You may not be aware of this, but the Libarary of Congress has a National Film Preservation Board, who preserves America’s film heritage, as established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988 to ensure the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America’s film heritage. Getting an Oscar is great and all, but to be preserved for eternity is a pedistal of a whole different level.
And, it is an area where horror films actually get the respect that they deserve! Who needs your stinking Oscar anyways! This is how the greatest films get recognized, in the end. But now the films that got overlooked in the past can get their proper placement in history.
First off, a big congratulations to Carrie (1976) for being selected in the 2022 class of inductees for preservation. Brian DePalma’s classic joins the following horror movies already preserved in the National Archive. Horror movies are well represented in the National Archive, as most of the MUST HAVE movies are already in. Here are the horror and horror adjacent properties that are in the registry:
- The Phantom of the Opera (1926)
- Dracula (1931)
- Dracula (Spanish Language) (1931)
- Frankenstein (1931)
- Freaks (1932)
- The Invisible Man (1933)
- King Kong (1933)
- The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- Cat People (1942)
- The Thing From Another World (1951)
- Invasion of the Body Snatches (1956)
- Touch of Evil (1958)
- Psycho (1960)
- Night of the Living Dead (1968)
- Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
- Deliverance (1972)
- The Exorcist (1973)
- Young Frankenstein (1974)
- Jaws (1975)
- Carrie (1976)
- Eraserhead (1977)
- Halloween (1978)
- Alien (1979)
- Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1983)
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
- Ghostbusters (1984)
- The Terminator (1984)
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- Jurassic Park (1993)
Did you notice a couple of significant missing films? I sure did! It is my goal to get John Carpenter’s masterpiece The Thing (1982) on to the registry. Sure, the Howard Hawks 1951 The Thing From Another World is on the list, but ask anyone about The Thing, and we’re talking Kurt Russell. I have already sent in my nomination, and you can place a nomination HERE. You can nominate up to 50 films (wow) that are at least 10 years old.
Fangoria has started a campaign to get The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1975) into the registry, and I also made a pitch for that film… how can you have horror and not TCM? Here is the list of significant movies not on the registry yet. So, I couldn’t just leave it with those two movies. There are plenty of deserving horror films that should be preserved!
Here’s what I nominated:
- The Thing (1982)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1975)
- Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
- The Fly (1986)
- Se7en (1995)
- The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
- The Haunting (1963)
- Blue Velvet (1986)
- Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
- Aliens (1987)
- Candyman (1992)
- … and There’s Something About Mary (1998)
The Preservation Board can select up to 25 films, so here’s hoping we get some more horror on the board! Applications have to be submitted by Aust 15, 2023! Vote Early! Vote Often!
