Eadweard Muybridge created the first moving pictures in 1879 with his zoopraxiscope device. In the 1890s, the Lumiere brothers developed cinematography and made some of the earliest short, silent films. By the 1920s, sound was introduced through Warner Bros' Vitaphone system, attaching a record player to a film projector. The history of horror films progressed from basic silent films in the early 1900s exploring Gothic literature and supernatural themes, to incorporating sound and special effects in the 1930s-1980s with titles like Dracula and Halloween, to modern films with seamless special effects and believable storylines.

1. History of Film and Horror

2. Eadweard Muybridge - 1879
• Eadweard Muybridge created the
zoopraxiscope – a device containing a
sequence of photographs, which was spun to
create a moving picture.

3. Louis Le Prince - 1888
In 1888 Le Prince shot the first film, a series of
moving pictures on paper film using a single
lens camera.

4. Auguste and Louis Lumière - 1895
• The French brothers made these short, silent
motion pictures when cinematography was at
its earliest.
• Each of their films were 17 meters long, ran
for around 50 seconds and hand cranked
through a projector.

5. The First Colour Film - 1902
• Edwardian photographer Edward Turner shot the
first colour film in 1902. The film featured
children playing, soldiers marching and footage
of a bird. The photographer recorded the frames
through red, green and blue filters then
projected and superimposed them on top of
each other.

6. The Vitaphone - 1926
• The vitaphone was a sound system created by
the Warner Bros in 1926. The sound was made
available separately to the film itself – a film
projector was attached to a record player. This
method was the last analog sound-on-disc
system to be used before sound was included in
the film.

7. The First Cinema
• The Nickelodeon cinema was the first venue
opened specifically for the showing of motion
pictures. They charged 5 cents for admission
and were most popular between 1905 and
1915.

8. The Main Characteristics of
Horror
• Horror films are made to create fear and panic whilst
also captivating the audience. In the early stages of
horror, the genre caused panic to the viewers as the
supernatural was a feared subject which many people
frowned upon. In comparison to early horror, the
genre has improved greatly today. This is because
special effects have developed over the years.

9. The History of Horror -1895/6
• Horror movies were originally based on Gothic
literature. The Lumiere brothers created the first
‘spook tale’ movie of a dancing skeleton in 1895.
• The first film under the genre of horror was Le Manoir
du Diable (1896). It lasts 3 minutes and focuses on the
supernatural. Ghosts, witches, bats, devils and trolls
are all featured in the short film.

10. 1900’s – 1920’s
• ‘The silent era’. These years saw very basic
storylines of horror. Black and white images
featuring no sound were used.
• The first vampire horror was made in 1922. It
was called Nosferatu and incorporated light
and shadow.

11. 1930’s
• This decade was very important in the history of
horror. Sound started to be incorporated into
films, making them even scarier than before. The
suspense of hearing someone's footsteps or a
haunting scream made a significant difference.
• Popular titles such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The
Mummy and King Kong were released.

12. 1940’s
• Horror movies were banned during these
years in Britain due to the war. Tried and
tested ideas were used in Hollywood.

13. 1950’s
• These years dealt with the devastations of the war and
people had too many of their own horror stories to
tell. The audience at this time therefore wanted to
watch humorous horror such as Frankenstein.
• The horror industry had to deal with threats of the
television and innovations such as new scary monsters
and stereophonic sound were introduced.

14. 1960’s
• Concepts of horror changed during these
years and the audience wanted to watch films
that were realistic and believable. Many films
edged away from scary monsters and focused
on things that the audience actually thought
could happen.

15. 1970’s
• Blood and gore was a key part of many horrors in
the 1970’s. Popular titles such as The Exorcist,
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Jaws,
Carrie and The Omen were released and widely
successful thanks to budgets being raised and
technology advancing.

16. 1980’s
• Special effects developed greatly in these
years, giving the audience high expectations.
• Films such as The Evil Dead and A Nightmare
On Elm Street were created.

17. 1990’S - today
• Films between the 1990’s and today are almost
seamless. They feature believable storylines and
disturbing characters that are relevant to today.
• There has also been a lot of re-makes in these
years. This has enabled a modern take on many
classic films that were made without the
advanced technology that we have today.