The first movies were made in the late 1800s,
when many people of Great Britain, France, and America were
trying to invent a way to show motion pictures. For a long period
of time, all of the many inventors met with failure, but finally
success came to several people in such a short period of time
that no one quite knows who first created movies.
With the kinetoscope, people were able to view moving pictures through a tiny peep-hole. In 1894, the Kinetoscope Parlor opened in New York City. It was like an ordinary building with two rows of lined up kinetoscopes, each one coin operated.
Late 1890’s
With the kinetoscope, people were able to view moving pictures through a tiny peep-hole. In 1894, the Kinetoscope Parlor opened in New York City. It was like an ordinary building with two rows of lined up kinetoscopes, each one coin operated.
Late 1890’s
The first tellings of supernatural events appear in several of the silent short films created by the film pioneer Georges Méliès, the best known being Le Manoir du diable (The Haunted Castle, 1896) which is sometimes credited as being the first horror film. It is also credited as the first vampire film, with the opening scene showing a bat flying into a room and then transforming into a demon. It was only three minutes long and was intentionally meant to amuse people rather than scare them. Japan made early forays into the horror genre with Bake Jizo and Shinin no Sosei, both made in 1898.
1910
The first movies were made in the late 1800s, when many people of Great Britain, France, and America were trying to invent a way to show motion pictures. For a long period of time, all of the many inventors met with failure, but finally success came to several people in such a short period of time that no one quite knows who first created movies.
With the kinetoscope, people were able to view moving pictures through a tiny peep-hole. In 1894, the Kinetoscope Parlor opened in New York City. It was like an ordinary building with two rows of lined up kinetoscopes, each one coin operated.
Edison Studios produced the first film version of Frankenstein, which was thought lost for many years. This original film was based from a classic literature book, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, as thus many of the horror movies were, and continue to be, (American Physco, Dracula, Dr. Jeckle and Dr Hyde). This scientifically created creature was representative of the 1910's in that they were a pivotal point in inventions, and this film emerged as the backlash of the fear that this could go wrong.
The first movies were made in the late 1800s, when many people of Great Britain, France, and America were trying to invent a way to show motion pictures. For a long period of time, all of the many inventors met with failure, but finally success came to several people in such a short period of time that no one quite knows who first created movies.
With the kinetoscope, people were able to view moving pictures through a tiny peep-hole. In 1894, the Kinetoscope Parlor opened in New York City. It was like an ordinary building with two rows of lined up kinetoscopes, each one coin operated.
Edison Studios produced the first film version of Frankenstein, which was thought lost for many years. This original film was based from a classic literature book, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, as thus many of the horror movies were, and continue to be, (American Physco, Dracula, Dr. Jeckle and Dr Hyde). This scientifically created creature was representative of the 1910's in that they were a pivotal point in inventions, and this film emerged as the backlash of the fear that this could go wrong.
The first monster appeared in a horror film: Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre-Dame, who had appeared in Victor Hugo’s novel, Notre-Dame de Paris (1831). This movie differs slightly from the atypical as the dis-formed monster has a false image, and is revealed in the film as kind of heart.
1920’s German Expressionist film makers would significantly influence later films, not only those in the horror genre. Paul Wegener’s The Golem(1920) and Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (also 1920) had a particular impact. See more on German Expressionism here. Films around this time were dark and depressing in nature, with dark influences that were representational of the depression after the war, and the Expressionists channeled this into the themes of their movies.
The first vampire-themed movie was made during this time: F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922), an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It was based so closely on the novel that the estate sued and won, with all
copies ordered to be destroyed. It would be painstakingly restored in
1994 by a team of European scholars from the five surviving prints that
had escaped destruction. The destruction of the vampire, in the closing
sequence of the film, by sunlight rather than the traditional stake
through the heart proved very influential on later films and became an
accepted part of vampire lore. The director Grau had the idea to shoot a vampire film; the inspiration arose from
Grau's war experience: in the winter of 1916, a Serbian farmer told him
that his father was a vampire and one of the Undead.
Hollywood dramas used horror themes, including The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Monster (1925). Other films of the 1920s include Dr. Jekyll And Mr Hyde (1920), The Phantom Carriage (Sweden, 1920), The Lost World (1925), The Phantom Of The Opera (1925), Waxworks(Germany 1924), and London After Midnight (1927). The 1920's became the decade in which horror movies made the transition from the sidelines onto the main-screens, playing a big part in the film industry at that time.
