Horror Films from the 1900's to now

1. HORROR FILMS THROUGH
THE DECADES
Emma Thomson

2. TYPES OF HORROR

3. STEVE NEALESteven Neale is a British Analytic philosopher
and a specialist in the philosophy of
language. He has written extensively about
the meanings, information, interpretation and
communication and about issues within the
topic of philosophy and linguistics.
His theory for media is the idea that
the genre itself is created through
the repetitiveness of the
stereotypical key codes and
conventions, which has therefore
shaped the overall development of
the horror genre.

4. KEY CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF
THE GENRE
Iconography/Pr
ops
Knives, Swords, Axes, Chainsaws
Settings
Woods, haunted houses, graveyards,
countryside, isolated towns/houses
Sound
Large use of non diegetic
music to set atmosphere
Villain
Ghost, Demons, Mental patients,
Monsters, the outcast of the group,
Masked Murderers , Male Killer
Characters
Teenagers, Parents
Killer, children

5. 1922 – N0SFERATU
Nosferatu is one of the first horror films to be
released, it is a silent, black and white film. It is
about a vampire count ‘Orlok’ who expresses his
interests in a new residence and real estate agent
Hutter’s wife.
-The movie was banned in Sweden due to
excessive horror, but then the ban was lifted in
1972.
- Some of the special effects were achieved with
stop-motion photography. By rapidly showing a
sequence of still images in the film of the lid of
Orlok’s coffin, they are able to trick the viewer into
believing that there was an inanimate object flying
around under its own power.

6. 1935 – BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
This film is based off the written novel by Mary
Shelley. It is about Dr. Frankenstein, a mad scientist
who builds himself a monster friend. The director is
James Whale.
- At the time, the budget for the film was $397,024
(estimated) and the film was produced by Universal
Studios.
- Again like all the other films released around this
time, the film is shown in black and white colour,
however for this one there is a mono sound mix
which is considered as Noiseless Western Electric
Recording.

7. 1946 – STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP
A number of men, who are in the swamp land,
have died by being strangled. Majority of people
believe that an innocent man has been hung is
seeking revenge from beyond the grave on the
male descendants for the people responsible for
his death.
- This film was written and directed by Frank
Wisbar, who has directed an additional three
films.
- Again the film is in black and white and there is
again an additional mono sound mix which is
western electric microphonic recording.

8. 1958 – THE BLOB
The blob takes into the aspect of the supernatural
and is about an alien lifeform consumes everything
in it’s path and continues to grow and grow.
- There are two directors of the film: Irvin S.
Yeaworth Jr. and Russell S. Doughten Jr.
- In box office, the overall budget for the film is an
estimated $240,000
- As the decades have gone on, this film is in colour
in contrast to the others, and the sound is still mono
and is a western electric recording.

9. 1960 - PSYCHO
Psycho is a highly acknowledged film in the horror
genre as it directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The plot
consists of a secretary embezzling $40,000 from
her employees client, goes on the run and then
books into a motel, owned by a young man under
the control of his mother.
- The film itself is actually based off the novel
written by Robert Bloch.
- The budget of the film is roughly $806,947 and
in total it grossed around $32,000,000 and it was
a very successful film in the US.

10. 1976 – THE OMEN
The film is based around the mysterious deaths
around the American Ambassador. The
question being asked is could the child that he
is raising actually be the antichrist? The devils
own son.
- This film is directed by Richard Donner and
Written by David Seltzer. Richard himself has
gained a name for himself in the industry
through his work, and he is acknowledged for
his work on the goonies.
- This film is aimed at the mid Atlantic
audience and has been released in the UK and
US with an overall budget of $2,800,000. Over
the years, the budgets for the films have
increased dramatically.

11. 1980 – THE SHINING
The shining is acknowledged as a masterpiece
of modern horror at the time that it was
released. A family are heading to an isolated
hotel for the winter, in which an evil spirt is
present. There is a large influence from the
farther into violent behaviours and his son sees
the horrors that wait them in the future and
what they have faced in the past.
- The film is directed by Stanley Kubrick and is
based on the novel written by Stephen King,
who is known for his novels based around the
horror genre.
- Warner Bros produced the film under a
budget of $19,000,000 for a mid Atlantic
audience.

12. 1996 - SCREAM
Scream is based a year after the murder of a
teenage girls mother, when the girl herself is
terrorized by a killer, who is targeting not only
the girl herself but her friends. Within the film
itself, horror films are included as a part of the
deadly game.
- The target audience that they have tried to
capture is the American Audience. And the film
itself is overall successful with a budget of
$14,000,000 and on its opening weekend alone
it made $6,354,586 in the US. But overall it has
grossed over $103,000,000.
- The director for the film is Wes Craven.

13. 2008 – EDEN LAKE
Eden Lake is about a young couple refusing to let
anything spoil their romantic weekend and they
decide to confront a gang of loutish youths with
terrifyingly brutal consequences.
- James Watkins is the director and the writer of
this film. This film is aimed at the UK audience
and was released in the UK primarily.
- The budget for the film is unknown, but on the
opening week they made £192,027 and overall in
the month after in the US when it had set off they
had only made $5,824.

14. 2016 – THE CONJURING 2
The conjuring accesses the idea of paranormal
activities and is now a popular horror genre as it
is playing largely on peoples fears of the
unknown. It is about a couple traveling to London
to help a mother of four in a house that is being
terrorised by a malicious spirit
- James Wan has produced this film and has also
produced the film before. (The conjuring) It is
written by Carey Hayes.
- In box office, the budget is $40,000,000 and it
made $40,406,314 in the US alone proving that
the film was overall quite successful and has now
made $102,000,000+

15. 2020 – PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
A new phantom of the opera movie has been announced as a part of
universal picture’s dark universe. The dark universe itself is an aim
from universal to remake classic movies.