HISTORY OF HORROR

1. THE HISTORY OF
HORROR
The 1920s – 2000s

2. What is Horror?
Horror has been depicted through various sub genres throughout the years. The main purpose of
a horror film is to frighten it's audience. So for it to be successful, horror movies have to respond
to changes in society and adapt the movies as fears change. Over the years fears have
transformed ranging from nuclear weapons to the idea that the enemy can be in your own family;
film producers have generally adapted these fears and created a narrative surrounding them;
turning them into some of the most popular horror movies created.

3. THE 1920S

4. ◦ The 1920s was a time of development and change in the way movies were produced. The first
horror movies were circulating and as they were an extremely new concept, people loved them
and wanted more.
◦ People living in the 1920s were more afraid of mythological creatures rather than more common
fears in todays society such as the supernatural, therefore some of the first horror movies were
focused on mythological creatures such as vampires and werewolves living in remote locations
such as dark and gloomy castles in stereotypical locations such as Transylvania.
◦ In the 1920s costume and setting was majorly important and was extremely improvised due to
the movies being in black and white, the dark, eerie effect was highly emphasised through the
use of makeup; dramatic low key lighting combined with the emphasis on eerie makeup this
made the films terrifying to the audiences who had never before experienced a horror movie.

5. Nosferatu – 1922
◦ 1922’s ‘Nosferatu’ introduced a vampire like creature who lived in a remote Transylvanian castle,
this was one of the first silent horror movies
◦ In 1922, Nosferatu was classed as being ‘too scary’ and was banned in countries such as
Sweden. The ban was lifted over 50 years later. This puts into perspective how fears have
changed over the decades.
◦ It was the first ever Vampire film, where sunlight would kill Vampires
◦ Throughout the film, the vampire was only featured for 9 minutes during the 81 minute film.

6. THE 1930S

7. ◦ During the 1930s horror movies took a gothic turn and were mostly inspired by 19th century
novels set in ‘far away lands’, people were encapsulated by the mystery behind the characters
and places featured in these movies.
◦ Sound was first introduced in horror movies during this time period and this made the films
even scarier to audiences. Sound in todays horror movies is heavily relied on for dramatic effect
and jump scares but during the 1930s sound was mainly used to create an eerie gothic effect
using simplistic tools such as an old piano.
◦ Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were some of the first famous horror movie actors, they became
extremely well known for their roles especially in Dracula and Frankenstein.
◦ Classic howling, castles and mist became common conventions throughout 1930s horror movies
and continue to be used as traditions in 2000s movies.
◦ Monsters were the most common fear during the 1930s and movie creators took this into
consideration before producing some of the most famous horror movies including Dracula and
Frankenstein.

8. Frankenstein – 1931
◦ Playing on peoples fear of monsters, Frankenstein was one of the first horrors to be based off of
a 19th century novel originally published by Mary Shelley in 1818.
◦ It is based on the story of an obsessed scientist assembling a living being from exhumed
corpses.
◦ It was one of the first films to use the famous Castle Thunder sound effect.

9. THE 1940S

10. ◦ During WW2 horror films were banned, the government and other organisations were focused
on enforcing positivity and did not want more fear to be circulating.
◦ The USA took over the majority of horror movies and were highly reliant on movies from the 30s
to remake. This was a safe move for America as they knew people would enjoy the films that
had already been made during the 30s.
◦ The idea of half man half beast became the new scary trend and people were encapsulated by
creatures such as werewolves.
◦ As wartime horror movies were purely American during the 1940s, Hollywood picked them up
and the movies were only used solely to entertain the domestic audience.
◦ America at the time viewed themselves as safe in comparison to Europe who was obviously
facing WW2, this is why the freaky fantasy of ‘half man half beast’ became so popular as people
knew it was mostly myth they did not want to focus on the problems occurring in the real world.

11. Cat People – 1942
◦ Cat People was one of the first films to use methods which are popular today.
◦ The movie featured a ‘beautiful’ woman who at the same time terrorised the streets in cat form
and conducted various killings.
◦ Mainly a psychological thriller ‘Cat People’ focused on the main character Irena who would turn
into a dangerous large cat if she consummates her marriage. The film was hugely successful and
played on peoples fears of what lurks in the shadows, also capturing a well known fear of the
dark.

