History of horror By Esmai Kennedy
How it all began George Melies in 1896 started this horror genre with his film The manor of the devil. After this film more films that fitted in this genre started to come out, which helped the horror genre grow massively until it came very popular.
History/ the origins Horror started to get recognised and big in the 18th century. It was the early films such as the big hit of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, who is seen as one the first people to start off the horror genre. We then get Dracula which has now had many adaptations of the film as well as Frankenstein. The first ever Dracula film though was by two directors called Allan Poe and Bram Stoker. These films are films to be inspired by as they allowed the horror genre to grow and become better and bigger over time.
Sound in horror films In the great 1920s, horror was progressing and in this year, sound started to become a very big aspect in horror. People started to recognise that sound had a massive role in horror as it made the films a lot more jumpy and scary for the audience. Use of music started to be included, dark, scary music of course which helped to created tension and a scary atmosphere. Meaning digetic and non-digetic sound was beginning to be added into horror.
Silent horror films This particular title got its name from the horror films that were known purely because of the particular sound that was being used. An example of a film that had this title was the film The Golem in 1922 directed by both Paul Wegner and Henrik Galeen.
Motion picture production code In the 1030s and 1967, a film rating system was introduced, like today it included things telling people and other film companies what can and cannot be included in films. Over time this system has changed and less things have become acceptable for a young age.
The German Expressionism There was a particular time in the 1920s when Germany were suffering badly with the lack money, this was mainly because of the war that hit them. This stopped companies from producing films to the best standard so with horror films what they done was paint the shadows which actually looked amazing and this then made it look much more creative and soon became very popular.
Psychological horror Psychological began to become very popular and well known in the1940s. These type of horrors had more of a dark feel and most certainly one of the most scariest subgenres of a horror. Shadows became more popular and more used in these horrors also. If you see in the film Cat people in 1942 by Val Lewton shadows are used perfectly and so much tension and fear is shown throughout the film.
Science fiction horror films Supernatural characters such as monters and aliens began to appear in horror films in the 1950s making this a new subgenre called science fiction horror. These films were so different to any other horros as they include strange, weird characters that the audience hadn’t seen before so it gave horror more of a scare.
Horror in colour The traditional black and white films began to die out when films were beginning to be shot in colour. This colour changed instantly made horror so much scarier as the audience could now see the pain the victims like it was live as they could now see the gruesome blood and open wounds for what it was really like, rather than in just black and white. This became so popular and it helped horror to grow even more.
The 1960s horror films Psychological and sex and gore came introduced and very popular in the 1960s and these 3 things were included in the film Psycho, which came out in the 1960s making these 3 things grow and then become popular in other horror films.
Hitchcock A very popular and famous director was Alfred Hitchcock who was known for his Thriller and psychological films. He had lots of money so always spent a lot on making his films really good. People knew him as The master of suspense as he always created fear and tension and was good at scaring the audience. A good example of suspense was in one of his film which is North By North in 1959.
Rodger Corman Rodger Corman is know for taking films and recreating them in a great way. He took the film Little shop of horros in 1960. He is well known as by people as the pope of pop cinema. He always manages to create good films, he didn’t have the money like Hitchcock, however this didn’t really matter.
Teen horror films Teen horror films began to become popular in the 1970s meaning that horror films were beginning to not just be viewed by adults but teenagers also. The original Carrie film that came out in 1976 included aspects of teen horror.
Hammer horror Hammer film productions in 1934 started off this genre. It was films like Frankenstein in 1957 and also The Rocky Horror picture show in 1975. This was the first ever Frankenstein to be shown in colour, meaning the audience could now see the frightening creature for what he really looks like as was then shown in colour.
Occult horror films The Occult horror subgenre began to come known in the 1960s, then making it rather popular. It appeared in films such as The Omen in 1976.
Indie Slasher horror films With the Indie Slasher subgenre, these films tend to include gruesome deaths and psychopaths. The indie Slasher sub genre also became well known in the 1970s. It began with films such as Texas chainsaw Massacre in 1974 by Tobe Hooper. This type of genre usually involves vicious murder and psychopaths.
Torture porn films Torture porn films are believed to be the most torturous type of horrors for the audience and they became popular in the 2000s. These type of horror films are incredibly violent and gory and lots of disturbing deaths will be shown. A good example of this type of sub genre are the saw films by James wren as the victims who are forced to play if they want any chance of survival are forced to do gruesome things to themselves such as cutting off their body parts.
Zombie horror films Zombie films came around in the 1960s but took off mainly in the 200s. A big film which included zombies was 28 days later by the director Danny Boyle. We also started to see zombies in big television programs such as The Walking Dead that took the world by storm. In todays day, zombie horror films are incredibly popular and very much enjoyed by many.
Internet and Television Over time we all know that television and the internet have grown massively. In the 1990s this was. This was the time where horror wasn’t just films anymore as horror programs started to air on TV and also people were now able to view horror films on the internet rather than just the cinema. Horror TV series such as American horror story became very popular whilst dragging in more audience members into the horror genre. Also, over time horror has become much more intimidating and much more scary.