History of Horror

The genres of horror have been around now for many years, designed to frighten/scare/startle and entertain its audiences through the medium of drama. Horror films are made to make us believe our worst nightmares can indeed become reality. This genre tends to aim toward the supernatural, the unknown, and the dark side of life.

German Expressionism was brought to life during WW1 in the trenches in 1914. The German soldiers who were involved in the war were mostly artists, and the terrifying events they experienced lead them to blame their superiors for putting them onto the battlefield in the first place. Four years later – when the war ended in 1918, the people rose to the November Revolution. German Expressionism challenged our traditional views of art and culture after the First World War. Many horror movies were filmed during the start of the 1900’s, therefore creating a whole new genre of cinematic experience.

Films first associated with German Expressionism were “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, “Nosferatu”, “Phantom” and “The Last Laugh”. During the war in 1916, the government had banned more foreign films in the nation. However, six years on during 1922, international audiences had started to appreciate and watch more films associated with German cinema. The majority of expressionism films were based upon the genres of madness, insanity and betrayal. However, German expressionism did not just change cinema, it also allowed art, culture and society to change too.

Gothic fiction – otherwise referred to as gothic horror is the combination of horror and romance which creates brilliant film productions such as Frankenstein, Dracula and Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde. There are many archetypes of this type of horror genre including; virginal maiden, older/dumb woman, hero, tyrant, the stupid servant and clowns. The literary gothic era shows the emotion and fear brought to life through the films.

The 1930’s was the birth of ‘Monsters & Mad Scientists’. In comparison to the horror films of the 1920’s, these films were a completely new experience for the whole media world. The introduction of sound and these monsters during this time period allowed the horror genre to change the whole nature of cinema. Along with new special effects came an audience of around 80 million people who attended the cinema weekly – proving that these new horror features of monsters and mad scientists had an unimaginable impact on horror. Despite the Great Depression at the time, Universal Studios managed to create two films forever changing our view on the history of the horror genre – ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Dracula’. These two films changed the lives of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, the leading roles in these two films. The 1930’s used classic literature to influence early American horror films.

The 1940’s was the start of well-established fictional animals featuring in most horror films. This birth of introducing ‘the primal animal within’ allowed the genre of horror to change dramatically. One example of this type of film would be ‘Cat People’ which follows the story of Irena, a woman who believes she has been cursed and thinks she will turn into a large cat if she consummates her marriage and makes it official. Also, because of this new change in cinema, ‘The Wolfman’ was released, based upon a man who returns to his village after learning his brother has died and while there, after a series of events turns into a werewolf. After attacking the village, his father kills him and watched as his son turns back into human form.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ADPSaybusM

After the ‘primal animal within’ stage a decade previous, the 1950’s brought to life the mutant creatures and alien invaders era. This new found horror film genre was a brilliant way of attracting new audiences and masses of viewers to the cinema. New monsters and aliens during this era were seen to be unstoppable except for one person with the cure – the ‘hero’. The atom bomb which created everyone’s fears at this time is how this new media was born, and the monsters supplied a vision of destruction made by the in terrestrial instead of humans – therefore making us look more reliable and safe as a nation. Also during this time a new birth of horror was born too, the sci-fi era. One film which shows this example perfectly is ‘The Blob’ made in 1958 which follows the story of giant alien blob which attempts to take over the world, spreading from one place to another – which is a direct link to communism. This film was made to represent the fear of communism throughout the nation during the 1950’s.

The 1960’s enabled the film industry to use humans as the new main threat in horror films. Using humans as a force to be reckoned with made the audiences fully aware of the danger, making it more real for them. Having humans as the threat in these new horror films allowed the viewers to become more involved and intimate with the action, as they were no longer worried about monsters or aliens, but by their own race of people. Along with humans, ghosts, zombies and Satanism were also introduced as the threat and fear of horrors back in 1960’s. Ghosts and the unknown were able to produce a spark for these new horror films throughout this decade, using the paranormal and supernatural to attack the audience’s mind and

insert a fear of something which isn’t there. This feature is still alive today and is used in many horror films, no matter what genre. It was during this period that zombie films were really established in their own right.

The horror films produced in the 1970’s are a true representation of that decade, showing the mood and atmosphere of that era. For example, the downfalls of the 70’s including the split of the Beatles, glam rock and oil strikes allowed the horror films to become brilliant. It was during this era that horror films based themselves upon genuine psychological fears. Anti-feminist Hammer horror films introduced a particular sense of women and how they were perceived as sex objects and nothing more, that you had to have a certain body type to be seen as attractive. This decade started off the second wave of the feminist movement, showing that women were always the victim and needed a man to save them from the danger. Possibly the key film to talk about for this decade is ‘The Exorcist’, which for once, took the content and seriousness of the horror genre head on. This film is seen as a grown up horror film and is known to have created a shift for the genre.

The Slasher horror genre/body horror/gore and video nasties were all brought to life during the 1980’s. This decade is where special effects and new technical movements allowed horror to really come to life and introduce a new genre altogether, focusing on format fears and moral panic, mainly from low budget films. Producers of these new horror films throughout the 80’s wanted to challenge themselves and attempt to create something completely new which had never been approached before. However, this leap of faith was a huge risk, as some people argued over the ‘image/imagination’ aspect of horror – were they good films because we were left to our own devices, or were they good because they showed blood and gore and challenged audiences to keep watching even if they were repulsed? Another feature which could’ve potentially harmed the horror genre for this era is the case of ‘is too much too comic?’ Some people said that too many blood and gore images on our screens were eventually seen as humorous instead of frightening, whereas this helped others as the comedic side effect allowed them to enjoy horror films – even if they were watching limbs being torn from bodies. Throughout the 1980’s, some of the genre’s credibility was lost – only aiming at young males for thrills at the new found cinema. However, for this time period, this seemed like the only legitimate audience. The main film which represents the 1980’s horror genre I would believe to be ‘The Thing’, with the tagline being Man Is the Warmest Place to Hide. It focuses on a shape shifting alien which takes the body of the person it kills – still being one of the most famous horror films of all time.

All of these shifts in the genres of horror have all led to this, todays day and age of horror – ‘torture porn’ and ‘gore-nography’ focusing on the aspects of porn, but with the action being torture instead of sexual acts. Viewing these horror films now is purely based on realism. Films which show this are – ‘Saw’ and ‘Hostel’, both of which create a sense of fear based on reality