Georges Melies was the first to depict supernatural events in silent films in the 1890s. Universal Pictures began the classic Hollywood monster film series in the 1930s-1940s with films like Dracula and Frankenstein. The 1950s-1960s saw the genre shift tones and include threats of alien invasion and mutation from nuclear radiation. Stephen King books were adapted to film in the 1970s-1980s and slasher films became popular, while the 1990s saw more self-aware and parodic horror films like Scream. The 2000s had a resurgence of zombie films like 28 Days Later and remakes were common in the 2010s alongside a return of earlier subgenres.

1. Horror Genre Research

2. The History Of Horror Films
1890 – 1920
Georges Melies was the first person to depict supernatural events in his silent shorts
created in the late 1890s. In 1910, Edison Studios created the first film version of
Frankenstein. Multiple Films were then made using monsters such as the character Dr.
Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, or Quasimodo in multiple film adaptations of the story.
1930 – 1940
Universal Pictures began a Gothic Horror film Series. This series included films like Dracula,
Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, Son of
Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Wolf Man.
1950 – 1960
The tone of the horror genre shifted from Gothic to Contemporary Concerns, due to the
advances in technology. Films that featured threats against humanity started to come
into play. Films that included Alien Invasion, Mutations to people, plants or insects. For
example, the Japanese film Godzilla, mutations from the effects of nuclear radiation was
featured. Filmmakers started to merge elements from the science fiction genre. The
Incredible Shrinking Man was considered a “pulp masterpiece”.

3. The History Of Horror Films
1970 – 1980
In the 1970s, the author Stephen King began to have his works
adapted for the screen. Films like Carrie, which gained Oscar
nominations, and The Shining which was a sleeper at the box office.
Slasher films also became popular in the early 1980s. This included films
like Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street and
Hellraiser.
1990s
In the 90s, the Horror genre started to become more ironic and
parodic. Films like Braindead took the splatter film to an extreme for
comic effect. And films such as Scream made it so the characters
were aware of the history of horror movies.

4. The History Of horror Films
2000s
A major return of the Zombie genre had come after the 2000s. Films
were based of games, such as the Resident Evil video game franchise.
Films like I Am Legend, Zombieland, Quarantine, and 28 Days Later
brought back the aggressive style Zombie.
2010s
In the 2010s, films that were better known were the remakes of popular
films, such as Halloween, Friday the 13th and Hellraiser. All the Sub-
Genres that were made popular in the earlier decades were brought
back with films such as Sinister, The Cabin In The Woods, Evil Dead, The
Purge, The Conjuring, Annabelle, World War Z.

5. Horror Sub-Genres
• Action Horror - A subgenre combining the intrusion of an evil force, event, or supernatural personage of
horror movies with the gunfights and frenetic chases of the action genre.
• Body Horror - In which the horror is principally derived from the graphic destruction or degeneration of
the body.
• Comedy Horror - Combines the elements of comedy and horror fiction. The comedy horror genre almost
always inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre.
• Gothic Horror - Gothic horror is a type of story that contains elements of Goth and horror.
• Natural Horror - A subgenre of horror films "featuring nature running amok in the form of mutated beasts,
carnivorous insects, and normally harmless animals or plants turned into cold-blooded killers."
• Psychological Horror - Relies on characters' fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music,
emotional instability and at times, the supernatural and ghosts, to build tension and further the plot.
• Science Fiction Horror - Often revolves around subjects that include but are not limited to killer aliens,
mad scientists, and/or experiments gone wrong.
• Slasher Film - Often revolves around a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a
graphically violent manner, mainly with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe.
• Splatter Film - These films deliberately focus on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. Through
the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts, they tend to display an overt interest in the
vulnerability of the human body and the theatricality of its mutilation.
• Zombie Film - Zombie films feature creatures who are usually portrayed as either reanimated corpses or
mindless human beings.

6. Horror Sub-Genres
• Action Horror - A subgenre combining the intrusion of an evil force, event, or supernatural personage of
horror movies with the gunfights and frenetic chases of the action genre.
• Body Horror - In which the horror is principally derived from the graphic destruction or degeneration of
the body.
• Comedy Horror - Combines the elements of comedy and horror fiction. The comedy horror genre almost
always inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre.
• Gothic Horror - Gothic horror is a type of story that contains elements of Goth and horror.
• Natural Horror - A subgenre of horror films "featuring nature running amok in the form of mutated beasts,
carnivorous insects, and normally harmless animals or plants turned into cold-blooded killers."
• Psychological Horror - Relies on characters' fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music,
emotional instability and at times, the supernatural and ghosts, to build tension and further the plot.
• Science Fiction Horror - Often revolves around subjects that include but are not limited to killer aliens,
mad scientists, and/or experiments gone wrong.
• Slasher Film - Often revolves around a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a
graphically violent manner, mainly with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe.
• Splatter Film - These films deliberately focus on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. Through
the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts, they tend to display an overt interest in the
vulnerability of the human body and the theatricality of its mutilation.
• Zombie Film - Zombie films feature creatures who are usually portrayed as either reanimated corpses or
mindless human beings.