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1. Joseph Russo
A HISTORY OF HORROR – “FRANKENSTEIN
GOES TO HOLLYWOOD”

2. PHANTOM OF THE OPERA – 1925 SILENT FILM
• The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film
adaptation of the 1910 novel directed by Rupert Julian and starring
Lon Chaney, who was one of the most famous actors in this era of
horror films.
• Chaney was known for his makeup skills, designing all of his costumes
himself and his makeup kit is now stored in the Los Angeles Natural
History Museum. He painted his eye sockets black to give a skull-like
impression and pulled the tip of his nose with wire to create the look
of the Phantom.
• The “unmasking scene” in the film was said to have made the
audience scream and faint when it was first released in 1925.

3. DRACULA - 1931
• Dracula was released in 1931 and was the first horror film with
sounds, also known as the first “talkie” horror film.
• Bela Lugosi, a Hungarian actor was chosen for the role of
Dracula though at first the director was reluctant to have him
as the leading actor. However he convinced directors he was
the perfect fit and accepted a small amount of payment for his
work.
• While this film was still very successful, it was said to have
lacked many aspects of a typical horror film such as no blood
or fangs on Dracula, or lack of typical scary locations that the
audience would expect to see.

4. FRANKENSTEIN - 1931
• Frankenstein had many more horror aspects to it, with the film
opening in a graveyard giving a very disturbing feel to it.
Frankenstein was shot just a few months after Dracula but was a
big leap forward from it.
• Bela Lugosi was again chosen to be the leading actor, but he
shortly left the project. An actor who went by the stage name of
“Boris Karloff” was chosen to play Frankenstein’s monster because
of his distinctive features.
• The film endured criticism after there was a scene shown of a little
girl being thrown in a lake and eventually dying. This scene was
censored in many countries and eventually re edited completely.
The original version was not released again for another 50 years.
• Although it had a lot of criticism, Frankenstein and Dracula were
very successful and horror became a very popular genre after this.

5. POST FRANKENSTEIN
• Other Hollywood studios were quick to respond and began
following the trend of making horror films such as Paramount
and Warner Brothers.
• “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” featured a single shot transformation
sequence which helped the actor of the film win the best actor
award.
• “Mystery of the wax museum” was the first horror film to be
shot in colour and created a very chilling story line.

6. JAMES WHALE (1899-1957)
• James Whale was a horror film director best remembered for
his four classic horror films: Frankenstein, The Old Dark House,
The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein.
• “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935) was Whale’s greatest
achievement as a director but also his last one. This was due to
Hollywood’s horror industry being in an unstable position.

7. SON OF FRANKENSTEIN
• This was a 139 horror film that is the sequel to James Whale’s
“Bride of Frankenstein”. It was released as a more family
friendly film after the double re-release of Dracula and
Frankenstein.
• This revitalised Universal’s declining horror output as it was
very successful, and it also starred both Karloff (Frankenstein)
and Lugosi (Dracula).

8. “LUTON BUS SHOCK’S”
• A Luton Bus Shock is when a build up occurs to an event that
makes the audience believe that a scare is about when it
actually displays a regular event.
• This first occurred in horror films in the film “Cat People” where
a girl is walking down a street and she thinks she can hear a
noise. After a while, a bus pulls up next to her causing a loud
sound and shocking the audience.
• A more recent version of a Luton Bus Shock was in the 1973
film “The Exorcist” where a whole scene is made up of Luton
Bus Shocks.

9. A HISTORY OF HORROR – “HOME COUNTIES
HORROR”

10. POST 1950’S – BRITISH HAMMER FILMS
• Hammer Pictures is a British film production company based in
London. They are best known for a series of Gothic, “Hammer
Horror” films made from the mid 1950’s until the 1970’s. They
also mixed horror with science fiction.
• Their first film was called “Quatermass Xperiment” which
became very successful. It was a science fiction film with many
horror elements to it.

11. CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN & DRACULA
• One of their successful films was “The Curse of Frankenstein”.
It was Hammer’s first colour horror film and was a worldwide
success, reportedly earning 70 times its production costs.
• The Dracula film was the first mainstream horror films was to
use props such as blood and fangs on the vampires. It was also
one of the first horror films to include sexual references which
caused censors to cut some of them from the completed film.
• Dracula became a worldwide hit and horror was said to be “re-
born” after its release.

12. POST 1960’S - 70’S
• Pit and the Pendulum (1961) – this was the first horror film to
have a pivotal moment in which an image is shown of a corpse
which shocked audiences worldwide.
• The Haunting (1963) – distorted camera angles and the careful
use of silence then sudden noise created an atmosphere of
horror and this was a revolutionary idea.

13. BRITISH FOLK HORROR
• Folk horror is a sub-genre of horror and the storylines typically
involve rituals and demonic occurrences. The terms ‘demon’
and ‘devil’ appear to be associated with folk horror.
• Witchfinder General (1968) was one of the first British folk
horror films to be made.
• The Wicker Man (1973), directed by Robin Hardy, is one of the
most famous folk horror films to be made based on Mary
Shelley’s 1818 novel. This films was the start of folk horror
films to make use of British landscapes to create a certain
atmosphere.

14. A HISTORY OF HORROR – “THE AMERICAN
SCREAM”

15. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
• Night of the living dead had a strong message in it because of
the events happening in and around America such as political
assassinations, the Vietnam war etc. This showed a metaphor
of America turning against itself.
• It has been a cult classic ever since its release but it was
heavily criticised at its release for its explicit gore, but
eventually received critical acclaim.

16. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)
• Rather than the typical gothic approach that many directors
used to base their films upon, the Texas chainsaw massacre
was based on a partly true story. It was said to have been a
true story to attract wider audiences but was loosely based on
real life crimes of Ed Gein.
• The film follows a group of friends who fall victim to a family of
cannibals by the villain named ‘Leatherface’.
• This was also the first film that emerged as a ‘slasher’ film.

17. THE EXORCIST (1973) AND THE OMEN (1976)
• The Exorcist was one the first and most famous demonic
possession films. It has also become one of the highest
grossing films of all time. The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby and
The Omen were all part of a cycle of “demonic child” films
produced in the late 60’s to the mid 70’s.
• This was the first horror ‘blockbuster’ which included one of the
most famous on screen deaths in the history of horror films
involving a violent decapitation.