"The Monster Period"During the early period of audio film, the Universal Studios, founded in 1912, began a successful Gothic horror film series. A Gothic Horror genre description can be found here. Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931), was quickly followed by Frankenstein (also 1931). They were very much dark, monster style films, in which the villain was obvious and had always been dark. Some of these blended science fiction films with Gothic horror, such as The Invisible Man (1933) which, mirroring the earlier German films, featured a mad scientist. These films, while designed to thrill, also incorporated more serious elements.Frankenstein was the first in a series which lasted for many years; it was so popular because it foretold many people's current worries of the rapidly advancing discoveries in technology. Universal’s horror cycle continued into the 1940s, these included The Wolf Man (1941), not the first werewolf film, but certainly the most influential, as well as a number of films uniting several of their monsters.
"Horror of the unknown/alien"With advances in technology, the theme of horror films shifted from the Gothic towards contemporary concerns. Two sub-genres began to emerge: the horror-of-armageddon film and the horror-of-the-demonic film. A stream of usually low-budget productions featured humanity overcoming threats from “outside”: alien invasions and deadly mutations to people, plants, and insects. In the case of some horror films from Japan, such as Godzilla (1954) and its sequels; Godzilla originally represented the fears of many Japanese of a repeat of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Hammer company focused on the genre for the first time, enjoying huge international success from films involving classic horror characters which were shown in color for the first time.The mid-50's-70's were the time of the 'Hammer Horrors', in which a large quantity of horror movies were produced by the company. Other British companies contributed to a boom in horror film production in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s.
British born director Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), was the first “slasher” movie, while in the same director’s The Birds (1963) menace stems from nature gone mad. Slasher achieved a cult status, paving the ways for horrors to focus in on bloody death scenes, and sometimes mindless killings.
1970s - 1980s
The rise of the occult. The Exorcist (1973), the first of these movies, was a significant commercial success, and was followed by scores of horror films in which the Devil represented the supernatural evil, often by impregnating women or possessing children.
“Evil children” and reincarnation became popular subjects. Popular Satanic horror movie was The Omen (1976), where a man realizes that his five-year-old adopted son is the Antichrist. Invincible to human intervention, Satan became the villain in many horror films with apostmodern style and a dystopian worldview.
1970s
The ideas of the 1960s began to influence horror films, as the youth involved in the counterculture began exploring the medium. Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) recalled the Vietnam war and George A. Romero satirized the consumer society in his zombie sequel, Dawn of the Dead(1978).
Yet this theme dominates the 1970s, as the crumbling family unit becomes the source of much fear and mistrust. This time around 'the enemy within' is not a shapeshifting alien from another planet altogether. This time the enemy is to be found in your own home.
It's your Mum (Shivers). Your Dad (The Shining). Your brother (Halloween). Your husband (The Stepford Wives). Your little boy (The Omen). Your daughter (The Exorcist). It's the people you see so often you don't really see them any more (Carrie). The seventies were about deep-seated paranoia, and the fear that the moral shift of the 1960s had created a culture of monsters - the archetypal successors of the shuffling zombies in Night of The Living Dead. There is little humour in 1970s horror films.
1970s
The ideas of the 1960s began to influence horror films, as the youth involved in the counterculture began exploring the medium. Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) recalled the Vietnam war and George A. Romero satirized the consumer society in his zombie sequel, Dawn of the Dead(1978).
Yet this theme dominates the 1970s, as the crumbling family unit becomes the source of much fear and mistrust. This time around 'the enemy within' is not a shapeshifting alien from another planet altogether. This time the enemy is to be found in your own home.
It's your Mum (Shivers). Your Dad (The Shining). Your brother (Halloween). Your husband (The Stepford Wives). Your little boy (The Omen). Your daughter (The Exorcist). It's the people you see so often you don't really see them any more (Carrie). The seventies were about deep-seated paranoia, and the fear that the moral shift of the 1960s had created a culture of monsters - the archetypal successors of the shuffling zombies in Night of The Living Dead. There is little humour in 1970s horror films.
