The History of Horror Films

Alice Sophie Turrell

The most popularized horror villain, Dracula

The Early Years

Horror films were originally based on the works of expressive painters, myths, and stories. This meant that it was mainly ghost stories and vampire movies as that was the stories were based on. Although these early films belong to the Horror genre, this was not the case in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s instead being classed as spooky tales. They were also silent. Some examples are;

Le Manoir du Diable

Released in 1896, and directed by early film maker George Melies, this three minute short film includes a range of different elements typical to horror film such as ghosts, smoke and bats.

Nosferatu

1922. This is the first vampire movie, based on the highly popular book Dracula by Bram Stoker. This silent movie uses backing music as well to create more of an atmosphere, as due to the lack in technical advances it was hard to visually show the horror aspects. To help narrate the movie, there is also text that comes up on screen as to what the characters are saying.

1930’s

Sound became available to use in films, and this changed horror films greatly, as sound added a new dimension to the fear, with screams and sound effects. This not only changed technicalities, but also the stories behind the films. Although still based on stories and myths, they were based more on monsters such as werewolf's and Frankenstein. This was because they could use the sound effects such as roars and groans which relate to these monsters. During this period of the Great Depression, horror films being so surreal and exciting acted as an escape, and cinemas as a whole became lot more popular, with 65% of the US population visiting the cinema on a weekly basis.

Dracula

Released in 1931, it was the first talking horror and was somewhat revolutionary in horror films, showing detailed mise en scene which became typical of horrors; the European setting, fog, forests and howling wolves.

Frankenstein

Released by Universal in 1931, another classic horror film that has become part of pop culture, exploring a new idea that monsters are man made, reflecting cultural events of the time such as war. Still based on a novel, this used strong mise en scene and used effective sound effects to bring it to life.

1940’s

During this period, Hollywood was producing movies for a domestic audience that slightly reflected the wars going on at the time. As America was trying to distance themselves from the war that was mainly happening in Europe. Although this was the case, Americas European roots started to seep through. This led to a development in the horror genre to people turning into more animalistic characters.

Werewolf of London (1935)

This movie shows the first example of a werewolf being used in a horror film. Linking to the idea of negativity in Europe at this time, the film is set in London. It also reflect concerns surrounding the war and class, gender distinctions.

Cat People (1942)

This film takes on a more realistic approach with the characters, instead opting for human images instead of the idea of mythical creatures and monsters. This as with previous horror films looks to existing popular stories for inspiration, with this film being dubbed as “Voodoo Jayne Eyre”.

1950’s

After the war, the idea of horror and evil changed dramatically due to the events that took place and what people were exposed to. This transference meant that people were no longer as frightened my fantasy creatures, instead evil now began to take a more human form. Due to the technology around the atomic bomb and the first sighting of UFO’s, people also began to fear technology.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Directed by Don Siegel, this films fear factor was the fact that those who’s bodies were controlled were everyday people that make up a neighborhood or a typical day. This reflects ideas of both alien invasion and political aspects about who can be trusted.

The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)

This includes the use of atomic technology which relates to the previous use of the atomic bomb. This was one of the top grossing movies of 1953 and encouraged the investigation and production of more monster films.

1960’s

Dubbed as the era of sexual revolution, the 60’s became more open to exploring different ideas in society such as sex, drugs and violence and these were fed to the audience – mainly teenagers - through film. The genre of horror had evolved more as well, with monsters not looking scary or realistic anymore, now instead looking at even more realistic horrors relating to social ideas such as stereotypes and how much you really knew about anything that was perceived as every day life. Alfred Hitchcock led the way with horrors in this decade with iconic films, Psycho and The Birds.

Psycho (1960)

Norman Bates became a notorious “monster” in horror after this. On the outside, he looked like a normal everyday guy, when in reality he was a murderer. This went onto inspire other horror films, and even a TV series.

The Birds (1963)

This film explores a new idea, with the female being the antagonist instead of being portrayed. This relates to social circumstances at the time where women are not all acting how men wanted the too – ie, housewives and do what they are told. Instead women are going against this and acting out which is shown in this film.

Once again, horror reflected ideas in society and due to the negative events that happened such as Nixon, and more eccentric styles such as glam rock. These may not have been seen in a good light, but impacted the horror genre well. Horrors also returned to bigger budgets will bigger productions. Themes that are evident are once again the fear of people, but mainly the fear of children.

The Exorcist (1975)

This is dubbed as one of the most popular and scary horror films as all time. It was revolutionary, with mechanical creative effects exceeding its time. It looks at very religious ideas about the devil and God, as well as its serious feel, without using humor as previous horror films of the time did. It was seen as so shocking, that it was banned from being released on video until 1999 in the UK.

The Stepford Wives (1975)

This looks at more sci-fi, and ideas and not knowing who your neighbors really are. Also looking at more cultural issues about women becoming more powerful for example, having jobs rather than being housewives. This was seen as shocking and scary in its time as it was so realistic in the sense of it being set in an idyllic town, and the idea of a perfect housewife which was common in America.

1970s

1980’s

A major theme in horror films in this time period was the use of new technologies for special effects and special effects makeup which both together helped bring horror ideas to life a lot more.

The Shinning (1980)

This is a cult classic horror adaption by Stanley Kubrick based on Stephen King’s book. This features ideas about isolation, a haunted hotel and mind tricks that eventually turned Jack insane. Unlike some other horror films of this time, this is still considered scary due to the fact it concentrates on more psychological, realistic ideas rather than special effects and monsters.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

This is another iconic cult horror film to come from the 80’s from Wes Craven who directed other popular horror films in the 1970s such as Hills Have Eyes. This focuses on the use of special effects makeup to create a monster (Freddy Kruger) that looks human in form. This was such a popular film due to the fact it goes against certain conventions. For example, a lot of the film is set during the day in a dream, however, there is nothing distinguishing the dream from reality in most cases until the end.

1990’s

The theme that run through this decade of horror films was the idea of serial killers, as more monster focused horror films were now repeating themselves and becoming increasing unbelievable and humorous. Due to the nature of the serial killer themes, there was a lot of cross over films featuring ideas of both horror films and thriller films.

Silence of The Lambs (1991)

Although this is technically a horror film, it does look towards ideas from thriller films. It also is very realistic in the fact that it contains real issues and the issues are presented realistically, and not in the form of special effects. This is a widely popular film, popularizing its two lead actors as well who also received Oscars.

Scream (1996)

This looks back to how previous decades created horror films, with the use of teen characters that get killed off one by one. This film in a away created a new sub genre of horror films in some respect, as it was the first horror that actively looked towards comedic themes as well. This drew in a big teen audience who seemed to prefer the slightly lighter themes.

2000’s

Everything changed for horror movies, due to the world changing event that was 9/11/. This resulted in filmmakers being wary of releasing films that would effect, shock, and disrespect a world that had seem the tragic events. When horror did start to come back, gone was the psychopathic killers that were shown. As with the Great Depression in the 1940’s, horror movies were once again an escape from the events of the real world.

28 Days Later (2002)

This zombie apocalypse film set in England uses surveillance style filming, very real themes that touched on the time the film was brought out to create a new style of zombie horror film. These realistic themes are why it was so popular, creating a fear that it could potentially happen.

Hostel (2005)

This along with many other horror films released in this time shows a lot of blood, guts, and torture. Although it does not feature any real, deep story line such as in 28 Days Later, it does borrow some themes, such as the realistic feel. This also is helped by the fact the movie is advertised as “inspired by true events”.