The History Of Horror

Roots in Classic Literature

During the 19^th Century, there was a huge interest in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, electricity and metallurgy and large developments in these sectors; this caused the 19^th Century to be the groundwork for the technological advances in the 20^th Century. During the 19^th Century, the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain and later spread to continental Europe, North America and Japan. Whilst this was happening in the Victorian Era, there was the widespread employment of children in factories and mines, as well as strict social norms regarding both modesty and gender roles.

The 19^th Century was when the Gothic tradition turned into the genre that is now known modernly as the horror genre. During the 19^th Century, horror books and stories such as Frankenstein (Mary Shelly 1818), Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Louis Stevenson (1886) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1897.

The Silent Era

Silent films are ones in which there are no synchronized recorded sound, and this includes spoken dialogue. In silent film, the acting had to be changed so that it was extremely expressive and if any dialogue was needed then it was done through the use of title cards. This era started in 1894 and ended in 1920 when audio became available.

Silent films had a very large impact, as they appealed to mass audiences of the illiterate working-class. It was during the 1920’s when silent films became more of a middle class pastime as these films began to be based upon books. After the Second World War, the USA began patenting the technology for filmmaking as Italy and France were heavily damaged during the Second World War. Actors were expected to perform their own stunts, and studios would save money by getting willing actors to be in the story rather than hiring an actor and a stunt double.

The most famous silent actor Charlie Chaplin.

Monsters and Mad Scientists

The 1930’s was the re-birth of the horror films, and this lead to many horror films being made from books that were written during the 19^th Century. These films included, King Kong, Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy. With the addition of sound being recent and new, this added a large fear factor to the films as much and tension was a lot easier to add to the film. Scientists in these horror films were given a bad reputation as they were often thought to be insane or power hungry. This lead to real scientists having problems and scientists within plots were often laughed at.

Finally, the 1930’s were the era of The Great Depression and this lead to horror films being extremely popular due to the escapism factor of horror films.

 

The Primal Animal Within

During the 1940’s the horror genre had been banned in Great Britain, and this led to America taking over the horror genre. The Second World War affected the horror genre and led to the ideas of primal animals and creatures being the villains in horror films. It was during this time that wolves became a key icon of the horror genre, and this was due to Nazis being referred by Hitler himself as wolves. Films such as The Wolf Man and Cat People (1942), were made in America.

 

Mutant Creatures and Alien Invaders

During the 1950’s mutant movies came into the horror genre and quickly became a very popular horror sub-genre. The most iconic monster movie of the 1950’s is Godzilla. In addition to this, Alien movies also came a big success with the idea of unknown life and other life sustaining planets.

Atomic bomb testing occurred heavily and is thought to be what caused the ideas of mutants and monsters, as being exposed to heavy amounts of radiation often created these beings and this caused some fear with people, as they were learning the affects of nuclear weapon and bomb testing.

This was later followed by the fear of the unknown that was created by NASA and this was due to people becoming more scientifically aware of things around themselves and an increasing interest in the sciences. Films that played with the space genre were able to have so man interpretations and variations as no one really knowing much about space.

Ghosts, Zombies, Satanism and your Family (1960’s – 1970’s)

Key horror films during the these two decades included Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock 1960), The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock 1963), The Night of the Living Dead (George A Romero 1968), Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski 1968) and Taste the Blood of the Dracula (Peter Sasdy 1970). Key events that took part during the 1960’s included the US presidency of JFK in 1960, proposal of the moon program in 1961, JFK’s assassination in 1963, Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Vietnam War 1955-1975.

During the 1970’s there were more major events that caused people to become fearful of people around them and not knowing who to trust. This includes Serial Killer Ted Bundy and Charles Manson and his conspiracy to attack people within their own homes and this led to several people being killed in their own homes. This later led onto films being made about things occurring around the everyday household lifestyle.

Hammer House Productions

Hammer House Productions, is a film company that made many horror films during the mid 1950’s – 1970’s. It was during this time that they dominated the UK horror film production and had their films going worldwide. After having to declare bankruptcy in the mid 90’s Hammer Films came back to help produce The Women In Black and Let Me In.

Slasher Films

Slasher is a sub genre of American horror films, which typically involve;

·      A violent psychopath who murders several people.

·      Murder

Alfred Hitchcock is the most known horror/slasher film, which films such as Psycho, which was an early influential slasher film. In addition to Alfred Hitchcock, there is film director John Carpenter who directed, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream. Key slasher films in the 80’s includes Friday the 13^th (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), The Slumber Party Massacre (1982), The Prowler (1980), Maniac (1980), The Shining (1981) and Halloween (1981). It is common for slasher films to be based around a specific calendar date, as they can then market around that date, and with most calendar day events being well known, this can then help to make the film more appealing.

 

Video Nasties

Video Nasties include A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Evil Dead, I Spit on your Grave, Zombie Flash Eaters, Nightmares in a Damaged Brain and The Last House on the Left. The thing that makes video nasties so bad, is that the commonly include mutilations of bodies cannibalism, gang rape. 30 years ago, a new law was put in place, where a film had to be classified in order to be released.

With the advanced that technology the software allowed for fake scenes and animation to be made and this meant that scarier things could then be put into films.

Self Referential Horror Films

These are horror films that are aware of them. By this we mean that they involve the use of horror parodies and are aware of the codes and conventions that are stereotypical of the horror genre. The 1990’s were all about people finding themselves and getting their own personal self-awareness. This led to the rise of teenagers being in horror films.

Gorenography

Gorenography are torture films that are often described as being ‘torture porn’. These films include Hostel, Wolf Creek, The Devil’s Reject and Saw. These films were often made to have recognizable props and settings, so that once the audience left the cinema, they were then able to recognize settings and feel more scared at home ect.