series?
I work for the Yorck cinemas, although in administration rather than directly in the cinemas, and I’m a huge fan of horror films. I’ve really always watched horror films, ever since I was very young. There once was a horror film series at another cinema in Berlin, but then there wasn’t for quite some time, and I think watching horror films at home on the computer or on the television is a pity; they’re not really made for that. I do always make everything dark, draw the curtains and all that, but it’s just not the same, I always want to see these films in the cinema. So really, at first, it all started out of pure self-interest. (laughs) But of course, I’m glad that other people can, and want to, watch the films too. It’s always funny as well when other people have totally different reactions to the film, or people get startled at moments that don’t faze me at all. Watching films together in the cinema is always a special experience, and there are so many horror films that struggle or simply don’t get the chance to make it onto the big screen.
Your programme features a very colourful mix of festival films that aren’t easy to find in cinemas, current releases and classics. Is there a curatorial concept behind it all?
There actually was one at the start, but I pretty quickly threw that overboard. At first, for example, I wanted to show a German horror film once a month. Unfortunately, they often have lower production values or recycle stories that have already been told in other films – and there are just too few of them. I once myself worked on a German horror film called Beyond Remedy and, back then, they just threw all the popular stories into one – killer, creepy child and so on. I don’t rule out German horror films at all, of course, but wanting to show one every month was just too restricting, that was a very high-minded goal. Now, for instance, I plan to show a classic once a month – especially since I found out that’s what most people want to see. The first one was The Fog, back then there were 80 people there, which was the best-attended screening so far.
Do you remember the worst-attended screening?
I believe that was Die Präsenz, also a German film. (laughs)
Did you feel an obligation at the time to support German genre cinema a little? With film funding and distribution being rather tricky here in Germany, after all.
I’d certainly like to, and if something comes up, I do screen it. But often, it’s just a matter of quality being lacking. I’ve also had a director submit their film directly, with his sister playing the lead role, and it was just dreadful. I do try to maintain a certain level of quality, which isn’t always easy with German horror films. I thought Die Präsenz was pretty dreadful myself, for example. (laughs)
Do you still remember any German horror films from recent years that you’d consider screening?
Blutgletscher is probably quite good; I’ve seen the trailer, and it even had well-done CGI effects. Hell is a bit more of a thriller than a horror film, but a colleague did suggest it to me. I’ll have to look into the rights again for that.
As you had previously worked for the cinemas, were you already familiar with the logistical and legal ins and outs?
No, actually not entirely. The problem is that our programming is done by one person, and he doesn’t really like people looking over his shoulder. But there’s a colleague in the office who knows their way around too and was happy to support me. And after you’ve phoned around with all the people a few times, you get the hang of it. I always start from what I’d like to show. Then I try to find out whether there’s actually anyone I can ask. Eventually, it starts repeating itself. Different distributors also have different ideas about pricing, and as I only charge €7.50 entry, it often works out as a break-even business in the end. But I’m not bothered about making crazy profits. The classics do well – you can, funnily enough, get them at the cheapest rates. All in all, I’m happy if it breaks even. I also started in the spring because it hadn’t worked out before, and now I hope it will pick up even more in autumn/winter, which is more the cinema season. Accordingly, in August I picked titles that are cheap to acquire, so it’s not a disaster if nobody turns up. (laughs)
The most bizarre story was recently, when I wanted to show Halloween for Halloween and found that, in Germany, no one holds the rights to that film anymore. Warner did at one point, but those have expired, and now no one has them. It’s absurd: this is an absolute classic of horror cinema and, theoretically, you can’t show it in a German cinema. It’s the same for many films. There’s also no rights holder for Pulp Fiction in Germany. So, the rights are definitely the biggest hurdle. But by now, I’ve spoken to all the important people several times, and they think I’m all right.
Can you say when you first got interested in horror films? Was there a particular horror film that really influenced you?
