The history of horror films spans over a century, beginning in the late 1890s with early silent films depicting supernatural events. The genre evolved throughout the 1900s with themes often reflecting the social and political climate of the time. Key developments included the introduction of sound in the 1930s, rise of slasher films in the 1970s-80s, and remakes becoming popular in the 2000s. Famous films, actors, and directors have helped define eras and subgenres within the horror tradition.

1. The history of horror

2. 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 the 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

4. 1896
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 (The Devils Castle),
which is sometimes credited as being the first horror film running for only
two minutes long.

5. 1910-20
In 1910, Edison studios created the first Frankenstein film, which ran for
sixteen minutes. Other notable films from the 1910’s included the first
recorded editions of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from the year 1916.German
Expressionists during the Weimar Republic era which brought films such as
The Golem in 1920 made the first Vampire inspired film Nosefertu which was
an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. All of the films created
up to now have one things in common they were all based on literary crafted
texts (novels) unlike today where sometimes the book is made after the film.

6. 1930-1949

7. Often tipped as the Golden Age of Horror Films the thirties and forties had a vast string of
successful Gothic Horror films made 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.
In the 1930’s sound was finally able to accompany the films. The first horror to have sound
was the ever famous ‘Dracula’ which came out in 1931. This was based on a stage play
rather than a novel, Dracula has now become a main feature for horror movies as has
vampires in general.
Sound added a completely new perspective to horror films and succeed in making them
all the more terrifying. From laboured breathing to footsteps in a corridor to the screams
of victims to tense music. In just two years colour/two-strip Technicolor has been
introduced and the first horror to use this was Doctor X and the use of colour once again
redefined horror films as people knew them.

8. Two main actors during this time were Bella Lugosi and Boris Karloff
who were 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 UK 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.

9. 1950-1969

10. 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 (1951) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 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 (1957) 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.

11. 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 (1960),
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 (1960) which became one of the most renowned pictures in pop culture. He then went on to direct
another ground breaking horror The Birds (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 (1963) and
Rosemary’s Baby (1968) 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 (1968) which
became the point in time where the zombie genre of
films really started gathering momentum. It not only
moved from the gothic horror trends and brought
horror into everyday life, it also combined
psychological insights with gore.

12. 1970-1989

13. Due to the wild success of Rosemary’s Baby, many films decided to have more occult themes in them. A prime
example is The Exorcist (1973) 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 (1976) 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
(1974) which recalled the Vietnam War. George A. Romero Created the sequel Dawn of the Dead (1978) 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.

14. Slasher films were also very popular during this time with films such as Halloween, A nightmare on Elm Street
(1984) , Friday the 13th (1980) and Black Christmas (1974). Steven Spielberg created the genre of Animal Horror
which made animals such as sharks as seen in the world famous Jaws (197 as the threat in the film.
Sci-fi and horror merged more during this time with films such as Alien (1974)
and The Thing (1982)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 (1981) that had a very low
budget but an original storyline so it was praised by critics and became a cult
classic.

15. 1990-1999

16. 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 (1991).
Films instead had be self-aware and not take themselves seriously to
achieve success. A notable example was Scream (1996) which seen as
more of a horror-comedy rather than a slasher film.

17. 2000-2013

18. 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 (1998), The Grudge (2002) and The eye (2002). Foreign films at this time were extremely
popular during this time with films such as Let the Right One in (2008) and Let me in (2010) which were
received well.

19. 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 similar to the
Blair witch project.