2. Beginning of horror Origin - Latin, from horrere ‘shudder, (of hair) stand on end’ Gothic literature inspired many novels to be made into movies. The first gothic novel was 1764 Some popular nineteenth century books that were later turned into just as popular films were: A Christmas carol, Moby Dick, Wuthering heights and Dracula
3. Silent horror movies The first horror films were silent movies, which laid out the codes and conventions of the horror genre, and are still used today. The Golem (1915-1920) – several versions of this were made and it was said to be “the first monster movie” The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919) – this was popular with the German audience at the time as they were suffering economic consequences of war reparations Nosferatu (1922) – very first vampire movie
4. 1930s Sound was added to movies and had a huge impact on the horror genre, monsters now grunt, groan and howl. Dracula (1931) – very successful for universal and paved the way for a series of high profile horror classics Frankenstein (1931) The Mummy (1932) Freaks (1932) – banned in many countries for more than 30 years as it offended people 1933 – The year that Hitler came into power, there was a peak in mad scientist movies
5. 1940’s Wolves were the main concept of horror films in the 1940s. The concept came from the threat of Hitler, who strongly identified himself with the legends of wolves. The Wolf man (1941) – was a mishmash of wolf legends, and was a big hit written by Curt Siodmak Universal were quick to pick up on this and then developed Frankenstein meets the wolf man (1943) this was a hit. So Universal continued to add a wolf into their older monsters movies and came up with; House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945) – Which weren’t so popular. Feline alternatives were also used in movies. Such as; Cat People (1942)
6. 1950’s The 50’s horror monsters were about all mutation which stems from the fears of co existing with the atom bomb. The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) – one of the top-grossing movies of 1953 The fly (1958) At the end of the 50’s low budget horror films were the most popular House on a Haunted Hill (1959) The Tingler(1959)
7. 1960’s Psycho (1960) The Birds (1963) Carnival of sounds (1962) Blood feast (1963) Lots of low budget films
8. 1970’s Big budget films made a comeback The Exorcist (1973) – voted scariest film of all time Jaws (1975) The Texas chainsaw massacre (1974) The omen (1976) Carrie(1976) Halloween (1978)
9. 1980’s Special visual effects now used in horror films The thing (1982) The evil dead (1981) Nightmare on elm street (1986) Childs play (1988)
10. 1990’s Psycho killers were a big focus for films this decade Silence of the lambs (1991) Trauma (1993) Natural born killers (1994) Se7en (1995) Copy cat (1995)
11. 2000’s Monsters and psychopaths were gone as it was thought they were too reminiscent of bin laden and reminders of 9/11/2001 28 days later (2002) Dog soldiers (2002) Deathwatch (2002)
12. 2000’s cont. Horror films now are mixtures of things from gore, psychological thrillers, the ending of the world and monsters. Saw franchise Alien vs predator 2012 The day after tomorrow
