1. History of horror
films
and iconic film in
the genre
Sujata Gurung 4342

2. Intro:
Definition of horror: an intense feeling of fear,
shock or disgust
As human beings we seek adrenaline or the thrill
for life which makes living exciting and fun. Just
like how we seek adrenaline from roller coaster
rides we seek this as well in horror films.

3. Background
historyEarly creation of myths in all cultures are
populated with demons and darkness. The early
mythologies resounds the tales of a world beyond
the physical reach, a realm of spirits to be feared
of.
These mythologies which include monsters are
Cereberus the minotaur, Medusa, the hydra, the
sirens and cyclops. This is when the interest in
the horror genre is dated to have started.
Following this centuries later great horror classic
novels were released such as ‘Frankenstien’
(1818 then 1823) by Mary Shelley. ‘The strange
case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) seminal
novella by Robert Louis Stevenson (Great book to
read!) and Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker, which
is where the Dracula series originated from.

4. The very first !
The very first horror film to date is ‘Le Manoir du
Diable (1896) which was created by Geroges
Melies.
Below is the link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw8bzC33CGY#
t=39
Another early horror genre debut film is ‘The Cabinet
of Dr Caligari (1920):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrg73BUxJLI

5. 1920s to 1930s
The early 1920s marked the start of film, and also marked
the beginning of the horror genre films.
These are some of the films made in the 20s to 30s:
Nosferatu, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The
mummy
1930s to 1949 it was the golden age for the string of
successful Gothic horror films e.g.. Frankenstien, Dracula,
the invisible man. Two main actors who gained a lot from
franchises made from theses films were ‘Bella lugosi and
Boris Karloff
The very first genre of horror films was ‘Ghotic horror’, this
was derived from gothic literature which dated back to
early 1900s

7. 1940s
In the 1940s there was a decline in horror films
as a result of world war 2 however classic horror
films were made such as Wolf man, House of
Dracula, and house of Frankenstein

8. 1950s
1950s was the end of war and people were
more willing to spend money on cinemas to
forget the horror of the war. Example of
1950s horror films are ‘It came from
beneath the sea”
1950s-1960s due to the advancement of
technology the main theme of horror films
changed from the gothic genre to more
horror films that concerned the current
situation of the world at this time. Many of
the films had subliminal messages and idea
of threat that humans have not much
experience with e.g. the invasion and taking
over. This is similar to the real life situation
of the war.

9. 1960s
1960s brought a new genre to horror, this was
influenced from Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Pyscho’.
Example of films are the birds, carnival of souls, Night
of the living dead, blood feast.

10. 1970s
1970s had a surge in horror films, this is because
horror films were thought to represent the time
and the problems and compared to the 60s, the
70s was a more depressing era. Really good
horror films came around this time: The Exorcist,
Jaws, Texas chainsaw massacre, Carrie, the
omen, Halloween and these films are still making
sequels and building a franchise of the films.

12. 1980s
1980’s new types of technology was introduced
to develop better graphics, quality of production
and better costumes/makeup. Some films that
came out around this time are Nightmare on elm
street, the Fly, the Shining

13. 1990s
By the 1990s the monster genre
films had gotten boring and a bit
cliché, this called for a re-boost
of new things that the people
would be excited by. There this
new ‘hype’ for psychological
films. Films would follow the
narrative of brutal murders of
ordinary humans, twisted on
killing others-this was much
more realistic and believable
narrative. Example of films were
Se7en, Sixth sense, Misery.

14. 2000s
20th century introduced many new genres and some
revival of old classic horror films.
Here are a list of iconic horror films of 2000s:
Scary movie (2000)
Final destination(2000)
Spiders(2000)
The human centipede (2010)
Insidious (2011)
Most recent and upcoming horror
film list:
Annabelle (2014)
Magi (2015)
Muck (2015)
Poltergeist (2015)