The document traces the history and evolution of the horror genre from the 1920s to present day. Early horrors from the 1920s featured mystical creatures like vampires and used darkness and costumes to scare audiences. By the 1960s, horrors depicted human monsters as audiences feared the potential for evil in people. Modern horrors continue adapting to reflect societal fears, from radiation in the 1950s to terrorism post-9/11. Throughout, the genre has increasingly depicted human rather than supernatural threats as audiences became desensitized to traditional monsters.

1. The History of Horror

2. In 1922, Nosferatu was released and was on of the first ever horror films. It was a dark, shadowy, gothic, vampiric piece.
Similar to other horrors of this time which were eerie, dark and many feature scenes of mutilation.
Films brought out in the 1920’s reflected that audiences were terrified by mystical creatures - such as vampires.
The use of setting/darkness/costume all contributed together in order to create a scary effect.
In general, looking back at Nosferatu, it is evident to see how much the horror genre has evolved and it has in many ways
- such as the difference types of horror now available to audiences. The horror genre responds and adapts according
to what society deems to be frightening, which shifts and changes all the time which is partical how the genre has
1920’s..

3. 1930’s.
.
● The horror’s of the 30’s
were gothic, and were set
in far off lands. Such as
Dracula and his remote
castle in pennsylvania.
● Many feature monsters,
and were inspired by 19th
Century novels.
● First use of sound.
● Dracula 1931, was the first
talking horror. Which in
itself, changed horror
forever, not only could
views be scared upon what
they see on screen, but also
by what they hear.
Although they would
receive a similar scare
through the use of both
non-diegetic and diegetic
music, the use of dialogue
intimidates and frightens
audiences.

4. From the picture of Dracula, you can tell the film is based in the 1920’s. This is evident
through the hairstyle. It is slicked back and sharp, just like the majority of the
population styled it in this era. Effectively, this could scare audiences, as he looks like a
regular person, making them suspicious of who is around them. Additionally, another
signature aspect of mise-en-scene that can be picked up on is Dracula’s costume. He is
wearing a cape, with a collar. When referring to ‘vampires’ this is one of the first thing
that someone would suggest as a representation. This came from Dracula. To an extent,
you could then say that Dracula was an example to follow regarding this type of horror.
It is a guideline and even though the ideas of a modern day vampire have changed some
aspects still stay the same. For example, the ‘Twilight’ Saga, Jade is seen to be wearing a
collar to a certain extent and Marcus and the rest of the Volturi are seen to wear long
capes - just like Dracula.
Marcus, wearing cape similar to
Dracula. Slick mens haircut in the
1920’s.
Jade (Twilight) wearing a slight
collar similar to Dracula.

5. More from the 1930’s..
Bela
Lugosi
Boris
Karloff
The Bride of Frankenstein 1935. Seen as one of the greatest horror
movies, ever. As well as one of the first to feature a female
monster.

6. During the 1930’s gender segregation was still majorly apparent, as was
misogyny and sexism. Despite this, the 1930’s in general was more feminist
orientated than the previous decade, the 1920’s. This was because of the World
War, it opened up an array of different windows for women that were previously
closed. Additionally to this, women were given the right to vote, making their
opinion more valuable in society. Unfortunately, preconceptions on women
were not eradicated and instead remained. Even though laws had changed,
many males perspectives hadn’t.
It is therefore surprising that in the 1930’s came ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ one
of the first horrors to feature a female monster. This was a huge step in horror
and film in general as female leads were not popular among existing texts. This
therefore draws a lot of attention to the film indicating a larger volume of
people would potentially watch it.

7. 1940’S..
● During the 1940’s films were banned in Britain because of WW11. As a result of this, America took over. However, the
Americans decided to play it safe, with many of the films being very similar to those that were made in the 1930’s.
● Character’s that were featured in these horrors turned into animals or were half man/half beast. But still, this was
VERY popular.
● In 1942 “Cat People” was a filmed that consisted of a female character, who was actually scary. Irena prowled
around in cat form terrorising and killing people. However, they were more subtle scares, through the use of
shadows or diegetic sounds.

8. It can be said that the scares from the likes of “Cat People” helped distract
those at home from the real horrors that were occurring - the war. Additionally,
it portrays and stresses the importance of women. Women were given more
responsibility throughout the war and undertook jobs such as building ships,
mechanics and engineering. “Cat People” highlighted this from the main
character being a female.
Irena, the main character who is presented on the poster is presented from a
low angle shot stressing her dominance and control, which reflected society as
women were effectively climbing their way up in society and taking on more
responsibility that they had little of before the war.

9. 1950’s
Due to the horror of world war two, million
people losing their lives, the on screen
horrors of the previous decades no longer
seemed scary in comparison to their real life
horrors. However, because of the war new
fears arose such as: radiation, nuclear war,
technological change and scientific
experiments. This left teenagers the main
audience for horror films.
‘The Fly’ (1958) was typical of the era. It was
based on mutated creatures that were
affected by radiation. This begun to make
audiences fear what affects radiation as well
as scientific experiments could have on the
world. Another film that had an impact on
the teens of this era was ‘The Blob’, which
was also released in 1958. It was based on a
giant amoeba-like creature that terrorised a
town. This film further reiterates that
audiences feared the side effects of nuclear
explosions and radiation on the universe.

