About the event
Before its re-launch in the new millennium, Britain’s most iconic producer of horror movies, Hammer Films, ceased feature film production in 1979. For some, this sounded the death knell for domestic horror production, ushering in a “wasteland” of inactivity (Pirie 2025) before the genre was “reborn” in the early 2000s with mainstream hits such as 28 Days Later (2002).
However, it is the case that intervening two decades saw numerous domestic horror productions materialise, enjoying varying levels of success and international exposure. This presentation, focusing on the 1990s, and the genre output of production/distribution outfit Metrodome Films, explores how this was the case.
By the early 2000s, Metrodome had established itself as a robust force within the British film market, with interests spanning both avant-garde and commercial cinema. This reputation, however, was forged in the mid-1990s, built upon a foundation of British-financed, British-shot horror films produced for the nascent videocassette market: Beyond Bedlam (1994), Proteus (1995), and Darklands (1996).
Through close analysis of these films, alongside trade periodicals, marketing materials, and industry correspondence, this talk examines the formation and economic strategies of Metrodome to argue for horror as an undervalued yet significant contributor to the diversity, vitality, and market visibility of British cinema during the decade.
About the speaker
Johnny Walker is Associate Professor of Media and Film, and Head of Visual Communication and Digital Cultures, at Northumbria University. His authored books include Contemporary British Horror Cinema (Edinburgh, 2015) and Rewind, Replay: Britain and the Video Boom, 1978-92 (Edinburgh, 2022) and, as editor, the second edition of Peter Hutchings’ Hammer and Beyond: The British Horror Film (Manchester, 2021).
He is currently working on a book for the British Film Institute about British horror film production during the 1980s and 1990s.
How to attend
This event is open to all, and free to attend. You can reserve your spot on Eventbrite.
