The History of Horror

1920 19

301960

1990

2000 20

10

In 1922, Nosferatu was released and was on of the first ever horror films. It was a dark, shadowy, gothic, vampiric piece. Similar to other horrors of this time which were eerie, dark and featured scenes of mutilation.

Films brought out in the 1920’s reflected that audiences were terrified by mystical creatures - such as vampires.

The use of setting/darkness/costume all contributed together in order to create a scary effect.

In general, looking back at Nosferatu, it is evident to see how much the horror genre has evolved and it has in many ways - such as the difference types of horror now available to audiences. The horror genre responds and adapts according to what society deems to be frightening, which shifts and changes all the time which is partical how the genre has evolved so much.

1920’s..

1930’s..

● The horror’s of the 30’s were gothic, and were set in far off lands. Such as Dracula and his remote castle in pennsylvania.

● Many features monsters, and were inspired by 19th Century novels.

● First use of sound.● Dracula 1931, was the first

talking horror. Which in itself, changed horror forever, not only could views be scared upon what they see on screen, but also by what they hear. Although they would receive a similar scare through the use of both non-diegetic and diegetic music, the use of dialogue intimidates and frightens audiences.

More from the 1930’s..

Bela Lugosi

Boris Karloff

The Bride of Frankenstein 1935. Seen as one of the greatest horror movies, ever. As well as one of the first to feature a female monster.

1940’S..

● During the 1940’s films were banned in Britain because of WW11. As a result of this, America took over. However, the Americans decided to play it safe, with many of the films being very similar to those that were made in the 1930’s.

● Character’s that were featured in these horrors turned into animals or were half man/half beast. But still, this was VERY popular.

● In 1942 “Cat People” was a filmed that consisted of a female character, who was actually scary. Irena prowled around in cat form terrorising and killing people. However, they were more subtle scares, through the use of shadows or diegetic sounds.

1950’s

Due to the horror of world war two million people losing their lives, the on screen horrors of the previous decades no longer seemed scary in comparison to their real life horrors. However, because of the war new fears arose such as: radiation, nuclear war, technological change and scientific experiments. This left teenagers the main audience for horror films.

‘The Fly’ (1958) was typical of the era. It was based on mutated creatures that were affected by radiation. This begun to make audiences fear what affects radiation as well as scientific experiments could have on the world. Another film that had an impact on the teens of this era was ‘The Blob’, which was also released in 1958. It was based on a giant amoeba-like creature that terrorised a town. This film further reiterates that audiences feared the side effects of nuclear explosions and radiation on the universe.

1960’sNow the 50’s had ended the fears that had gripped the world in the 50’s were gone. Audiences no longer feared nuclear explosions or destruction caused by radiations.

The 60’s was a period of massive social change regarding drugs, sex, new fashions and freedom. In horror films, the monsters of the 60’s were in human form. Audiences begun to see and fear the monstrous potential of a man and the murky darkness behind the human mind.

‘Psycho’ 1960: The hitchcock classic featured a ‘monster’ that was as close to a man as you could get. The monster himself was called ‘Norman’ which presumably Hitchcock chose as it sounds like ‘normal’. However, he was a ‘psycho’. As oppose to the intelligent horrors made by Hitchcock, Roger Corman made ‘B’ movies with the sole intention of making a profit. His movies included: The Raven, The Haunted Palace and The Wasp Woman. They all included plenty of gore and buxom women.

1970’s

With the 70’s came the depression and the optimism of the 60’s came to an end. Despite this horrors grew in quality. Within society ‘the pill’ was introduced and with the defects caused by Thalidomide, it led to a fear of children and childbirth. The idyllic family of the 1950’s crumbled away. The idea that the enemy could be found in your own family was reflected in 70’s horror. It was also the decade the sub genre ‘slasher’ was born, as well as ‘the final girl’.

‘The Shining’: featured a husband/father who was controlled by a supernatural presence which led him to become murderous and violent and tried to kill his wife and son. Another film released in the 70’s was ‘The Exorcist’ which featured a child possessed by evil, reflecting the fear society had of disturbed children.

1980’sThe 1980’s was a time of technological change and an increased use of SFX. This led to a materialistic society that believed the bigger and showier, the better. There was lots more colour, SFX, killers in full view, gruesome killings, brighter lighting, increased prosthetics and experimental makeup. One thing that continued to prosper from the 70’s was that monsters remained human, society still feared the evil of fellow men.

‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ (1984): It contained excessive gore and brightly lit sets. The first victim was Tina, who was slashed to pieces for having sex, which is a main convention in the horror genre.

A VCR was a brilliant addition to the home in the 80’s, it meant that horror films could be watched at home.

1990’s

Audience’s begun to get sick of the guts and gore and instead demanded more intelligent horror. Audiences believe that they were clued up on existing horror and found them predictable.

In 1996 Wes Craven acknowledged how genre-savvy audiences were by having characters who were aware of and mocked horror conventions, but they still died. This brought a lighter sense to horror and audiences would laugh at the characters because of their stupidity.

2000’s and beyond

The tragedy of 9/11 changed our view of what is scary. Audiences fear of the evil that lurks our world - especially terrorist.

Modern horrors often featured a game that was a race of time against a killing force that cannot be seen. Also popular, was remakes a spoofs such as ‘The Amityville Horror’, which was originally released in 1979 and was remade in 2005.

Audiences begun to enjoy different genres of horror such as: psychological, supernatural and zombie. Also popular was ‘found footage’ horrors such as ‘Grave Encounters’. Films like this made it more realistic for audiences and therefore more scary. Additionally, possession and exorcism films surged in popularity such as ‘The Devil Inside. Thanks to new e-media, horror films are now more transportable and accessible to audiences, on websites such as Netflix.

conclusionThroughout time, horror has considerably progressed and the change is certainly noticeable. As a genre of film it has broadened, as time goes on the horror genre has to adapt according to what society finds frightening, it shifts and changes mimicking our fears.