1. History of Horror

2. 1890-1929
1890 – All films being made where amateur and made little to no profit
on their films. George Melees, the French film maker makes silent
“Monster Movies”.
1896 – The House of the Devil is released as well as German vampire
films as they start to emerge
1925 – Phantom of the opera released and draws audiences in due to
the “scary” nature of the phantom.
1929 – Wall Street Crash happens which badly effects movie making
and many movies are put on hold

3. Early 1930‟s
1930 – Universal studios create Gothic Horror Films (Dracula and
Frankenstein).
Dracula was seen as the first movie with sound but some argued that it
wasn‟t gothic enough.
1931 – Frankenstein produced and is one of the greatest make up
monsters of all time. At this time, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was also made
in this year and was seen as an iconic horror film.
During this time Warner Brothers also started making horrors in this
time.

4. Late 1930‟s
Sadistic Horrors where made during this period.
Universal studios produce “The old dark house”, James
Whale directed.
James Whale has full control over the production of
Frankenstein
German film “Freak”, first film to cast real circus people
1939 was when the Son of Frankenstein was made

5. 1940-1950
Sequels to popular horror movies produced.
Val Luton became head of horror at RKO.
Luton bus technique used in movies at this
time to build up tension whilst something
harmless occurs.
Dracula stage play on Broadway
Bela Lugosi stars in “The return of the
vampire”
Early 1950s was when horror production

6. Late 1950‟s
Horror was starting to come to Britain and started to gain the name
“Hammer Horror”
In 1954 the popular film “The Quartermass Experience” was released.
1957 was when “The Curse of Frankenstein” came out and was the first
shot in colour and used shocking violence and gore.
This was the same period that “Night of the Demon” that released, a
supernatural, psychological thriller by Jack Dunure
In 1958 a version of Dracula was filmed where the vampires had fangs
and the film had sexual elements. The opening scene was dramatic,
Dracula‟s tomb was dripping with blood that had the effect of stopping
people in the audience from laughing.

7. 1960‟s
In the 1960‟s, hammer horrors continued to be
popular from British film studios
In the 1960‟s, Hollywood started to make
psychological thrillers/horrors
Directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Michael
Powell lead the way making psychological horror
movies
In 1960 „Psycho‟ was released and directed by Alfred
Hitchcock and was made cheaply and resourcefully.
The film incorporated great tension without showing
gore and horror
Hitchcock then went on to film horrors such as The
Birds

8. 1970
1970’s was when occult horrors became
popular, such as The Exorcist. The Wicker Man
was a popular horror during the 1970’s and is
set on a remote island. The Omen, written by
David Seltzer, was another popular film that
enticed producers to make sequels. One other
film that was made in the 70’s is The Amityville
Horror, one family’s allegedly true-life escape
from a house haunted by demons.

9. 1980-1999
• 1980’s and 90’s – post modern horror such as
Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street released. In
this type of film the main characters always lose
signal on their phone and the killer never seems
to die. You always think that the killer is finally
dead but then he comes back and kills again.
• 1999 – a new genre of horror emerged,
mockumentary films. Films such as the Blair
Witch Project are filmed using a handheld camera
which creates a very realistic style of filming

10. 2000+
Remakes of older horror films started to become
popular such as The Ring and Naked Blood.
From 2000 onwards America started to recreate
popular, old horror films such as “Halloween”
Now films can make millions when they come
out in the cinema due to the increase in
popularity of the films, especially horror.