History of Horror

The History of Horror

1890s-1920s

The first horror film is generally attributed to Georges Méliès' silent short, which was called Le Manoir du Diable in the late 1890s. In 1910, Edison Studios made the first ever film version of Frankenstein, although this was believed to be lost for several years.

German Expressionism rose in the 1920s and would influence many future horror films, the most prominent were The Golem and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. It was also during this time that the first vampire themed movie was made, Nosferatu in 1922 which was an unlicensed version of Dracula.

1930s-1940s

Universal Studios, during the early period of moving pictures, created a series of Gothic horror films, with elements of science fiction. These included Frankenstein and Dracula both in 1931, and The Invisible Man in 1933.

Universal started a trend amongst the film industry and other studios such as Paramount and Warner Brothers started making and releasing horror films which would also become iconic. The genre carried on progressing and some actors such as Boris Karloff were able to forge entire careers from them.

                                               1950s-1960s

In the 1950s, horror films progressed from being Gothic to more contemporary. For example, themes such as an alien invasion/nuclear explosion/deadly mutations became common. Film makers continued to merge the two genres of Science Fiction and Horror to create movies that would scare their audience in the sense that the world as they know it is under threat. Movies like The War of the Worlds (1953) played on American's fear of Communism, with the “Red Menace” coming from Martians and the “Red Planet” Mars.

It wasn’t until later on in the 1950s that Great Britain became heavily involved in the production of horror films, making films with iconic horror characters such as Frankenstein and Dracula being shown in colour for the first time. Hammer Films saw horror as a cheap way to produce genre films, and their success led to tens of successful British horror films.

1960 saw the first ‘slasher’ movie being made, Peeping Tom. Alfred Hitchcock then directed Psycho (1960) which carried on with this new and realistic theme, which was inspired by Ed Gein's terrible crimes.

Although ghosts and monsters were still frequently used in horror films, the idea of a supernatural enemy such as a demon became increasingly popular in the 1960s.

One of the most iconic horror films of the 60s is Night of the Living Dead (1968), a film about zombies with psychological elements as well. It took in $30million internationally at the box office and served to move the horror industry even further away from its previously gothic theme.

1970s-1980s

The 1970s saw an increase in the subject of evil children, and possession by the devil such as The Exorcist in 1973. Other films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre were based on real life events, in this case it was (once again) the serial killer Ed Gein.

The 1970s also saw Stephen King's novels being turned into films, notably Carrie (1976) and The Shining (1980). Psychological horror began to take over the murderous, violent nature of horror films and common themes included possession and evil spirits, such as Poltergeist (1982).

Although psychological horror was now very popular, slasher films began to take off again with films such as Halloween, Friday the 13^th and Nightmare on Elm Street which are now seen as some of the world most popular and iconic horror films.

2000s

Although the start of the decade was very quiet in terms of horror film success, there has been an increase in films, particularly of the Zombie kind. Other film series which have had notable success are the Final Destination films, the Paranormal Activity films and also the Saw films. This era has also seen a lot of remakes of the iconic films from the 70s/80s, such as The Hills Have Eyes, Dawn of the Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, all of which have met with financial success.