History of Horror

Gothic horror and 19th century horror stories:

• These stories include Frankenstein, Dracula and Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde. 
• Frankenstein was was written in 1818 by Mary Shelley and is responsible for the trend of the science fiction genre.
• The film Dracula was produced in 1931 and directed by Todd Browning. 
• Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde was originally published as Strange case of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde and written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886. 

Horror of the silent era - German expressionism:

• In the nineteenth century, audiences enjoyed seeing still camera shots of 'ghosts'.
•  The Lumiere brothers designed a sketch of a dancing skeleton in 1895.
• The first recorded horror film was published in 1896 and was called 'Le Manoir du Diable.' 
• German Expressionism was very popular in Germany during the WW1 and extremely popular in Berlin during th 1920s.

Monsters and Mad Scientists 1930s:

• Due to sound, horror films were reborn in the 1930's with monsters and mad scientists being the main characters.
• Universal Studios began back in the 1930's and were known for their horror films such as Dracula and Frankenstein.
• 80 million people attended the cinema weekly back in the 1930's - it provided somewhere away from the depression of the war.

Werewolves and Cat people 1940s:

• Adolf means 'Noble wolf'  in old German - the media used this to scare people in the 1940s.
• Werewolfs could be seen as Nazi's - the idea they bite you and pass on their 'condition'.
• The media linked the idea of cats with woman as they were both seen as being sly and gracious.
• The film Cat people - a film where the females dominated the males by seducing them and killing them.

Mutant creatures and alien invaders 1950s:

• The first alien invaders film was in the 50's and was a low budget film called 'Rocketship X-M'.
• Monster movie films stemmed from the fears of the atom bomb.
• Invasion of the Body snatchers was one of the popular 1950's films and focused on the idea of communism.

Ghosts, Zombies, Satanism and your family 1960-70s:

• More low budget gore films appeared as people were used to seeing news of the war.
• War made films like this most realistic.

Hammer Horror:

• Hammer Horror is a British film production company which began in 1934. 
• They were very popular in the 1950's yet died down in the 60's.
• They created 8 Dracula films.
• Director Terence Fisher created the first Dracula film, Horror of Dracula.
• The company spread worldwide and their films were unexpectedly big hits. 

Slasher movies 1980's:

• These films began to the advancement in special FX.
• The Western society were very interested in material wealth in the 80's. This meant they didn't want to just have things, they wanted others to know they had them. 
• Many think that these films are not as scary as the ones previously as they are missing the mystery. They are very much 'in your face horrors'. 
• A trend of films began in the 80's focusing on what was inside the body.
• 'Slasher films' use certain conventions normally psychopathic killers stalking teenagers - these films were very popular in the 80's.

Video nasties 1980's:

• The VHS cassette began a trend of horror films that were low budget and not likely to be played in cinemas. 
• People started to notice children were also getting hold of the unsuitable content these films contained.
• This trend of film did not receive the mandatory rating films have to have if the are put into cinemas.
• During the 80's, there was a list of 39 video nasties that were banned in the UK.

Gore returns 2000's:

• Edelstein suggest we watch these films for the physical reaction rather than the emotional - much like porn. 
• Many films were now being published containing very graphic torture.
• The 2004 reports of the US Army being accused of torturing prisoners meant these films became very realistic. 
• In 2007 though, the film Captivity was criticised for going too far with its graphic images of a tortured woman. 
• Gorenography could be viewed as fizzled out by the end of the decade.