A Brief History of Horror

1890's - The Birth of a Genre

Georges Melies creates Le Manoir Du Diable (The House of the Devil). A French silent horror film. This is often credited as being the first ever horror film.

1920's - Weimar Germany

In the 1920's, during the Weimar Republic era of Germany, many directors began to create horror films in the style of German Expressionism. Some notable films are Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Paul Wegener's The Golem, and F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu.

1920's - HollywoodMeanwhile in Hollywood, the term 'horror' had not yet been applied to film, and would not for another decade.

At this time, many films were made that would later influence the horror genre. Films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera and The Lost World, which were considered to be dark melodramas at the time.

1930's - Universal Monster MoviesDuring the 1930's, Hollywood began producing horror films. The most notable of these are the numerous monster movies made by Universal Studios. During the decade, the studio produced many adaptations of famous horror novels, such as Dracula, Frankenstein and The Invisible Man.

During this period in history, many western countries were still recovering from the effects of the First World War, with the second just around the corner. The anxiety and fear of foreign threat was reflected in horror films at the time, as lots of them included foreign (mainly European) antagonists, such as Count Dracula.

1950's - JapanFollowing World War 2, Japan was dealing with the aftermath of the attacks on Hirsoshima and Nagasaki. The use of the newly created atomic bomb created a strong fear of nuclear radiation amongst the people.

This lead to the creation of Godzilla (known as Gojira is Japan). Godzilla was created as a symbol of the power and destruction caused by nuclear weaponry.

1950's - HollywoodMeanwhile in the USA, the public attention was focused on the growing tensions between the USA and the USSR. American propaganda was generating a mass panic around Russian spies and indoctrination into the Communist philosophy.

Hollywood's horror films quickly became focused on alien invaders. Films like Invasion of The Body Snatchers, The Blob and Them dealt with more sci-fi subject matter, sharing common themes of alien invasion and abduction.

1950's - Hammer HorrorIn the 1950's, Great Britain began to emerge on the horror scene, due to the success of Hammer Horror, a film production company based in the UK.

During the 1950's, Hammer created numerous horror films, reminiscent of the Universal monster movies made twenty years earlier. Two of the major stars of these films were Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, who played the hero and villain in numerous films, such as Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy.

Lee once stated that he had made a career out of "strangling Peter Cushing", referencing the many times that they had clashed on screen.

1960's - ZombiesOne of the most influential horror films of the decade (and of all time), George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead gave birth to a genre. Romero's film defined the codes and convetions of a zombie movie, that have been used to this day. Despite previous films such as White Zombie (1932), Romero is often considered the father of the zombie movie.

During the decade, zombies were used to symbolise both the threat of Communism and the Red Menace, as well as the mass consumerism that was quickly becoming part of the American lifestyle.

1970's & 1980's - Slasher HorrorOver the next twenty years, horror film would see the rise of a new sub-genre of film. These films revolved around serial killers that would stalk the protagonists, picking them off one by one.

Prominent examples of this genre are A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

1990's - Rebirth of a GenreDuring the 1990's, many of the popular slasher films from the previous decades had sequels made, but failed to achieve the success of the originals.

The horror genre was dying, as audiences were quickly becoming bored of the same codes and conventions that had once made the genre so successful.

In 1996, Wes Craven sought to remedy this issue with the release of Scream, a slasher film that utilized elements of comedy to satirize the cliches that had become prominent within the genre.

Craven succeeded in revitilising the genre, bringing new public interest to horror, and re-igniting the dormant slasher genre.

2000's to The PresentSince the turn of the millenium, horror has seen both a success and a failure.

Many remakes of slasher films from the 70's & 80's were made, but once again failed to obtain the same praise as the originals.

Films like Cabin in the Woods sought to emulate Scream's formula of satirizing the cliches of the genre, gaining praise amongst critics and fans.

One of the most prominent sub-genres to gain popularity in recent years is the supernatural haunting. Although films such as Poltergeist did this several decades ago, the genre saw resurgence over the past decade, with films such as Paranormal Activity, Insidious and The Conjuring all gaining critical praise, with numerous sequels being produced.