In the 1970’s, Slasher films became popular, including classics such as Friday 13th, Nightmare On Elm Street, Halloween and Black Christmas. These focused on multiple killings, and a 'rampage' of some sorts, with the focus of the scenes being on violence and gore/blood/killing. In the mid 1970s, animal horror prevailed, Jaws being the main example of this. A significant example of the low budget movies which were popular at this time is Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead movies, which were low-budget gorefests but had a very original plotline that was praised by critics later on.
1990s
In the first half of the 1990s, the genre continued many of the themes from the 1980s. The slasher films A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Halloween and Child’s Play, all saw sequels in the 1990s, most of which met with varied amounts of success at the box office, but all were panned by fans and critics, with the exception of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) and the hugely successful Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Films touched upon the relationship between fictional horror and real-world horror. Candyman, for example, examined the link between an invented urban legend and the realistic horror of the racism that produced its villain. In the Mouth of Madness took a more literal approach, as its protagonist actually hopped from the real world into a novel created by the madman he was hired to track down. This reflective style became more overt and ironic with the arrival of Scream (1996).
In the first half of the 1990s, the genre continued many of the themes from the 1980s. The slasher films A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Halloween and Child’s Play, all saw sequels in the 1990s, most of which met with varied amounts of success at the box office, but all were panned by fans and critics, with the exception of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) and the hugely successful Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Films touched upon the relationship between fictional horror and real-world horror. Candyman, for example, examined the link between an invented urban legend and the realistic horror of the racism that produced its villain. In the Mouth of Madness took a more literal approach, as its protagonist actually hopped from the real world into a novel created by the madman he was hired to track down. This reflective style became more overt and ironic with the arrival of Scream (1996).
Two main problems pushed horror backward during this period: firstly, the horror genre wore itself out with the proliferation of nonstop slasher and gore films in the eighties. Secondly, the adolescent audience which feasted on the blood and morbidity of the previous decade grew up, and the replacement audience for films of an imaginative nature were being captured instead by the explosion of science-fiction and fantasy, courtesy of the special effects possibilities with computer-generated imagery.
To re-connect with its audience, horror became more self-mockingly ironic and outright parodic, especially in the latter half of the 1990s. Wes Craven’s Scream (written by Kevin Williamson) movies, starting in 1996, featured teenagers who were fully aware of, and often made reference to, the history of horror movies, and mixed ironic humour with the shocks.
2000s
Final Destination (2000) marked a successful revival of teen-centered horror and spawned four sequels. The Jeepers Creepers series was also successful. Films such as Orphan, Wrong Turn, Cabin Fever, House of 1000 Corpses, and the previous mentions helped bring the genre back to Restricted ratings in theaters.
The success of foreign language foreign films continued with the Swedish films Marianne (2011) and Let the Right One In (2008), which was later the subject of a Hollywood remake, Let Me In (2010).
Another trend is the emergence of psychology to scare audiences, rather than gore. The Others (2001) proved to be a successful example of psychological horror film. A minimalist approach which was equal parts Val Lewton’s theory of “less is more” (usually employing the low-budget techniques utilized on The Blair Witch Project, 1999, has been evident, particularly in the emergence of Asian horror movies which have been remade into successful Americanized versions, such as The Ring (2002), and The Grudge (2004). In March 2008, China banned the movies from its market.
Final Destination (2000) marked a successful revival of teen-centered horror and spawned four sequels. The Jeepers Creepers series was also successful. Films such as Orphan, Wrong Turn, Cabin Fever, House of 1000 Corpses, and the previous mentions helped bring the genre back to Restricted ratings in theaters.
The success of foreign language foreign films continued with the Swedish films Marianne (2011) and Let the Right One In (2008), which was later the subject of a Hollywood remake, Let Me In (2010).
Another trend is the emergence of psychology to scare audiences, rather than gore. The Others (2001) proved to be a successful example of psychological horror film. A minimalist approach which was equal parts Val Lewton’s theory of “less is more” (usually employing the low-budget techniques utilized on The Blair Witch Project, 1999, has been evident, particularly in the emergence of Asian horror movies which have been remade into successful Americanized versions, such as The Ring (2002), and The Grudge (2004). In March 2008, China banned the movies from its market.
Finally with the arrival of Paranormal Activity (2009), which was well received by critics and an excellent reception at the box office, minimal thought started by The Blair Witch Project was reaffirmed and is expected to be continued successfully in other low-budget productions. Hand-held camera effects put the viewer in the place of the actors, giving more terror as it made the feel as if they were part of the movie and also at threat.
