Countless viewers this holiday season will be re-visiting Frank Capra’s classic 1946 film, It’s a Wonderful Life. I did so myself last night –and was particularly struck, this viewing, by the turn the film takes after George Bailey (James Stewart) drives to the bridge, determined to take his own life. This is, of course, where Clarence (Henry Travers), George’s guardian angel, appears and before long decides to show George what the life of Bedford Falls and its inhabitants would have been like without him. For a while, Capra’s Christmas classic turns into a horror film, and, in doing so, it illustrates the enduring meaning and importance of horror film in people’s lives.