12. THE 1950S

13. ◦ Post WW2, horror movies from the past did not seem scary anymore and it was hard to frighten
audiences after the war as many individuals had suffered great losses and seen real life
scenarios of death, torture, bombings and other horrific occurrences.
◦ Teenagers became the primary target audience for horror movies and the introduction of
mutated creatures as a product of radiation was introduced.
◦ In 10 short years the concept of a ‘monster’ had increasingly changed and fears of what could
be a result of radiation exposure became scarier than horror movies previously shown before
the war.
◦ Companies who produced movies were more focused on the concept of colour being brought
to the big screens and as a huge technological change was taking place the horror production
was incorporating more and more genres of horror purely to remain profitable.

14. The Blob – 1958
◦ The fear of nuclear radiation was during this decade and The Blob represented the results of
exposure to radiation
◦ The original movie was so popular that a sequel was created named ‘ Beware! The Blob’ this was
not as successful as the first movie but enticed audience due to the popularity of the first movie.

15. THE 1960S

16. ◦ The 60s was a period of massive social change, drugs, sex, fashion and freedom was hugely
incorporated into peoples lifestyles and there was a huge change in attitude towards all genres
of movie.
◦ Post 1960 the ‘monster’ in whichever form was always killed but post 1960 films would end with
an open narrative or the monster would have unfinished business leaving people anticipating
the next film which was also a completely new notion.
◦ Monsters came in human form this time and the great fear was purely based on the monster of
the man and the idea of what is hidden underneath. Films such as psycho perfectly portray this
idea as Norman Bates the main character looks relatively normal yet is actually deranged.

17. The Haunting - 1963
◦ The Haunting is a British psychological horror depicting the paranormal experiences of a small
group of people while touring with a paranormal investigator.
◦ After the paranormal investigator invited two women to a haunted mansion, one of the women
soon started to lose her mind.
◦ This film has elements of both gothic and psychological horrors.
◦ When first released ‘The Haunting’ was classed as one of the most “unsettling” movies of its
time
◦ The characters in the film are immediately overwhelmed by strange sounds and events, one of
the characters Eleanor comes to believe that the house is speaking directly to her.

18. THE 1970S

19. ◦ Horror movies during the 1970s reflected the grim mood of the decade. After an optimistic
decade during the 60s, filled with social and technological change including a moon landing, the
70s did not quite live up to the increasing change expectations.
◦ Horrors again grew in quality and the idea that the enemy could be in your own family became
popular.
◦ After the social change during the 60s where sex and drugs became popular, people started to
believe that the enemy could be in your own family, this idea circulated throughout the 70s as
horror film productions incorporated this as a theme. Films such as ‘The Shining’ and ‘The
Exorcist’ depict the ideology of the enemy in your own family.
◦ The 70s had revolutionised horror movies, the rise of the final girl and slashers were born,
typical conventions had been rewritten and a strong female lead was almost always seen to
come out on top.

20. Halloween – 1978
◦ Michael Myers, the supposed murderer in Halloween, at 6 years old brutally murders his 17 year
old sister, he was locked away for 15 years. On October 30 1978, while being transferred, Myers
escapes at 21 years old
◦ He returns to his small hometown of Haddonfield where he lurks and seeks his next victim.
◦ This film is extremely conventional of the slasher genre, for example; the small town setting, final
girl and a group of teenage friends.
◦ The film was a surprisingly huge success, besides the little advertising.

21. THE 1980S

22. ◦ The 1980s brought a huge technological change, society was more materialistic and following
the depressing 70s, the 80s was all about show.
◦ Most horrors from this decade would feature lots of bright bold colours alongside gruesome
killings, ‘A Nightmare on Elmstreet’ featured excessive gore and targeted killings, for instance
female characters who were seen going to parties, getting drunk and having sex were prime
targets of the killer; whereas female characters who are responsible and do not dress to impress
have been labelled ‘the final girl’, and save the day.
◦ Visual effects became massive in movies and were used to furtherly heighten the scary
experience for audiences.
◦ Audiences gained a thrill from the idea of a supernatural being dismembering people and the
new fear of ‘what you cannot see’ was incorporated into movies.

