History of horror

Each generation gets the horror films it deserves, and one of the more fascinating aspects of the study of the genre is the changing nature of the monsters who present a threat.

Gothic horror and 19th century horror stories:

- These stories include Frankenstein, Dracula and Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde

- Frankenstein was was written in 1818 by Mary Shelley and is responsible for the trend of the science fiction genre

- Thefilm Dracula was produced in 1931 and directed by Todd Browning
- Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde was originally published as Strange case of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde and written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886

Horror of the silent era - German expressionism:

- In the nineteenth century, audiences enjoyed seeing still camera shots of 'ghosts'

- TheLumiere brothers designed a sketch of a dancing skeletonin 1895

- Thefirst recorded horror film was published in 1896and was called 'Le Manoir du Diable'

- German Expressionism was very popular in Germany during the WW1and extremely popular in Berlin during th 1920's

 

Monsters and Mad Scientists 1930s:

- Sound allowed horror films to be reborn in the 1930's with monsters and mad scientists being the main characters

- Universal Studios began in the 1930's and were known for their horror films such as Dracula and Frankenstein

- 80 million peopleattended the cinema weekly in the 1930's - it provided somewhere away from the depression of the war

 

Werewolves and Cat people 1940s:

-the war caused humans to be the most scariest 'monsters', thus films were focused on human hybrids such a werewolvesor cat people

- Adolf means 'Noble wolf’ in old German - the mediaused this to scare people in the1940's

- Werewolf’scould be seen as Nazi's - the idea they bite you and pass on their 'condition'

- The media linked the idea of cats with womanas they were both seen as being sly and gracious

- The film Cat people - a film where the females dominatedthe males by seducing themand killing them

 

Mutant creatures and alien invaders 1950s:

- The first alien invaders film was in the 1950's; a low budget film called'Rocketship X-M'

- Monster movie films stemmed from the fears of the atom bomb

- Invasion of the Body snatchers was one of the popular 1950's films and focused on the idea of communism


Ghosts, Zombies, Satanism and your family 1960-70s:

- Morelow budget gore films appeared as people were used to seeing news of the war

- War made films like this most realistic/relateable

 

Hammer Horror:

- Hammer Horror is a British film production company which began in 1934

- They were very popular in the 1950's yet died down in the 60's

- Created 8 Dracula films

- Director Terence Fisher created the first Dracula film, Horror of Dracula

- The company spread worldwideand their films were unexpectedly big hits

Slasher movies 1980's:

- These films began to flourish with the advancement in special FX.

- The Western society were very interested in material wealth in the 80's. This meant they didn't want to just have things, they wanted others to know they had them.

- Many think that these films are not as scary as the film typings previously made as they are missing the mystery. They are very much 'in your face horrors'.

- A trend of films began in the80's focusing on what was inside the body.

- 'Slasher films' use certain conventions normally psychopathic killers stalking teenagers- these films were very popular in the 80's.

 

Video nasties 1980's:

- The VHS cassette began a trend of horror films that were low budget and not likely to be played in cinemas.

- People started to notice children were also getting hold of the unsuitable content these films contained.
- This trend of film did not receive the mandatory rating films have to have if they are put into cinemas.
- During the 80's, there was a list of 39 video nasties that were banned in the UK.

Gore returns 2000's:

- Edelstein suggest we watch these films for the physical reaction rather than the emotional - much like porn.

- Many films were now being published containing very graphic torture.

- The 2004 reports of the US Army being accused of torturing prisoners meant these films became very realistic.

- In 2007, the film Captivity was criticised for going too far with its graphic images of a tortured woman.

-Gorenography could be viewed as fizzled out by the end of the decade.