History of Horror

For my media A-levels, I have to research horror films and identify tropes and features. This isn’t particularly helpful considering that I don’t watch many horror films, so I think that it’s best that I look at the history of horror.

Of what I have researched on the internet, the first horror film ever made is called “Le Manoir du Diable” by Georges Méliès in 1896. “Le Manoir du Diable” means “The Manor of the Devil” if translated into English. It is 3 minutes long, and, while not scary, and in fact, designed to amuse rather than scare, taking on a pantomimic approach, it is still considered to be the first horror film, as It contains many Gothic horror elements such as dark castles, ghosts, vampires, and sudden disappearances. It isn’t much, but it's a start.

In 1908, the first film-adaption of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was released, based on the original work by Robert Louis Stevenson, and directed by Otis Turner. The film lasted 16 minutes, and was silent. There is no doubt about the genre of the film being horror, as it features a monster (Hyde), a death, (Alice's father) and suicide, all presented in a horrific manner. There are no more known existing copies of this film.

As you can tell from the two films that I have shown here, most of the earliest horror films were short, black and white, sometimes silent melodramas, often made by French directors, however, the genre of horror wasn't officially used until the 1930s, which is when Universal Pictures used the word to describe their new films, Dracula and Frankenstein, both released in 1931.

Here are the movie posters for Frankenstein and Dracula respectively:

And here are still scenes from the same films:

As we can see, both films are in black and white, and both films have typical  portrayals of Frankenstein and Dracula. While we don't see the monster in this picture, the image of the gloved scientist clothed in white with a hunchbacked assistant is on that is usually affiliated with the story of Frankenstein and his monster, and in fact, this film may be where the ideas of the gloved scientist and his assistant with a deformed physique, working together to bring an assembled body with neck-bolts came from, as this is the first film based on the story of Frankenstein's monster, and the original story never mentioned neck-bolts or anyone by the name of Igor, meaning that this film is the likely origin of many of the cliche's that we associate with Frankenstein.

For Dracula, It's a different case. While there are a few plot differences between the book and the film, Dracula himself isn't too different, still having the basic vampire characteristics of fangs, a short haircut, long robes, a cape, pale skin, and a taste for blood. A typical vampire does not seem too different from a regular nobleman if you ignore the fangs and blood, and the character's differences between the book and film are minor, in contrast to Frankenstein and it's film adaption, where the characters are very different.

Around the 1940's, the horror film industry started to decline because of the second world war taking place. (How inconvenient!) While there were a few classics such as "Wolf Man" (directed by George Waggner in 1941) and "Cat People" (directed by Jacques Tourneur in 1942) It wasn't a good time for the horror film industry.

"Wolf  Man" is a film, unsurprisingly about werewolves. Reviews of the film were generally high. Here's a poster and a screenshot from the film:

"Cat People" is a film about a Serbian woman who is a descendant of a race of people who turn into cats when sexually aroused. (You can't make this up!) Reviews of the film were generally high, much like the Wolf Man film.

Here is a poster and a screenshot from that film:

After the war, people could finally afford luxuries such as cinema instead of having to ration everything to help with the war effort. At the time, the horror genre shifted from Gothic horror films to films that involved disgusting Mutants killing anything in sight.

Some notable films at this time included: "The Blob" (a film about an amoeba-like creature that engulfs and dissolves it's victims, creating havoc. This film received reviews ranging from 6-7 out of 10), and "It came from Beneath the Sea" (A film showcasing stop-motion, involving a giant aquatic monster, receiving low reviews, close to 5/10.)  Here are screenshots and posters from both films:

In the 1960's "thriller" type horror films were born, designed to invoke tension, excitement and suspense in those who watched them. Alfred Hitchcock created many effective thrillers such as "Psycho", the film where the famous "murdered in the shower" scene came from, as well as multiple sequels, a 1998 remake, and a spin-off TV series. Needless to say, it was very successful.

Here is a poster and a screenshot from both films:

 The screenshot is from the famous scene where the woman gets murdered in the shower.


The 1970's was a very successful time for horror films, producing many new classics such as:

The Exorcist (1973) Where a child is possessed by a demon, and two priests try to purge the demon from the child (Directed by William Friedkin):

And Jaws (1975) A film about a local shark that ruins everything (Directed by Steven Spielberg):

In the 1980's new technology allowed for more potential when making horror films, as better costumes and special effects could be made.

One classic horror film released at this time is "The Shining." A film made by Stanley Kubrick. It has had a great effect on the horror genre.

Here is a poster and a screenshot:

Even if you haven't seen the film, it's likely that you have at least heard of the "Here's Johnny" Scene. It involves one character hacking his way into a room with an axe to kill another character, and it has been parodied endlessly ever since it's original showing.

The Shining involved an insane killer, but using a psychopath as a villain only started to become really popular in the 1990's, when conventional monsters and mutants weren't considered scary anymore, and the horror genre needed something new. Insane, murderous humans were that new thing, and they spawned many terrifying films, especially considering the realism of a dangerous human in comparison to a rampaging corrosive blob. 

One very famous 1990's film is "Silence of the Lambs", made in 1991, and directed by Johnathan Demme. Silence of the Lambs is part of a series with a cannibalistic serial killer as the villain: Hannibal Lecter. The film got reviews ranging in the 8-10 out of 10 regions, and it is considered to be a "horror masterpiece".

Here is a poster and a screenshot from the film:

At one point in the film, Hannibal Lecter feeds another character his own brain. Needless to say, this was a successful horror film.

That was a brief History of Horror (heh. "brief") Needless to say, Horror has been a very successful and interesting genre over it's long history, and it's still going strong. I believe that It will continue to develop and change over time, and slowly become even better as years go by.

Alex Harris 28/9/2016