1. HISTORY OF HORROR
Horror is a genre, which attempts to receive a negative reaction from the viewer using their
fears and often include scenes that are likely to startle the audience. Supernatural and
macabre are frequent themes in horror and may overlap with fantasy, thriller and
supernatural as well as science fiction genres. Horror movies often deal with the viewer‟s
nightmares, fears and terror of the unknown with plots involving an evil force or being
intruding on someone such as vampires, werewolves, demons, murderers etc.

2. 1890S-1920S
•
The first appearance of supernatural events was in several of
the silent shorts made by French film pioneer Georges Melies
in the late 1890s, the first movie to be credited a horror movie
was called „Le Manoir du diable.
•
Japan was also involved early with the horror genre bringing
titles such as „Bake Jizo‟ and „Shinin no Sosei‟, both made in
1898.
•
In 1910, Edison Studios produced the first filmed version of
„Frankenstein‟, which was thought to have been lost for many
years.
•
The second monster to appear in a horror film was Quasimodo
under the alias of The Hunchback Of Notre-Dame, which first
appeared in the novel by Victor Hugo mad in 1831. Films with
this character include: Esmeralda (1906), The Hunchback
(1909), The Love of a Hunchback (1910) and Notre-Dame de
Paris (1911).
•
German Expressionist filmmakers, during the Weimar Republic
era and slightly earlier, will make a significant impact on later
horror films as well as non-horror films. Among these films
released in 1920 includes: „The Golem‟ and „The Cabinet of Dr.
Caligari. The first vampire-themed movie made during this time
was Nosferatu, an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker‟s
Dracula made in 1922.

3. 1930S-1940S
During the early period of talking pictures, the
American Movie studio Universal Pictures stated a
successful Gothic horror film series including titles
such as: Todd Browning‟s „Dracula‟ (1931), James
Whale‟s „Frankenstein‟ (1931) and „The Old Dark
House‟ (1932).
Other studios followed universal‟s lead. Tod
Browning made the movie „Freaks‟ (1932) about a
band of circus freaks however the studio disowned
the completed film after cutting about 30 minutes; it
remained unreleased in the UK for thirty years.
Rouben Mamoulian made „Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde
(1931) which was remembered for its use of colour
filters to create Jekyll‟s transformation before the
camera. Michael Curtiz‟s „Mystery of the Wax
Museum‟ (Warner Brothers, 1933) as well as
„Island of Lost Souls‟ (Paramount, 1932) were both
important horror films.

4. 1950S-1960S
With advances in technology, the style of horror films changed from Gothic towards contemporary concerns. Two
sub-genres started to appear being: the horror-of-Armageddon film and the horror-of-the-demonic film.
A stream of usually low budget productions featured humanity overcoming threats the like of aliens or deadly
mutations to people, plants and insects. The movie horror film from Japan, Godzilla (1954) show mutation from
the effects of nuclear radiation.
Unfortunately this was also a time where Hollywood directors and producers found audience exploitation through
gimmicks such as 3-D and “Percepto”.
During this time is when Great Britain emerged as a producer of horror films, The Hammer being the first
company to focus on the genre, enjoying huge international success from films involving classic horror
characters which were shown in colour for the first time.
The Slasher genre also emerged at this time with British director Michael Powell‟s Peeping Tom (1960) followed
by notable films such as „Psycho‟ and „The Birds‟.
The influential American horror film “Night of the Living Dead‟ (1968) was a horror-of-Armageddon film about
zombies blends psychological insights with gore moving the genre even further away from the gothic horror
trends of earlier eras and brought horror into everyday life.
Low budget gore-shock films also appeared at this time featuring things such as splattering blood and body
dismemberment
Godzilla- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSk-i1UFJWA