23. The Shining – 1980
◦ ‘The Shining’ was one of the first horror movies to incorporate the fear that ‘the enemy can be in
your own family’
◦ The film is primarily based on a family who move into the ‘Overlook Hotel’ after the protagonist,
Jack receives a new job as the hotels caretaker. Jack, is suffering from writers block. As Jacks
writing goes nowhere, he starts to discover the hotel’s disturbing secrets.
◦ After finding out new dark information on the hotel, Jack has a new mind-set which is to
terrorise his family.

24. THE 1990S

25. ◦ Viewers were starting to become sick of guts and gore during the 1990s, they wanted more
intelligent films which would not only satisfy their need for horror but tell a story too.
◦ ‘Silence of the Lambs’ featured a serial killer with an interesting back story which encapsulated
audiences, the movie was a huge success and grossed £272.7 million worldwide against its £19
million budget.
◦ ‘Scream’ on the other hand was almost a mockery of what audiences had now become tired of
seeing, it was produced cleverly incorporating an array of conventions that audiences could now
predict. The different concept involved characters mocking common conventions, for example
Drew Barrymore’s character continuing a phone conversation with the strange man, and
therefore dying as a result. The almost comedic twist to ‘Scream’ has made it one of the most
popular horror movies worldwide to this day.

26. The Blair Witch Project - 1999
◦ Found footage depicts the tale of 3 students studying film.
◦ They set out to collect footage of a legendary local murderer; they collect information over
several days, interviewing locals and filming around the town. Until their journey is disrupted by
them getting lost in the woods, this is followed by them hearing horrific noises in the woods.

27. THE 2000S

28. ◦ The 2000s and beyond have the widest variety of horror genres ever seen, every genre of horror
is constantly being covered by different movies and re makes of older films are always being
produced.
◦ Psychological, supernatural and even zombie horrors have become extremely popular.
◦ The tragedy of 9/11 once again changed audiences views of what is scary, modern horrors are
now known to feature some sort of twisted game or a race against time; this can be seen in the
‘Saw’ movies.
◦ Spoofs such as ‘Scary Movie’ also became popular during the early 2000s as they provided not
only the horror element but twisted comedy into the genre too.
◦ With the immense popularity of YouTube and Creepy Pasta’s, films took inspiration from this.
Conspiracy theory videos and other strange urban legends such as Slender Man were
incorporated into modern horrors.

29. The Ring - 2002
◦ A videotape is discovered filled with disturbing images, leading on to a phone call foretelling
the death of whoever has watched the tape; which will occur in 7 days.
◦ The protagonist, Rachel, refuses to believe the urban legend until four teenagers all mysteriously
die within a week of watching the tapes.
◦ Rachel, as an investigator tracks down the video tape and decides to watch it, she then has
seven days to unravel the mystery in order to survive.
◦ ‘Rings’ 2016 makes up the third feature film in the franchise based on the Japanese horror film
Ring, following The Ring and The Ring Two.
◦ The film grossed over $249 million worldwide on a $48 million production budget, making it
one of the highest grossing remakes.

30. 2010 TO PRESENT

31. ◦ 2010 to present day has seen a technological change, due to the increased use of CGI and SPX.
◦ Possession films have become increasingly popular in recent years, films such as ‘Insidious’ and
‘The Conjuring’ depict cases of possession.
◦ Franchise films such as ‘Saw’ and ‘Scream’ also became popular post 2010 due to audiences
looking for more.
◦ There have been dozens of remakes of old films, some recent examples include, Stephen King’s
‘IT’ and ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’
◦ the found footage genre made popular by 'The Blair Witch Project' began to appear more and
more.
◦ Modern horrors feature some sort of game or race against time, other plots include killing a
source that cannot be seen.
◦ The reflection of technology has also influenced the way horror movies are presented, for
example ‘Unfriended’ is completely based around technology as the entire movie is shown
through a skype call.

32. The Conjuring – 2013
◦ ‘The Conjuring is set in 1970, where paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren are called
to the home of the Perron family.
◦ Based on true events, audiences are immediately enticed about the element that ‘ghosts are
real’
◦ The Perrons and their 5 daughters move into a new secluded farmhouse; a supernatural
presence makes itself known. The family start to experience paranormal occurrences, resulting in
the mother becoming possessed after a quick escalation of supernatural events.
◦ Directed by James Wan, viewers were enticed by the movie instantly due to his previous
creations such as the ‘Saw’ franchise and ‘Insidious’