Horror Genre History (stars directors films)

by Rebecca King

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SCRIPT

1930s

Innovations in sound in film led to the first commercial screening of short motion pictures with sound as opposed to silent film in 1923, becoming popular practice in the 1930’s this led to loud grunting, groaning, howling monsters becoming popular in the horror genre. Sound added a new aspect to film and conveyed suspense on screen. Horror stories were centered on literature, using books as the source of storylines with well-established storybook characters.

 

Universal studios were especially influential in horror from 1931 to 1939, impacting the horror genre with classics. These classic characters remain popular nowadays especially at Halloween. Universal produced ‘Dracula’ and ‘Frankenstein's Monster’, both based around monsters.

 

Other influential 30s films included ‘The Mummy’ 1932 and ‘King Kong’ 1933, which both focus on monsters.

 

1940s

This was in a time of war and Americans tended to look at outsiders and other countries as dangerous. However eventually Americans were pulled into the war. Corresponding with this theme in the horror genre people became animalistic and savage. This reflects the primal violence of war.

 

‘Werewolf of London’ in 1935 and ‘The Wolf Man’ from 1941 reflect the animalistic wolf like theme and stray from the literature material. ‘Cat People’ in 1942 even uses a feline subject.

 

1950s

Monsters created by technology were a major theme in this time period; War had taught people that technology was to be feared and that the more advanced the tech the more power in the war, for example the atomic bomb. The horror movies from this time period were for the most part low quality b list movies due to the films trying to keep up with TV advances and technological changes in film such as widespread colour production.

 

Mutated monsters were a popular storyline as evidenced in ‘Godzilla’, ‘Them’, ‘Attack of the 50 foot woman’ and ‘the fly’. To create these beasts studios incorporated blue screen techniques and used model form recreations with stop motion animation. One of the most profitable movies from the 1950s was ‘The Beast From 20,000 fathoms’ 1953.

 

Science fiction aliens were also popular on screen in the 1950s due to the advancements in film technology and popular demand. ‘Invasion of the body snatchers’ stated that they already invaded and asked what it actually means to be human.

 

1960s

Those in the 1960s no longer looked to outside threats for stories, and horror was in fact was rooted in reality, depicting problems in a changing world. Traditions, stereotypes and prohibitions were brought into question. Sex and violence was featured commonly in this time period especially by underground cinema, which dodged censorship.

 

Two directors made their way to fame. Hitchcock directed both ‘psycho’ and ‘the birds’ in this film era and George Romero’s ‘night of the living dead’ spawned many sequels due to its high quality filming, makeup and writing, which depicted family turning against each other when bit. ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ begins a thread of horror movies carrying on into the 1970s depicting the generation gap of views and families consequentially being distant.

 

1970s

In the 1970s high quality A list movies became more common. Children became a key focus of horror in the 1970s but had been a theme in horror since the 60s, for example ‘the village of the damned’ from 1960. Family became a prominent theme when the monster can be a member of your family in your own house. Society was changing and with it there was paranoia of the moral shift and families views differed from person to person.

 

‘The Shining’ produced in 1973, became a classic due to its cinematography and stunning special effects, and the father of the family was the monster. ‘The Omen’ was a theme variation of the shining by a different studio featuring a small boy possessed by a demon. ‘The Omen’ is often compared to ‘The Shining’ and although it is good quality, usually comes off worse in reviews.

  

Similarly the monster in ‘Alice Sweet Alice’ from 1976, was the sister in the family, and the popular ‘Carrie’ of 1976 focused on people you cant even see anymore due to seeing them so often!

 

Jaws was directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1975, which whilst not keeping to the main theme of the 70s was extremely popular and showed how old tropes could be successful with the right directors, writers and producers.

 

1980s

Animatronics and liquid and foam latex advanced meaning distortions of the human frame could be achieved to a high standard. There were full colour close ups and special effects unobtainable previously. The monsters however were similar to previous years, ghosts, warebeings and slimy organisms. For example ‘Alien’ and ‘The Thing’

 

The Shining of 1980 was iconic to this era and used 360 visions entailing a ghost story.

 

1990s

The 1990s relied on gross out horror and gore meant to shock the viewer with hints of the thriller genre for example ‘silence of the lambs’. There were a lot of remakes such as Dracula and Frankenstein and sequels like ‘The Exorcist 3’ and ‘Wes Craven’s New Nightmare’. Not everything was a remake though and the horror genre was focused on psychopaths and serial killers in this time period. There were numerous movies in this genre such as ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, ‘Se7en’, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ and ‘Momma’s Boy’.

 

2000s

No longer were psychopaths used in the horror genre due to the tragic and shocking events of 9/11, which hit too close to home. Horror movies topped the box office often and horror was more popular than ever.

 

Death was the newest topic for movies as evidenced in 2000s final destination, whose killer has no weakness and which everyone will one day face.

 

Torture porn, which means the viewer doesn’t care for the character and they are tortured within the movie, was on the rise often with graphic depictions in 2004 and 5 with movies such as ‘Wolf Creek’, ‘The Devils Rejects’ and ‘Hostel’ using it as a plot devise. However it was eventually took too far in the public’s option with the 2007 posters with the captions abduction, confinement, torture, determination, which the public lead by Joss Whedon called to be taken down. The movie was still released but was not a huge success. Shortly after this Torture porn was a thing of the past.

 

In conclusion these are the events that led us to today’s horror movies, from the advent of sound in the 192s to the use of special effects leading to today, each year has added something to the mix and overtime defined the genre of horror.

 

sources

http://www.genia.com/blog/impossible-to-ignore/a-short-history-of-horror-films

http://www.horrorfilmhistory.com/index.php?pageID=1930s