For the Love of Horror : ‘Fear in the Dark’ on A&E; explains the human urge to be frightened

It’s fun to be scared. Almost everyone loves to scream in terror while riding a thrill ride or watching some creature feature in a darkened movie theater. There’s a sense of exhilaration and accomplishment with making it through the ordeal.

If that’s you, check out the new British-made documentary “Fear in the Dark,” premiering Tuesday on Arts & Entertainment.

“Fear in the Dark” chronicles the history of horror-fantasy in the 20th Century, explores its role in pop culture and examines why humans love to be scared. The documentary features clips from such vintage horror flicks as “Nosferatu” and “Frankenstein” to such modern-day exercises in terror as “The Exorcist,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Hellraiser” and “Halloween.”

Also included are interviews with horror directors Clive Barker (“Hellraiser”), John Carpenter (“Halloween,” “The Thing”), Wes Craven (“Nightmare on Elm Street”), John McNaughton (“Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer”) and William Friedkin (“The Exorcist”).

Paul Cowan, producer of “Fear in the Dark,” is not a fan of the current trend toward gory, special-effects-laden horror films. “I can’t watch the frightening stuff,” he said. “I squirm. I agree with Robert Bloch (the author of ‘Psycho’) when he said it was much better to leave it to the imagination than show it on the screen.”

Cowan and his writer, Mick Farren, though, made sure their own personal feelings didn’t intrude on the documentary. “We stayed back and didn’t take sides,” Cowan said. “We let people say what they like or didn’t like about horror films. We wanted to present a program without taking a moral stand or putting our point of view in it.”

“Fear in the Dark” does illustrate the direct correlation between a particular period of history and the horror drama. “During the 1930s, the films were close to kind of traditional stories from Europe--European folk tales,” Cowan said. “In the post-World War II era, everyone was frightened of nuclear warfare and weapons, and films were about giant mutants and holocaust survivors.”

In today’s violent times, the horror film has become more and more brutally realistic and graphic. John Carpenter admits in the documentary that he is worried about the effect of these films on audiences. “He says in the last couple of years there have been more serial killers,” Cowan said. “He thinks it’s getting worse and worse. He doesn’t say you get a serial killer because he watches one of his films, but he is aware of the so-called filmmaker’s responsibility in terms of what kind of product he presents to the audience.”

“What is quite interesting about all the filmmakers is that they were all quite different,” Cowan said. “The biggest surprise was they were normal, ordinary people. Someone like William Friedkin, who made ‘The Exorcist,’ probably the most frightening film anyone has made, doesn’t wear a big black cloak and run around at night frightening people. He is a damn good filmmaker.”

Cowan, who was associate producer of 1990’s gangster drama “The Krays,” has gotten into the horror film act. He is producing a horror spoof called “They Come Out at Night,” about how a vampire plans to take over the world through the contaminated dentures of old people.

“The false teeth assume a kind of force of their own,” Cowan said.

“Fear in the Dark” airs Tuesday at 6 and 10 p.m. on A&E.;