HISTORY OF HORROR

Demi Wrenn

LATE 1700S• The Gothic Horror genre began in the late 1700s.• It was developed by writers within Great Britain and the USA.

• Gothic refers to all the medieval buildings where the stories took place. An example of gothic is an old castle on a dark night within a gloomy forests and dungeons and secret passage ways within.

• The famous gothic writers include Mary Shelly, Bram Stoker and Edgar Allan Poe.

SPOOK TALE

• Gothic horror films were inspired by Gothic literature.

• The term horror didn’t come into use until the 1930s however there was certain film makers and film goers who had an interest in this genre.

• Evidence of this is that the Lumiere brothers created a short film called Spook Tale in 1895.

• There will be a short snippet on the next page.• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNReoA8BV_Y

FIRST HORROR MOVIE EVER MADE

• In 1896 Georges Méliès created what we believe to be the first horror movie called The Haunted Castle or The Manor of the Devil – no voice included, just silence and spooky animation.

• The film involved bats, castles, trolls, ghost and a demon played by Georges Méliès.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPmKaz3Quzo#t=26

Germany

• After Germany had lost the war, the UFA decided they should turn there goals to produce films for profit.

• In 1919 The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was written by Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz. They wanted this film to be one of the greatest of all horror films.

• German filmmakers then made another film ‘The Golem: How He Came into the World. This was made in 1920 and lensed by Karl Freund.

SOUND

• Universal Pictures is responsible for the first cycle of horror films. During the silent era Universal Pictures did have reasonable achievements.

• In the 30s, Universal really discovered horror as they made there first hit Dracula directed by Tod Browning in 1931.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nfmh178L98#t=28

AFTER DRACULA…

• FRANKENSTEIN WITH NORIS KARLOFF – 1931

• THE MUMMY BY KARL FREUND – 1932

• INVISIBLE MAN BY JAMES WHALE – 1933

• WEREWOLF IN LONDON BY STUART WALKER -1935

• DRACULAS DAUGHTER BY HAMBERT HILLYER -1936

MODERN HORROR

• When it got to the 1990s/2000S there was a lot more thriller and psychological horrors other than Gothic. Such as Final Destination, The Sixth Sense, Se7en, The Others and The Ring.

COMEDY

• A lot of people decide to make fun out of thriller by turning it into a comedy as well as thriller. An example of this is Shaun of The Dead as it is zombie themed and they make a joke out of what is happening.

• Evidence of the comedy elements within a horror is the actors tend to be already famous for being in a comedy movie.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUCqPxfpMCQ#t=179

CONVENTIONS OF HORROR

Setting

• the setting of a horror film tends to be in a dark and gloomy location. The main meeting point or point of location is a haunted house or a grave yard during the night.

• The film tends to start during the day and then the horror begins at night or it starts at night. The horror activities rarely occur in daylight.

• The meeting point so for example the Haunted house would be away from any sort of city or retail and just deserted on its own.

• The setting people gloomy and spooky during the night help create the impression that the characters are vulnerable.

CONVENTIONS OF HORROR

Clothing/ Make Up

• In horror movies characters are

expected to have some sort of blood

makeup.