5. 1970S-1980S
Following the success‟ of low budget gore films and the popular success of „Rosemary‟s Baby‟ led to the release
of more occult themes during the 1970s. The Exorcist (1973), was the first of these types of movies and was a
significant commercial success, and was followed by scores of horror films in which the Devil represented the
supernatural evil, often impregnating women or possessing children. The genre also included gory horror films
with sexual overtone.
The ideas of the 1960s began to influence horror films, as the youth involved in the counterculture began venturing into
the medium. Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
revisited the Vietnam war; George A. Romero satirized the consumer society in his zombie sequel, Dawn of the Dead
(1978); Canadian director David Cronenberg featured the "mad scientist" movie sub-genre by exploring contemporary
fears about technology and society, and reinventing "body horror", starting with Shivers (1975). Meanwhile, the subgenre of comedy horror re-emerged in the cinema with Young Frankenstein (1974), The Rocky Horror Picture Show
(1975), and An American Werewolf in London (1981) among other films.
A cycle of slasher films was made during the 1970s and early 1980s. John Carpenter created Halloween (1978), Sean
Cunningham made Friday the 13th (1980) and Wes Craven directed A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984). This subgenre would be mined by dozens of increasingly violent movies throughout the subsequent decades, and Halloween
became a successful independent film. Another notable '70s slasher film is Bob Clark's Black Christmas (1974). The
boom in slasher films provided enough material for numerous comedic spoofs of the genre including Saturday the 14th
(1981), Student Bodies (1981), National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1983), and Hysterical (1983).
Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) began a new wave of killer animal stories such as Orca (1977), and Up from the
Depths. Jaws is often credited as being one of the first films to use traditionally B movie elements such as horror and
mild gore in a big-budget Hollywood film.
Jaws- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ9fFKdkFA0

6. 1990S
Two main problems pushed horror backward during this period: firstly, the horror genre wore itself out
with the consistent releases of nonstop slasher and gore films in the eighties. Secondly, the teenage
audience which feasted on the blood and morbidity of the previous decade grew up, and the replacement
audience for films of an imaginative nature were being captured instead by the explosion of sciencefiction and fantasy films, courtesy of the special effects possibilities with advances made in computergenerated imagery. Examples of these CGI include movies like Species (1995), Anaconda (1997), Mimic
(1997), Blade (1998), Deep Rising (1998), House on Haunted Hill (1999), Sleepy Hollow (1999), and The
Haunting (1999).
To re-connect with its audience, horror became more self-mockingly ironic and outright parodic,
especially in the latter half of the 1990s. Peter Jackson's Braindead (1992) took the splatter film to
ridiculous excesses for comic effect. Wes Craven's Scream (written by Kevin Williamson) movies,
starting in 1996, featured teenagers who were fully aware of, and often made reference to, the history of
horror movies, and mixed ironic humour with the shocks (despite Scream 2 and 3 utilising less use of the
humour of the original, until Scream 4 in 2011, and rather more references to horror film conventions).
Along with I Know What You Did Last Summer (written by Kevin Williamson as well) and Urban Legend,
they re-ignited the dormant slasher film genre.
Anaconda- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkX5t5ZJLEk

7. 2000S ONWARDS
The start of the 2000s saw a quiet period for the genre. The release of an extended version of The
Exorcist in September 2000 was successful despite the film having been available on home video for
years. Valentine (2001) had some success at the box office, but was derided by critics for being formulaic
and relying on foregone horror film conventions. Franchise films such as Jason X (2001) and Freddy vs.
Jason (2003) also made a stand in theaters. Final Destination (2000) marked a successful revival of
teen-centered horror and spawned four sequels. The Jeepers Creepers series was also successful. Films
such as Hollow Man, Orphan, Wrong Turn, Cabin Fever, House of 1000 Corpses, and the previous
mentions helped bring the genre back to Restricted ratings in theaters. Comic book adaptations like the
Blade series, Constantine (2005), and Hellboy (2004) also became box office successes. Video game
adaptations like Doom (2005) and Silent Hill (2006) also had moderate box office success while Van
Helsing (2004) and Underworld series had huge box office success.
Another trend is the emergence of psychology to scare audiences, rather than gore. The Others (2001)
proved to be a successful example of psychological horror film.
A major return to the zombie genre in horror movies was made after 2000. The Resident Evil video game
franchise was adapted into a film released in March 2002. Six sequels have followed. The film I Am
Legend (2007), Quarantine (2008), Zombieland (2009), and the British film 28 Days Later (2002) featured
an update on the genre with The Return of the Living Dead (1985) style of aggressive zombie.
Resident Evil- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4yqRGlgwkc