The document provides a history of horror films from the 1920s to the 2010s, summarizing several influential movies from each decade. Some of the earliest horror films were inspired by novels and featured monsters like vampires. Over the decades, the document discusses the rise of psychological horror films, found footage films, and slasher films involving cannibalistic psychopaths. New technologies like steady cams, digital cameras, and CGI effects have continued to advance the genre.

1. The History of Horror
Films
By Emma Weeks

2. 1920’s
Nosferatu
• Release date: 3rd June 1929
• Run time: 1hr 21 min
• Genre: Fantasy horror
• Synopsis: A vampire seeks to buy
a new home so contacts an
estate agent upon discovering
the fact that the Count is a
vampire Hutter becomes trapped
in a shipment of coffins when the
Count travels to Wisbourg causing
death along the way.
• Additional info: One of the first
monster horror films. Inspired by
the novel “Dracula”.

3. 1930’s
Dracula
• Release date: 14th February
1931
• Run time: 1hr 25min
• Genre: Horror
• Synopsis: A vampire arrives in
England and he begins to prey
on a young woman named
Mina.
• Additional info: Inspired by the
novel of the same name
“Dracula”.

4. 1940’s
The picture of Dorian Gray
• Release date: 3rd March 1945
• Runtime: 1hr 50min
• Genre: Psychological
• Synopsis: A rich young man
wishes for his portrait to age
rather than him and falls in
and out of love with an
actress. The painting absorbs
more than his age however.

5. 1950’s
Les Diaboliques
• Release date: 21st November
1955
• Run time: 1hr 32min
• Genre: Drama, horror, mystery
• Synopsis: The wife of a cruel
headmaster and his mistress
kill him but his body
disappears and the women
suffer a series of strange
events. Thought to have
inspired Hitchcock’s Psycho.

6. 1960’s
Psycho
• Release date: 8th September
1960
• Run time: 1hr 49min
• Genre: Horror, mystery,
thriller
• A young woman steals $40,000
from her boss and runs away to
a remote hotel owned by a
male psycho.

7. 1970’s
Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• Release date: 4th October 1974.
• Run time: 1hr 23min.
• Genre: Horror slasher.
• Synopsis: Siblings visit their
grandfathers grave in Texas with
a group of friends when they are
attacked by cannibalistic
psychopaths.
• Additional info: The horror slater
genre was prevalent in the
1970’s. This sub genre featured
little psychological impact and a
great deal of gore and blood.

8. 1980’s
The Shining
• Release date: 7th November 1980
• Run time: 2hr 26min
• Genre: Psychological horror
• Synopsis: A family stay in a remote
hotel when their psychic son begins
to have premonitions of danger in
the past and future. The father
Jack overcome by malevolent
spirits then attempts to murder his
wife and son.
• Dolly’s and steady cams were used
to create slow long shots opposed
to genre typical fast jump cuts. It
was one of the first powerful
psychological films.

9. 1990’s
The Blair Witch Project
• Release date: 22nd October 1999
• Run time: 1hr 21min
• Genre: Found footage horror
• Synopsis: A group of film students seeking
to uncover the Blair Witch legend are lost
in the woods of Maryland and become
victims to the Witch’s psychological
games.
• Additional info: A handheld steady cam
was used to create a realistic found
footage effect. A more immersive
experience was created as the actors were
not told everything that would occur
whilst filming which made reactions more
genuine and believable. This was one of
the first found footage films and as a
result of this many actually believed that
the events were true accounts.

10. 2000’s
American Psycho
• Release date: 14th April 2000
• Run time: 1hr 42min
• Genre: Psychological horror
drama
• Synopsis: A wealthy
investment banker works to
hide his psychotic fantasies
from his co-workers and
family.

11. 2010’s
The House at the End of the Street
• Release date: 21st September 2012
• Run time: 1hr 41min
• Genre: Horror, mystery, thriller
• Synopsis: A girl moves to a small
town with her mother and discovers
that the house opposite her own was
the sight of a tragic accident. After
meeting a boy she develops a
romantic relationship with him. The
boy is psychotic and locks her in the
basement of his home.
• Additional info: A psychological
horror film in which the audience do
not know who the true antagonist is
until the protagonist is abducted.

12. Summary
• Between the 1920’s-1930’s horror films generally consisted of monsters such
as vampires and their inspiration was often drawn from novels such a
Frankenstein and Dracula.
• CGI has been introduced to add more developed effects in horror films.
• A larger frame rate is now in some media works (48fps opposed to 20-30
fps).
• A larger film size of IMAX is now used in some media works (65mm opposed
to 35mm).
• DSLR’s offer a simple and cheaper alternative for lower budget productions.
• Drones can be used to achieve high angle shots for example “The Shining”
opening.

13. • Advances in prosthetic makeup make characters more scary
and less comical (appearance of characters is also now
altered by CGI) examples of this would include progression
from horror such as “American Werewolf in London” 1981
and “Zombieland” 2009 which have a vast difference in
prosthetic effect quality.
• The audience are now more engaged through the promotion
of film through viral marketing techniques.