The Development of Horror

Development of Horror

Early films from the 1890's

The first horror film was The House of The Devil made in 1986. It was a french two minute long film initially intended to amuse people but nonetheless, is considered the first horror film. The film starts off with a large bat flying into a medieval castle. Once in, the bat circles slowly while flapping its monstrous wings before suddenly changing into Mephistopheles. After preparing a cauldron, the demon produces skeletons, ghosts, and witches from its bubbling contents before one of the summoned underworld cavaliers holds up a crucifix and Satan vanishes in a blast of smoke. Another early film made in the horror genre is Frankenstein. It today is still very popular and iconic. The plot is a young ardent scientist and his assistant piece together a human body to create a new life. The story was derived from the book.

1930-1940's

In this decade Gothic horrors began to emerge which involved a science-fiction element and were often plucked from literature. Dracula was a 1931 film made in the United States of America based on the book Dracula by Bram Stoker. Its a very iconic film based on vampires.

1950-1960's

Due to advances in technology new types of horror began to be introduced and it became increasingly popular. Horror of the personality, horror of the Armageddon and horror of the demonic were defined and used. Also there were many super natural films being made. In 1960 one of the most famous horror films were made called Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film depicts the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who is in hiding at a motel after embezzling from her employer, and the motel's owner, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), and the aftermath of their encounter after he kills her. The shower scene is very significant in the history of horror and had become a famous convention and icon in horror.

1970-1980's

During this period the super natural theme was carried on and slasher movies with a psychiatric killer caught on. In 1975 Steven Spielberg directed the film jaws which went against many of the horror conventions which audiences were used to because most of the effectively scary scenes were shot in daylight. Other significant films made in the 1980's are Halloween and A Nightmare On Elm Street. Wes Craven produced A Nightmare on Elm Street on an estimated budget of just $1.8 million, a sum the film earned back during its first week. The film's premise is the question of the distinction between dreams and reality. The villain, Fred Krueger, exists in the "dream world" yet can kill in the "real world".

1990-2000's

From 1990 to now, many sequels from previous years were released. In the early 2000's not many horror films were released or extremely successful until Saw and Finial Destination which were very tormentative and mentally thrilling. Teenage catered horror films were popular for example Alien vs. Preditor and also a comedy element was added for comic relief with films such as Scary Movie and Shawn of the Dead. However in this period the Japanese began to make extremely horrifying films for example, The Ring and The Grudge.