History of Horror

1) Roots in classic Liturature- gothic horror.

Frankenstein: 

Written by Mary Shelley in 1818, Frankenstein is a story about an eccentric scienctist (Victor Frankenstein) who creates an creature through a scientific experiment. This story is not only classed as a horror but it has been said that it was responsible for inspiring the science fiction genre. However when it first came out on film, in 1910, parents complained about the obscenities and graphic scenes of horror. Also religious citizens complained because the ressurection of the monster goes against their beliefs, which is that only god can give life. 

Dracula:

Written by Bram Stoker in 1897, Dracula is a story about a vampire who moves from Transylvania to England. Upon arrival he prays upon young Mina and is also in battle with a group of people lead by Van Helsing. The film was origianally produced in 1931 (directed by Tod Browning), however was re-issued in 1937. Unfortunately during this time production code was strict and some scenes and soundeffects were cut from the film. 

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde:

Originally known as the 'Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886. It is a horror tale about a London Lawyer (Gabriel John Utterson) investigating strange occurences between his old friend Dr. Henry Jekyll and the evil Edward Hyde. 

2) The horror of the silent era- german expressionism.

Silent horror came about in the 19th century and In many ways, the expressionistic German silent cinema led the world in films of horror and the supernatural, which established its cinematic vocabulary and style. The films themselves were frightening however not realistic meaning that the audience saw it as a sense of escapism. This is because they were mainly Gothic in style- meaning that they were usually set in spooky old mansions, castles, or foggy, dark and shadowy locations.
Key facts:

• Horror of the silent era was mainly inspired by German expressionism which were often highly symbolic and stylized.
• The films were silent and often had a deeper meaning than what was first portrayed.
• The first horror films are surreal, disturbing pieces created by rendering monsters into physical form and drawing upon the folklore and the legends of Europe.
• They used spirit photography which is created by the practice of double exposure and superimposition's to depict ghosts in a frame of a film.

A super imposition image.

Film examples:

• The cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919)
• Nosferatu (1922)
• The Golem (1915/1920)

3) Monsters and Mad Scientists- 1930s and Universal Studios horror.

In the 1930s horror featured mad scientists and scary monsters, with their use of dramatic music and sound effects it built suspense to new heights and threats became more prominent. The storylines remained that of 19th century literature, therefore Dracula and Frankstein were still the scariest monsters out there. Alongside these King Kong, Freaks, The Mummy and the bride of Frankenstein were born in this era. Ticket sales were huge because people were desperate to escape from the reality of war, which meant 80 million people saw a horror weekly in the US (65%). Alongside this the similarity of Hitlers dictatorship resembled the actions of a mad scientist which also had an effect on the amount of mad scientist movies produced.

4). The primal animal within; werewolves and cat people- 1940s.

The war heavily influenced horror in the 1940s which created werewolves and cat women.
Werewolves:
Adolf Hitler was the main inspiration for the terrifying werewolf. The name Adolf is noble wolf in old German, so its obvious where the character came from. Hitler even used this to his own advantage during the war calling many nazi partys after wolves for example: werwolf which means Man wolf. He even called his favourtite secretary Wolfin, which is She-wolf in Enlgish. The media industry then used this to their advantage because of the fear associated with Hitler and the war. The werewolves were then seen as Nazis and the infection spread when bitten was much like the way the nazis recruited troops. Propoganda can also been seen in the Wolfman. This is because the werewolf is finally defeated which suggests to the audience that Hitler can also be defeated.
Catwomen:
During the war the women took over the soldiers jobs and began to feel the freedom alot of men had at the time. However when the men came back they had to go back to being housewives, which caused alot of outrage and call for equality. This sparked off new films were women dominated males and had power over them by seducing and killing them. The reason for cats being linked to women is that they are both thought to be sly yet gracious hense the motive to kill.

5). Mutant creatures and alien invaders- 1950s. Horror breaks free of its literary roots.