10. Radiation were a highlight audience's fears. They believed that radiation lead to
the mutated creatures like “The Fly”. However, at the very beginning of the
1950’s, a baby boom sprung, based on the end of the war. Heightening female
audiences fear in particular, leaving for them to believe if they was exposed to
any sort of radiation there was a chance mutations like this could effectively be
exposed to their child.

11. 1960’s Now the 50’s had ended, the fears that had gripped the world in the 50’s were
gone. Audiences no longer feared nuclear explosions or destruction caused by
radiations.
The 60’s was a period of massive social change regarding drugs, sex, new
fashions and freedom. In horror films, the monsters of the 60’s were in human
form. Audiences begun to see and fear the monstrous potential of a man and
the murky darkness behind the human mind.
‘Psycho’ 1960: The hitchcock classic featured a ‘monster’ that was as close to a
man as you could get. The monster himself was called ‘Norman’ which
presumably Hitchcock chose as it sounds like ‘normal’. However, he was a
‘psycho’. As oppose to the intelligent horrors made by Hitchcock, Roger
Corman made ‘B’ movies with the sole intention of making a profit. His movies
included: The Raven, The Haunted Palace and The Wasp Woman. They all
included plenty of gore and buxom women.

12. In the 1960’s increased opportunities became available and more women went
into higher education, university. Other 26,000 women went to university. From
this, women aimed to be more than just a wife or a mother, they become more
aspirational as well as were increasing intelligent and financially independent.
1960 was also renowned for a women become more liberal, short haircuts and
short skirts. The 60’s welcomed the mini skirt, making women look more
rebellious as well as promiscuous. This was not deemed as socially acceptable,
yet they continued to do so anyway. Presenting woman as transgressors, hence
the introduction to male killer in the films developed in the 60’s.

13. 1970’s
With the 70’s came the depression and the optimism of the
60’s came to an end. Despite this horrors grew in quality.
Within society ‘the pill’ was introduced and with the
defects caused by Thalidomide, it led to a fear of children
and childbirth. The idyllic family of the 1950’s crumbled
away. The idea that the enemy could be found in your own
family was reflected in 70’s horror. It was also the decade
the sub genre ‘slasher’ was born, as well as ‘the final girl’.
‘The Shining’: featured a husband/father who was
controlled by a supernatural presence which led him to
become murderous and violent and tried to kill his wife
and son. Another film released in the 70’s was ‘The
Exorcist’ which featured a child possessed by evil,
reflecting the fear society had of disturbed children.

14. 1980’s
The 1980’s was a time of technological change and an increased use of SFX. This led to a materialistic
society that believed the bigger and showier, the better. There was lots more colour, SFX, killers in full
view, gruesome killings, brighter lighting, increased prosthetics and experimental makeup. One thing that
continued to prosper from the 70’s was that monsters remained human, society still feared the evil of
fellow men.
‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ (1984): It contained
excessive gore and brightly lit sets. The first victim
was Tina, who was slashed to pieces for having sex,
which is a main convention in the horror genre.
A VCR was a brilliant addition to
the home in the 80’s, it meant that
horror films could be watched at
home.

15. 1990’s
Audience’s begun to get sick of the guts and gore and instead demanded more intelligent horror. Audiences
believe that they were clued up on existing horror and found them predictable.
In 1996 Wes Craven acknowledged how genre-savvy audiences were by having characters who were aware of
and mocked horror conventions, but they still died. This brought a lighter sense to horror and audiences would
laugh at the characters because of their stupidity.

16. 2000’s and beyond
The tragedy of 9/11 changed our view of what is scary.
Audiences fear of the evil that lurks our world -
especially terrorist.
Modern horrors often featured a game that was a race of
time against a killing force that cannot be seen. Also
popular, was remakes a spoofs such as ‘The Amityville
Horror’, which was originally released in 1979 and was
remade in 2005.
Audiences begun to enjoy different genres of horror
such as: psychological, supernatural and zombie. Also
popular was ‘found footage’ horrors such as ‘Grave
Encounters’. Films like this made it more realistic for
audiences and therefore more scary. Additionally,
possession and exorcism films surged in popularity
such as ‘The Devil Inside. Thanks to new e-media,
horror films are now more transportable and accessible
to audiences, on websites such as Netflix.

17. conclusion
Throughout time, horror has considerably progressed and the change is certainly noticeable.
As a genre of film it has broadened, as time goes on the horror genre has to adapt according to
what society finds frightening, it shifts and changes mimicking our fears.
One thing that is noticeable is the change in antagonist over the years. Back in the 50’s-70’s
monsters were very common such as ‘The Fly’ and ‘The Blob’. This could have been because
audiences were naive to the dangers living humans posed. Furthermore, within these era’s
media was certainly more controlled than it is now. Whereas nowadays films like ‘The Human
Centipede’ are not only accepted as a genuine piece of horror but it also extremely popular
because the shock factor manages to frighten hardened horror fans.