Through the 1940s and 50s, filmmakers continue to adapt and evolve the popular tropes from

domestic set thrillers of the time, like Gaslight and the Cat and the Canary. But these films continue

to add darker and more sinister twists, which began to slowly establish the prowler in the

house format, stories about women being preyed upon in their homes by dangerous men.

In 1946, RKO produced a psychological thriller about a mute woman who is pursued by a serial killer

in a large house. The film, the spiral staircase, would go on to become hugely, historically important,

not just in the evolution of home invasion films, but also the slasher movie.

A few years later Alfred Hitchcock made a 3D adaptation of a play by Frederick Not about a woman

played by Grace Kelly, who is attacked in our home in the middle of the night by a mysterious

strangler. And while both films played on the idea of outsiders invading the home, both films

ultimately suggested that as with films like Gaslight, the real monster was inside the

house all along. Join me as we continue exploring the evolution of home invasion,

and we discuss Robert Syedmax, the spiral staircase, and Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder.

Welcome back to the evolution of horror. My name is Mike Munter, and as ever, I am your host.

If you're tuning in for the first time, then welcome. In this podcast, we explore and dissect

the history and the evolution of the horror genre, one subgenre at a time. We are currently in the

middle of our ninth series exploring the evolution of home invasion movies, and this is part 5.

In this week's episode, as that intro suggested, we're going to be looking at two creepy thrillers

from the forties and fifties at the spiral staircase from 1946, and Dial M for Murder from 1954.

Both of these discussions will be spoilerific. Give them both a watch before you listen to our

discussion. So joining me to discuss these two classic thrillers, I've got a brand new guest.

Somebody I've been really excited to have on the podcast for a very long time. She is a writer

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