Theme: Anthologies

Anthologies refer to films that tell more than one separate story. Sometimes the stories are interwoven and have linking elements or the same actors but they are always self-contained stories with different characters. Usually (although not in all cases), the stories will have some introductory framework – frequently involving some type of narrator or a set-up where people are told/are reading a story.

Most anthologies covered in genre material are horror anthologies, although there are a smaller number of science-fiction anthologies and an even smaller number of fantasy anthologies. Frequently, anthologies may be grouped around a particular theme, or can be adaptations of stories by a genre author. Popular in recent years are anthologies where stories comes from different directorial hands.

The anthology has been with us since the silent era. It gained a popularity during the 1960s where British company Amicus made a series of horror anthologies beginning with Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965). Around the same time, the anthology was popular on US television in particular with the hit The Twilight Zone (1959-63) and the SF themed The Outer Limits (1963-5), which aired a different story each week.

The 1980s saw a revival of the genre with the Stephen King-George Romero Creepshow (1982), which led to several copies and then remakes/revivals of the 1950s/60s tv series, plus a number of original horror anthology shows and films.

The 2010s has seen a revival of the anthology film, in particular multi-director anthologies from directors with genre backgrounds usually around a common theme (novelty deaths, women directed, Found Footage, holidays etc).