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History of Horror

As technology has been improved, so has the quality of Horror movies. From vampire movies to full out bloodbaths each has come along way from obviously fake blood, which made the films comical, to blood that looks so realistic it could pass for a human’s blood.

The first horror film was in 1896 and created by Georges Melies a French film maker, the most interesting fact was that it was only about two minutes long. The title of the film was Le Manoir Du Diable which translates to aka The Devil's Castle.

1900s

During the 1900’s many films were made some of which are still currently public favourites.

The films created during the 1900’s would later see them being recreated as time went on and technology advanced. These films set the basis of what horror films should contain, they were overly simple though, bats were a sing of vampires and could easily be warded of with garlic. In the films there was only good or bad never a person who walked the grey path.

1910

In 1910 silent movies were all the range most notably was the fist adaptation of ‘Frankenstein’ which ran for sixteen minutes. It was produced by Thomas Edison the inventor of the light bulb.

The Werewolf was a silent film created in 1913 and was made popular due to the fact that it was the first werewolf film, and was directed by Henry MacRae.

Another highly rated film of the 1910’s is the first recorded edition of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from the year 1916, this ran for 12 minutes.

All of the films created up to now have one things in common they were all based on literary crafted texts (novels) unlike today where sometimes the book is made after the film.

1920

Waxworks was created in 1924 and directed by Paul Leni. The film was about a writer who was hired to create back story's for the waxworks in order to boost business. This ran for 63 minutes.

The Monster was created in 1925 and about a scientist working in an asylum and kidnapping people for experiments. This is a scary film for the time as the majority of people knew of a person in an asylum, today this would have less of an impact on it’s audiences as it’s full of clichés.

Hands of Orlac is another famous silent movie created in 1924. It was so popular is was re-made twice once in 1935 and again in 1960. The plot sees a pianist lose his hands in an accident and replaced by the hands of a recently executed murderer. The pianist believes that as his hands belonged to a murderer he has gained their predisposition to killing. Strange signs and bizarre threatening letters reinforce these fears.

1930

Now in the 1930’s we finally have created sound to accompany the movies. The first horror to have sound was the ever famous ‘Dracula’ which came out in 1931. This was based on a stage play rather than a novel, Dracula has now become a main feature for horror movies as has his brethren (vampires). Rather than being just plain horror this movie leaned to a more gothic nature.

Sound added a completely new perspective to horror films and succeed in making them all the more terrifying. From laboured breathing to footsteps in a corridor to the screams of victims to the tense music, each a new and more delightfully scary aspect.

In just a few years after sound, two to be precise we had colour or rather two-strip Technicolor the first horror to use this was Doctor X the use of colour again redefined horror films as people knew them.

1940

Cat People was created in 1942 and based on the short story The Bagheeta that was published twelve years before in 1930. This focuses on psychological horror rather than physical. A woman is terrified of consummating her marriage as it is her belief that she will turn into a feline.

I walked with a zombie was a combination of horror, drama, thriller and romance, created in 1943. A nurse moves to the Island of Saint Sebastian to take care of a mans wife, she falls in love with said man and vows to do anything to cure his wife. She tries voodoo only for it to backfire when people claim the wife is a zombie as she doesn't bleed. This leads to the mans brother trying to kill her to set her free, there were rumours that he and the wife were going to rum away together.

1950

The 1950’s set of horror’s focus on creatures. As well as the more sci-fi aspect.

Creature of the Black Lagoon – 1954 – an aquatic beast that live in the black lagoon and kills a camp of scientists, the creature is attracted to a female scientist and kidnaps her to his cave. The movie ends with him being shot.

The War of the Worlds – 1953 – the earth is invaded by Martians with the goal to destroy all humanity. They can’t be defeated by anything in the soldiers arsenal , but are defeated by the germs in the air that humans have over time adapted to.

1960

The horror’s of the 1960s seem to be more sexually aware than past generations.

Psycho – 1960 – a woman is murdered by a man will a split personality, him and ‘mother’.

Rosemary's Baby - 1968 – A woman is impregnated Satan, after her husband joins a cult to further his acting career. Those who try to tell her the truth end up dying or being injured.

1970

The 1970’s horror films focuses on broken families.

The Exorcist – 1973 – a girl is possessed by ‘The Devil’ her mother just thinks she is growing up , later on she has her daughter exorcised.

Halloween – 1978 - a six year old boy murders his older sister, is then sent to sanatorium. He proceeds to run away back home and then murder’s more people only to escape in the end.

1980

The 1980’s are famous for their outrageous fashion and equally outrageous music but they still produced some brilliant horror’s. The 1980’s are more focused on special effects.

Gremlins -1948 - a much loved classic about cute creatures that multiply and turn nasty is they get wet or fed after midnight. While it may have been intended to be a horror many people view it as a children's film or a family movie. It was very popular and this lead to a sequel.

The Shining – 1980 – a psychological horror where a man influenced by supernatural forces attempts to murder his wife and son.

1990

The 1990’s were a time of serial killer horror movies, they needed a new topic, something that adds a story to the film rather than it just grossing out the audience.

Se7en – 1995 – an American horror that focuses on a serial killer, each murder corresponds with one of the seven deadly sins.

Silence of the Lambs - 1991- An FBI Agent works with an incarcerated cannibalistic serial killer to help catch a serial killer who skins his female victims corpses.

2000

As we come closer to the present date the list of horrors grow and become more obscure. Now any and all genres can be linked to horror from romance to sci-fi to adventure.

Some famous films of the 2000s are: Zombieland-2009 Drag me to Hell-2009 Shaun of the Dead-2004 28 Days Later...-2002 Ginger snaps - 2002

2010

The list of horror movies to date could go on and on each more terrifying than the last. As technology has advanced so has the vision of horror, there is no limit to what can be created. Some notable horror of 2010s are:

Red Riding Hood returning to it’s horrific roots as intended by the Grimm Brothers.-2011

A Nightmare on Elm Street created in 2010, a slasher film.

The Last Exorcism, a good old traditional posession-2010

Future

What is now held in store for horror films?In some children's films you have 4D which

allows you to smell certain parts of the movie maybe that?

Or perhaps they will take more of a gamer route and allow people to control the characters of the film and personalise it to their tastes.