I come from the south of Germany, and back in the day SDR used to have a horror film night every first Friday of the month or so, where Boris Masurke, done up in zombie makeup and decorations, would crack jokes and introduce the films. Sort of like Elvira or Vampira in the American equivalents. (“Die lange Masurke Filmnacht” on SDR, Ed.) Then, I had a mate I always used to go to the video shop with – back then there were still video shops. And I knew the owner, and all those terribly bad Italian cannibal films, some of which were actually banned, he kept in a box behind the counter, and he’d let us borrow them even though we were underage. That’s how it started. I think horror is simply the most entertaining genre. You don’t have to expect much, these cannibal films were also incredibly boring, nothing happens for 70 minutes, they tramp through the jungle, then they get caught, there are a couple of murders, and then in the next film the same murder scene is sometimes used again, interspersed with odd wildlife documentary shots… (Daniel is referring to so-called ‘mondo films’, Ed.) Incredibly bad, but somehow always fun. I watched absolutely everything. I think my all-time favourite horror villain, who I even had posters of in my childhood room, was Freddy Krueger. A Nightmare on Elm Street I could watch over and over again, Hellraiser was also always one of my favourite films, although from today’s perspective, those are more mainstream films. But I also watched all the trash over and over. Back then, you could actually get things very cheaply on eBay. If you were lucky and the auction didn’t get reported and removed, you could even snap up banned films there.
Speaking of the index: Evil Dead was only just recently released again a few days ago. Mad, isn’t it?
Yes, that’s been happening quite a lot lately. With Reanimator as well. I hope that it might eventually happen with Braindead . I think, back then, loads of films were banned without good reason. I’d also really like to show Halloween 3 , because that one’s a stand-alone and actually works by itself. Michael Myers doesn’t even appear in it. I read on the cover that it too was only recently taken off the index. And it’s now rated 16. (laughs) How can it be that it was so bad back then, and now you can buy the film at 16? The only thing stopping films being taken off the index is that someone has to pay for them to be re-reviewed. As soon as that’s paid for, it pretty much always happens.
With a lot of B-movies, there’s probably just no one who’s interested enough to pay for it. With Evil Dead, I suppose, the recent TV series probably made it worthwhile.
How long have you been running the series now?
Screammarks the 25th week, so it’s a little anniversary for me too. It kept getting pushed back. I originally wanted to start last year in October for Halloween – I’d already pitched it, but it just didn’t work out. That would obviously have been nicer – starting on Halloween and then running through the winter. It finally worked out in spring, and I thought, “Sod it, I just want the series to exist now.”
Have you noticed an increase in audience numbers during that time? Is it becoming established or are you still struggling?
I am still struggling, to be honest. I can never tell how many people will turn up. For instance, I showed The Invitation and didn’t expect much, but then over forty people came. That was a nice surprise. Today, I’m not expecting a big turnout either. Today I’m showing Theatre Bizarre, which is a bit more brutal. Tom Savini did a segment where a bloke gets cut up with a circular saw blade. I think, “Cool – but it’s not really the sort of film that brings in the crowds”, unlike The Conjuring or all that stuff which gets shown anyway in regular cinemas, which is a bit sad really.
Then maybe your audience isn’t really made up of genre fans, if the classics are popular and more splatter-heavy stuff struggles?
Yes, of course. Films like Jaws or The Exorcist, people just want to have seen those, whether or not they’re strictly horror. I mean, Jaws is really harmless. Or The Fog, which is actually pretty ridiculous when it comes to horror. But those are the films people turn out for.
With Scream, you’ll soon be showing a slightly newer classic, you could say.
Scream premiered in December 1996, so it’s already 20 years old this year. I wouldn’t have thought so either, until I read it. As I said, I’m a massive ANightmare on Elm Street fan, and since both films are by Wes Craven, I was also a huge Scream fan. The Creepy Crypt decoration wall here at the cinema even has a Scream mask hanging on it, which is mine. I bought it for myself back in the day.
On 10 September I’m also showing Final Cut, for the anniversary, because the lead actor is none other than Robert Englund, aka Freddy Krueger.
This Saturday, 27 August at 10:30pm, Daniel is showing “Scream” in the original version at Rollberg cinema. To stay updated on future programme announcements, follow Creepy Crypt’s Facebook page athttps://www.facebook.com/yorckscreepycrypt/.