In American Film Genres (New York: Dell, 1974), Stuart M. Kaminsky has developed the “Seven Branches of the American Horror Film,” a seven-branch paradigm for analyzing the American horror film. Each branch is identified by the first of six categories for each branch—its “source of horror.”
The seven branches presented in order are:
(1) Animal drives which threaten man,
(2) Immortal parasite,
(3) Witches, corrupt humans who worship evil,
(4) Resurrected dead, or possessed beings who are figuratively dead,
(5) Unpredictable mad men,
(6) Mad scientist and created monster, and
(7) Creatures from outer space, inside the Earth, or from the Id.
The five categories for each branch are:
(1) Source of horror,
(2) psychological issues,
(3) goal of monster,
(4) reason for violence,
(5) weapons, and
(6) characters.
In addition, Kaminsky lists key films for each branch. Thus, for the movie Creepshow in “The Crate” story each category can be explained as follows for branch seven—Creatures from outer space, inside the Earth, or from the Id.
(1) Not all given horror film fulfill each category effectively of a given branch. In Creepshow’s “The Crate,” director George A. Romero, with the help of legendary special effects make up artist Tom Savini, creates a monster that exemplifies all the types of monsters named in branch seven. The “source of horror” is coming from a monster that was discovered in a lab. The audience is kept unaware of its origins and one can begin to imagine that the monster could come from outer space, inside the Earth, or even from the Id of the main character Henry Northrup.
(2) The “psychological issue” of this branch is labeled “Retention of sanity in a microcosmic, disoriented version of a community.” The college that the lab is located at is a large community of closely-nit professors, students, and even janitors. The main character, Henry Northrup, is part of this college community as he tries to escape his brutish wife, Wilma. Henry’s psychological issue stems from Wilma’s verbal abuse and her constant drinking. He wants so badly to be free of her tyranny but can not find an outlet to accomplish this. His self-confidence is so low that when his friend Professor Dexter Stanley comes to him to help with the monster in the crate, he is reluctant at first but finds an opportunity to escape his wife and be a hero at the same time.
(3) The “goal of the monster” for this branch is “attainment of suppressed urges, desires.” Quite obviously, the goal of the monster is to eat as much as possible before returning to the crate once more. When “The Crate” begins, we see that the crate that is, unknowingly at the time, carrying the monster is covered in mounds of dust, long discarded. The monster inside is understandable hungry after all the years of being locked in a crate under a flight of stairs and eats as many people as possible to qualm his hunger, including the janitor, a student, and finally Wilma. The goal of the monster is to never return to the crate again, but if the monster is from Henry’s Id, the ultimate goal is to be free of Wilma, which he is at the end of the section.
(4) The “reason for violence” for branch seven is that the monster is a savage beast. The monster has been locked in a crate for quite a long time (this can be assumed by the rusty chains and dust on the top of the crate) and he is not only hungry, but angry as well. Most monsters in horror film don’t need a reason for violence, for they are savage monsters who do not need a reason.
(5) The “weapons” for branch seven are the monster’s large claws and even larger mouth. The monster is not very large, but it has the element of surprise and sharp claws to destroy and eat its prey.
(6) Finally, “the character” for branch seven is Henry Northrup; the protagonist who is “threatened with insanity.” Henry is driven mad by his wife Wilma and is turned evil when he finds a way to get rid of her: feed her to the monster. Her constant nagging has driven him to this point and Henry finds no other way to deal with Wilma. Like a protagonist, Henry helps his friend Dexter Stanley clean up the blood and guts that the monster has left behind from the previous kills. On the surface, Henry is perceived to be a spineless yes man, but he is holding in a wild beast.
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