This document provides a history of horror films from the silent era to modern day. It discusses the origins of German Expressionist films in the 1910s and influential titles like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Iconic 1930s films such as Frankenstein and Dracula brought sound and adapted classic novels. The 1940s saw the rise of werewolf, cat, and monster films. Horror evolved further in subsequent decades with mutant creatures in the 1950s, ghosts in the 1960-70s, zombies and satanism. The 1970s were a peak for British Hammer Horror films. Slasher movies emerged in the 1980s alongside fears around topics like terrorism. Gore and torture films became more extreme starting in the
2. The horror of the silent era
The German Expressionist movement was largely due to the
Isolation the country experienced before the first world war.
The original German Expressionist films lacked in budget which lead
to non-realistic, geometrically absurd sets, also with designs
painted on walls and floors to represent lights, shadows and
objects.
The plots and stories of expressionist films are often dealt with
madness, insanity, betrayal and other „Intellectual‟ topics.
3. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919)
This film is a silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene. It is
one of the most influential of German expression films and is
considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era.
As these images show, to add to
this strange style of abstract sets
with jagged buildings painted on
canvas backdrops and flats, the
actors used an unrealistic
technique that exhibited jerky and
dancelike movements whilst acting.
4. Roots in Horror
The dictionary definition of Horror is „an intense feeling of fear,
shock, or disgust.‟
Literature has helped shaped the horror we have today, there are
three great horror novels from the 19th century; Frankenstein,
Dracula and Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde.
5. Monsters and Mad Scientists
In the 1930‟s a new style of horror using fictional characters and
„mad scientists‟ hit the screens of cinemas world wide.
These „Monsters and Mad Scientist‟ films brought sound and music
into the film industry.
6. Frankenstein (1931)
Frankenstein is a monster based horror film directed by James
Whale. Frankenstein first started off as a novel written by Mary
Shelley and later on became a stage play produced by Peggy
Webling. Universal pictures then turned Frankenstein into a film
and it hit the cinemas in 1931. Frankenstein has elements of
„Gothic novel‟ and „Romance‟ and is also
considered to be one of the earliest
examples of „science fiction‟ due to the
scientific experiment during the film.
7. Dracula (1931)
Dracula is one of the first vampire based horror films, directed by
Tod Browning. Dracula first started off as a novel which was
written by Bram Stoker and then later on became a stage play
produced by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, it was
brought to Broadway in 1927 directed by Horace Liveright.
Universal then produced the first film of
Dracula and released it in 1931.
8. The primal animal within; Werewolves (1940)
Like most of the horror films from these ages, the character or
storyline had a secret meaning. In this case the werewolf was
aimed at Hitler and the storyline World War 2.
Directed and produced by George Waggner this
film is the second Universal Pictures
werewolf movie, preceded six years earlier by
the less commercially successful „Werewolf of
London.„
9. …Cat people (1940)
Shortly after „The Wolf Man‟ in 1941 „Cat People‟ hit the
screens in 1942 with a similar storyline.
This film is most known for it‟s mind teases -
“A mainly psychological thriller, much is made
of what lurks in the shadows (particularly in
the famous swimming pool scene), and the
audience is left to make up their own mind
(unlike in the 1982 remake).”
10. Mutant creatures and Alien Invaders (1950)
In the 1950‟s Horror films finally started to break free from the
classic literary roots. One of the most popular mutant creature
films to first come out in the 1950‟s was Godzilla. When these
mutation films first hit the screen they were
either recreated using models and then moved
around using stop motion animation, or they
photographed existing life forms and edited
using blue-screen techniques.
11. Ghosts (1960-70)
“In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a
deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other
manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of
ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or
barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike visions."
In horror films ghosts are often stereotyped as evil
spirits that are seeking for revenge. They are
usually murder victims, which is why they are
angry and evil spirits. Ghosts usually haunt
someone/ something, or protecting something
that they treasured during their life.
12. Zombies (1960-70)
“A zombie is an animated corpse resurrected by mystical means,
such as witchcraft.”
Zombies are often used in horror films when scientists think they
find a cure for something, or when a curse is made to bring all
dead people back to life. They will test this
„cure‟ out on a few volunteers which doesn't
work, it usually shuts down their organs and
turns them aggressive.
13. Satanism and your family (1960-70)
“Satanism is a broad term referring to a group of Western religions
comprising diverse ideological and philosophical beliefs. Their shared
features include symbolic association with, or admiration for the
character of, Satan, or similar rebellious, promethean, and, in their
view, liberating figures.”
Satanism introduced processed small children in horror films, people
with children love and do whatever they can to
protect their children, and when a demon or
spirit has taken over them they can‟t
do anything to stop it.
14. Hammer Horror- British success
„Hammer Films‟ is a film production company based in the United
Kingdom that began in 1934. The company specialised in making
mainly Gothic Horror films. Hammer film productions also produced
some science fiction horror films, thrillers and film noir films.
Some of the most well known horror films that changed what horror
is today, were under the production of „Hammer Horror‟ such as;
Frankenstein,
Dracula,
The Mummy,
And the list goes on...
15. Slasher movies & Body horror/gore (1980)
Slasher is a subgenre of horror that started in the 1980‟s. Slasher
films often include a character who is psychopathic and usually
stalks and then kills his victims with a knife or a similar sharp
object (often a tool) in a graphically violent manner that will
produce a lot of blood. Slasher films often follow
set character roles such as; The Hero, The Killer,
The Victims, The Final Girl, The Police, The
Adults and The Location. These characters always follow the
same routine and role in every film.
16. Fears and Moral panics (1980)
Fears and moral panics are important in the media, particularly in
films because they reveal peoples worries and panic. People are
interested in finding out what worries and scares them so they
know how to act and react if they experience that fear.
The most common moral panic in films these days are about
terrorism, it is something that we all fear and that can cause chaos
to our society. The 1980‟s was the year of many
special, visual effects. Film makers were trying to
make as many special effects
as possible, like in films such
as Ghostbusters.
17. Gore-nography & Torture porn (2000)
The start of a new century is a start of a new genre in horror.
Gore-nography/ Torture porn is basically just experimenting with
different ways of torturing and killing people. Producers see it as
having a competition in seeing who can make the most disgusting
way of killing someone. Gore films are becoming more and more
popular due to the increase in lust for blood, and
creativity of death. In class we watched „Saw 2„ in
my personal opinion the story line and creativity was
good but some of the gore made me cringe, gore is
definitely not my type of horror.
