History of the Horror genreTyrisha Lendor-Black

Horror film backgroundHorror is an ancient art form. We have

tried to terrify each other with tales which trigger the less logical parts of our imaginations for as long as we've

told stories.Horror movies have long served both purposes. They deliver thrills, as well

as telling us stories of the dark, forbidden side of life and death.

First horror moviesEarly horror films are surreal, dark pieces, owing their visual appearance to the

expressionist painters and their narrative style to the stories played out.

The Golem (1915) The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari (1919)

Nosferatu(1922)

1890s–1920s Supernatural events appear in several of the silent

shorts created by the film pioneer Georges Melies Japan made early production into the horror genre with

two films both made in 1898. 20th century, the first monster appeared in a horror

film: Quasimodo

HORROR MOVIES THROUGH-OUT THE YEARS

Frankenstein(1931) Frankenstein is a 1931 horror monster film

from Universal pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling, which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelly. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff. The webling play was adapted by John L. Balderston and the screenplay written by Francis Edwards Faragoh and Garret Fort with uncredited contributions from Robert Florey and John Russell.

1950’s – 1960’s With advances in technology, the tone of horror films

shifted from the Gothic towards contemporary concerns. A stream of usually low-budget productions featured

humanity overcoming threats from "outside":  alien invasions and deadly mutations to people, plants, and insects. In the case of some horror films from Japan, such as Godzilla (1954).

The Hollywood directors and producers sometimes found ample opportunity for audience exploitation.

Filmmakers continued to merge elements of science fiction and horror over the following decades. Considered a "pulp masterpiece"[

During the later 1950s, Great Britain emerged as a producer of horror films. Peeping tom (1960), directed by Michael Powell, concerns a serial killer who combines his profession as a photographer with the moments before murdering his victims.

British born director Alfred Hitchcock's’ - Psycho (1960), was the first “slasher"

Ghosts and monsters still remained a frequent feature of horror, but many films used the supernatural premise to express the horror of the demonic.

1970’s – 1980’s The end of the Production code of America in

1964, the financial successes of the low-budget gore films.

The Exorcist (1973), the first of these movies, was a significant commercial success, and was followed by scores of horror films in which the Devil represented the supernatural evil.

"Evil children" and reincarnation became popular subjects

Another example is The Sentinel (1977 film), in which a fashion model discovers that her new brownstone residence may actually be a portal to hell.

Also in the 1970s, horror author Stephen King debuted on the film scene as many of his books were adapted for the screen

John Carpentener created Halloween (1978). Sean Cunningham made Friday the 13th (1980). W B Movie elements such as horror and mild gore in

a big-budget Hollywood film. The 1980s saw a wave of gory “B Movie" horror

films

1990’s In the first half of the 1990s,

the genre continued many of the themes from the 1980s.

Two main problems pushed horror backward during this period: firstly, the horror genre wore itself out with the repetition of nonstop slasher and gore films in the eighties. Secondly, the adolescent audience which feasted on the blood and morbidity of the previous decade grew up.

To re-connect with its audience, horror became more self-mockingly ironic.

2000’s The start of the 2000s saw a

quiet period for the genre. There has been a major return

to the zombie genre in horror movies made after 2000]

A larger trend is a return to the extreme, graphic violence that characterized much of the type of low-budget, exploitation horror from the post-Vietnam years.

Remakes of earlier horror movies became routine in the 2000s. In addition to 2004's remake of Dawn of the dead