In the 1950s horror was reborn and mutant creatures and alien invasions became the source of fear. Rocket ship X-M was the first film to feature outer space and aliens, which then sparked a new trend known as Sci-fi. Some of the most popular films created in this genre were: The Thing, The day the Earth stood still, Invasion of the body snatcher, It came from outer space and War of the worlds. Mutant monsters were created using existing life forms and blue screen techniques. At this time on screen monsters were the cutting edge of movie technology which drawed large crowds to the cinema. The fast advancement of technology was the inspiration of this genre, this is because many people believed that it was a danger to man kind, and would mutate and deform ourselves and our way of life. Sci-fi films now, are not really classed as horrors as the fear is not as great. Some films are even mocking aliens, an example of this is Monsters Inc.

6). Ghosts, Zombies, Satanism and your family- 1960s-1970s.

In the 70's big budget, respectable horror returned. The films focused on the grim outlook of the decade and therefore featured contemporary societal issues and genuine psychological fears. 

Scary Children:

The fear of children and childbirth is what inspired many films. The Exorcist is an example of this. Voted the scariest film of all time the Exorcist is about a child that becomes possessed by the devil, which implies that the enemy can be found closer to you than originally thought. These films reinforce that children can be unwanted and can do bad things to their parents.

Ghosts:

Mainly appearing within the 1960's ghost films were created as a reaction to the creature feature films made in the late 1950's. The horror of the film lies in the journey of the protagonist from sanity to psychosis. 

7). Hammer Horror- A British success.

Hammer films is a british film and television production company. It is based in London and founded in 1934. Although famous by its production of  'The curse of Frankenstein', Hammer films have also created many more such as: The Abominable snowman, Dracula, The Mummy, and the Curse of the Werewolf. There were a few differences in Hammer fims compared to other films at this time. Hammer films were in colour, and also had slightly different storylines. For example they would focus on victim not creature, which sent Frankenstein on a quest for knowledge instead of being a criminal. The success of these films led to more different films and also the wheel of inspiration.
Wheel of inspiration:
                                                               Universal project
Make Another                                                                                                           Change Script
                                                                 Audiences like

8). Slasher movies and body horror/gore in the 80s, and their descent into postmodern parody.

A slasher is a horror where the killer mutilates their victim with the use of knives, razors or other vicious weapons.
Body Horror:
A genre of horror that graphically shows the destruction and degeneration of a human body/bodies.
Examples of these films are: Scream, Halloween, Psycho, My bloody valentine and many more.
Slasher movies first came about in the 80s due to the advances in technology allowing them to use improved special effects to create very explicit scenes. Their target audience loved this and also the psychopathic killers which is what enabled them to create so many sequels to films of this genre, E.G Nightmare on Elm street. However soon enough paradies were made in response to the slasher films. Scream is an example of this and it challenges the main conventions of slahers and body horrors by using completely different motives for killing their victims (instead of killing for revenge they would kill because they didn't know facts about horror etc).

9). Format fears and moral panics... Video nasties in the 1980s.

Video nasties almost always went straight to VHS, because of the extreme nature of the film, which also gave them the blame for changing britain. They would involve absurd titles, gory storylines and gruesome covers, inevitabley causing court cases against them, however they were still available even once the law case had passed. They became so popular because of advertisement and the taboo subjects of the films. Not only this but horror films became increasngly more popular within the home instead of at the cinema because of the refusal of the British theatrical release.

10). Gore returns with a vengeance- ''gore-nography'' or ''torture porn''.

In these horror films the plot, story and characters are completely non-existent, it is soley based on the brutal gore. The popularization of such extreme graphic violence helped with the emergence of a type of horror that emphasised on depictions of torture, suffereing and violent deaths. These films are variously referred to as 'Horror porn', 'Torture Porn', 'Splatterporn' and 'gorenography'. Examples of these films are : 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 'Wolf Creek', 'Wrong Turn', 'Ghost Ship', 'The collector' and many more. People often like these films because they recreate disturbing thoughts that can go through our minds, however reasure us because it's only fiction and will never happen. This also creates a thrill from being out of our comfort zone which alot of people like. A well know director of Gorenography is Eli Roth who directed ''Hostel''.