1. THE HISTORY OF THE
HORROR GENRE

2. OUTLINE
• The horror film genre is a type of film that tries to evoke
negative reactions within the audience and play on their
primal fears. It tries to frighten and scare e viewer by
creating startling scenes and playing on supernatural
elements. Horror films often deal with the viewer's
nightmares, hidden fears, revulsions and terror of the
unknown.
• Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an
evil force, event, or personage, commonly of supernatural
origin, into the everyday world. Common supernatural
occurrences include Vampires, Werewolves, Aliens,
Demons, Serial Killers, Ghosts and Zombies.

3. 1890-1929
• The first depictions of supernatural events appear in several of
the silent films that were created by the film pioneer Georges
Méliès in the late 1890s, the best known being Le Manoir du
diable, which is sometimes credited as being the first horror
film.
• In 1910, Edison studios created the first Frankenstein film, which
was lost for many years. German Expressionists during the
Weimar Republic era with films such as The Golem in 1920 and
made the first Vampire inspired film Nosefertu which was an
unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Hollywood
Dramas would use Horror like themes in versions of The
Phantom of the Opera, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The
Monster.

4. 1930-1949
• Often tipped as the Golden Age of Horror Films the thirties and forties had a
vast string of successful Gothic Horror films mad by Universal Studios. Some of
the most famous films to come out during this time included the thirties
version of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Invisible Man. Two main actors
during this time were Bella Lugosi and Boris Karloff who ere the two main
actors to go to if you wanted to make a Horror Film.
• Lugosi’s credits include playing Dracula whereas Karloff was most famous for
his performance in Frankenstein, which inspired an entire franchise and
made his career. One of the most controversial film made during this time
was the film Freaks by Todd Browning which garnered so much controversy it
was cut by thirty minutes and banned from the United Kingdom for thirty
years. The film followed the lives of circus performers who in real life had
massive physical disabilities. During the 1940’s, B-Movie horror became a
trend with low budget films such as The Wolfman which become a classic
horror film in the long run.

5. 1950-1969
Due to the advancement of technology the main theme of Horror Films
changed from Gothic era films to contemporary concerns. Many films during
this time as well as the Horror genre had themes and subliminal messages
about the current situation of the world at this time. Many productions used
the idea of threat that humans have not experience with invading and trying
to take over. This can be seen as propaganda towards communism and films
such as The Thing from another World and Invasion of the Body Snatchers were
able to present the paranoia and tension of the Cold War into a disturbing
atmosphere.
Science fiction elements were often merged with Horror during this period. A
film in particular that is considered a masterpiece during this era was The
Incredible Shrinking Man which has been seen as one of the most significant
films ever made. The film conveyed the fears of living in the “Atomic Age” and
social alienation.

6. 1950-1969
British film companies started producing remakes of classic Universal Studio films in colour
for the first time ever. This was also an important time for the genre as Michael Powell
created Peeping Tom, the “slasher” film of its type. The story followed a photographer
who combined his talents with murdering his victims. Later on came the iconic director
Alfred Hitchcock who was responsible for the Psycho which became one of the most
renowned pictures in pop culture. He then went on to direct another ground breaking
horror The Birds which explored the themes of natural horror in which nature itself turns
violent and attacks the protagonists of the film.
Monsters and Ghosts were still a very popular choice but chose a more demonic, evil
theme. Examples of this during this era are the Haunting and Rosemary’s Baby where a
woman was impregnated with the devil as the child.
Another major film in this era was George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead which
became the point in time where the zombie genre of films really started gathering
momentum. “This film about zombies blends psychological insights with gore, it moved
the genre even further away from the gothic horror trends of earlier eras and brought
horror into everyday life.” Wikipedia

7. 1970-1989
• Due to the wild success of Rosemary’s Baby, many films decided to have more
occult themes in them. A perfect example is The Exorcist which is often tipped as
one of the greatest mainstream horror movies of all time. In this film and in many
others, the Devil is presented as a threat in the film often through possession or
impregnating women. Another notable example is The Omen in which a couple
realize that there adopted son is Satan returning to the real world. However, Horror
films like in the sixties also focused on contemporary concerns with films like Wes
Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre which recalled the
Vietnam War. George A. Romero Created the sequel Dawn of the Dead which
satirized the consumer society. Body Horror was also a popular sub-genre in the
seventies with films such as Eraserhead and Shivers which focused on physically
disturbing objects and character to frighten viewers. Stephen King novels were also
adapted a lot in this era with the most notable one being The Shining which
became one of the most iconic films of its time.

8. 1970-1989
• Slasher films were also very popular during this time with films such as
Halloween, A nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Black Christmas.
Steven Spielberg created the genre of Animal Horror which made animals
such as sharks as seen in the world famous Jaws as the threat in the film. Sci-fi
and horror merged more during this time with films such as Alien and The
Thing which both combined natural acting with extreme gore and violence
in the films on screen. Finally B-Movies were increasing popular during this
time with Sam Rami’s The Evil Dead that had a very low budget but an
original storyline so it was praised by critics and became a cult classic.

9. 1990-1999
• During this era Horror films were in decline because they had worn
themselves out and had used all the tricks that had been seen before.
Many of the slasher films got sequels to them but were panned by fans
and critics of the original films. The only exceptions to this were New
Nightmare, a self-parody of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Silence of
the Lambs.
• Films instead had be self-aware and not take themselves seriously to
achieve success. A notable example was Scream which seen as more
of a horror-comedy rather than a slasher film.

10. 2000-2013
• This is often criticized for its lack of originality as it involved
remakes of famous films from previous generations such as
Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Evil Dead and Dawn of the
Dead. America adapted a lot of films from Japan as well
such as The Ring, The Grudge and The eye. Foreign films at
this time were extremely popular during this time with films
such as Let the Right One in, Marianne and Let me in which
were received well.

11. 2000-2013
• Another theme in this time is minimalist psychological horrors on low budgets
such as The Others. Zombie films also have had a resurgence with films such
as I am Legend, Quarantine and British film 28 days later. Another major
theme in modern horror films is the extreme level of violence in them which is
often referred as “Torture Porn” due to the ridiculous amount of violence in
them. A film franchise is most notable for this is the Saw franchise which is
currently the highest grossing Horror franchise in the world. It focused on a
low budget in which filming takes place in less than a month. A notable
example of cheap horror films in this era is Paranormal Activity which has a
found footage aesthetic to it.