History of horror_essay_(1)

History of Horror Essay

Izabella Tulip-Parkin

The silent era which carried on through 1910 and 20’s brought to light such films as ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ’ which depicts an evil doctor putting a sane man into and asylum and ‘Nosferatu’ which was thought to be the very first vampire movie.

The very first evidence of horror was in the late 19th century was ‘Le Manoir du Diable’ made in 1896 by Georges Méliès although it was a little of 3 minutes. This idea of ghosts and other nightmarish creatures came from the images in the 1860’s show image of looming figures behind people that was usually created with double exposure camera shots. Creating this ghostly feel and drawing people to believe in such myths.

This leads me into the 1930’s with the entrance of sound to cinema it completely redefined the face of the horror genre.

With this era came more supernatural beings and the increase in funding of special effects. Films such as Dracula and

Frankenstein both made in 1931 and produced by Universal and were very well received by critics and the public. Another key

film in the 30’s was King Kong was most distinguished for it’s us of stop motion animation.

During the 1940’s however while in the midst of WW2 horror films were at a stand still as the horror genre had been banned in Britain and had been majorly curbed all over Europe so they were mostly produced in

America. The only film that was most successful that year was ‘The Wolfman’ and ‘Cat People’, which did not reach the level of success that,

the horror films through out the 30’s did.

After the end of the war the 50’s was a period of experimentation for filmmakers with the entrance

of more films and monstrous creatures coming onto our

screens. Which studios trying to keep up with the television the

audience for horror had massively reduced and the stars

were reserved for more PC films. It was the teenagers of the 50’s

who kept horror live. For example films such as ‘Godzilla’ and ‘The

Fly’, the technology had changed stop motion and models was the

way forward to create these absurd creators. You also so the

introduction of aliens and the entrance of sci-fi on our screens

no longer just in comic book form, an example of this was

‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ made in 1956 which was very

well received by audiences and critics.

With the 60’s came the increase in gore and what the public perceived to be horror more money was being put into horror movies. Unlike the 50’s it was no longer about the toy like mutants that once was depicted, but about exploring the audiences perception of sex and violence. Hitchcock had entered the scene during the 60’s created such classics as ‘Pyscho’ and ‘The Birds’ which was and still is to this day thought of as a master piece by many. With ‘Blood Feast’ made in 1963 came the introduction of blood and gore also referred to as a ‘splatter movie’ a sub-genre of

horror. Following with the concept of blood and gore came the entrance of zombie movies such as ‘Night of the Living Dead’. Then finally you have ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ which un like the splatter movie it touched on the subject of the morning sickness pill given to some women in the 60’s causing there babies to become deformed and even die at birth and the war generation attempting to build a better life for themselves.

The shift from the 60’s to 70’s was quite a big one the budgets expanded and the quality of the story lines increased as well. With societies views changing so did what they personified in horror films. The troubled children seemed to play quite a big role in films of that era with The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976) and Carrie (1976). With the changing view of women came ‘The Stepford Wives’ (1975). Also came the gory and more thrilling story lines with such classics as Jaws (1975), Halloween (1978) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974).

With the 80’s came a technological boom meaning the quality of the films got better and again the budgets increased. This was fantastically portrayed in Ridley Scots film ‘Alien’ made in 1986 that was a critically acclaimed masterpiece. Another key film of the 80’s was Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘The Shining’ made in 1980 showing the public it is not only about blood and gore in the horror genre, but about a cleverly written story line with many twists and turns. Also another cult classic of that era was ‘Evil Dead’ playing on the ideas of ghosts and teens without supervision never being a good thing. Following that two horror classic of that era which have lead to sequels where ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ (1984) and ‘Child’s Play’ (1988) which then transformed into another cult classic ‘Chucky’.

With the 90’s came the expansion of psychological thrillers and the more disturbed characters with plotlines directors where trying to separate themselves from the splatter genre of horror and turn to the more psychological side. With such films as ‘Silence of the Lambs’ (1991), ‘The Sixth Sense’ (1999), ‘Jacobs Ladder’ (1990) and ‘Candyman’ (1992). Although some directors stuck to the classic slasher horror series (which also ran through the 80’s) for example ‘Scream’ (1996).

In early 2000 we have seen the rebuild of cult classic horror films with ’28 Days Later’ made in 2002 which had a great reception with both critics and viewers then on the other of the spectrum you have mock comedy horror ‘Shaun of the Dead’ (2004) mocking the zombie genre and was a favorite with both the public and critics. Another classic at the beginning of the 21th century is ‘Final Destination’ (2000) teen appeal horror. Another pinnacle movie is ‘Donnie Darko’ (2001) also considered a cult classic considered a psychological thriller. Finally it was a key point in the expansion in Japanese horror films and the familiarization of such classic as ‘The Grudge’ (2004) and ‘The Ringu’ (2002) all over the world.