History of Genre Horror

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Films began to expand in 1920s thanks to experimentation. The horror genre first originated in Germany, it was believed that World War I affected many lives which then became key for the horror genre. Also, it developed through Gothic Traditions which came around at the end of Queen Elizabeths rein in literature which expressed writing of settings of dark situations. The genre started to use symbolism as well as its use of exaggeration and distortion. The history of Horror genres are that they engage with nightmares and a sense of different realms filled 4/29/12 with the suggestion of the unknown.

1920s

1925 was the film Phantom of the Opera, the idea of this horror was hidden behind a mask filled with monstrous characters. The great thing about this film was that there were no digital effects, just self taught make up skills which were at the start of the era. Founder of Universal, wasnt a fan on horrific material until his son persuaded him to encourage the aspect of the horror genre.

1929 was the St. Walls crash which began the great depression. This then caused Universal to have cash problems so therefore film budgets were lowered to a low standard.

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1930s
During this era, there was two major inputs into the industry from two European artistic movements:

Expressionism Surrealism

Expressionism was the beginning of art and expressing the sets by exaggeration and distortion. 4/29/12 This concept also used

Mary Wigman

Expressionism gave the industry ways to express emotions instead of a characters mind within a setting. This type of expressionism was exaggerates to ensure that audiences recognised the theme and genre as well as the symbolism. Surrealism is the quality of visual artworks trying to represent unconsciousness and script within a film as the films created within this era had sound.

Due to the first film with sound being released in 1928, The Man who Laughs, it began the 1930 era with the development of audio films.

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1931, Dracula, was the first horror film with sound by Universal. In this film, there was a killing of a child on screen but audiences believed this was unacceptable which was then reissued years later with a cut version. The killing of a child on screen was not acceptable in the 1930s . The republished killing of the child on screen was only reissued again 50 years later (1981). This shows that morals wouldnt allow this 4/29/12type of horror until 50 years later which shows

Lav Lewton had a huge impact on horror genre due to the fact that he believed that monsters dont have to be present within films, they could just be suggested through the build up of tension. This slow build up and then unthreatening jolt is now known as the Lewton Bus, which became a revolution to the era. The horror genre also moved to be more twisted and revenge type horror. Warner Brothers also broke the Gothic tradition of horror films to more graphic pictures, Mystery of Wax Museum. This is when films were shot in technic-colour to give the impression of colour empysizing the blood red- which shows how horror has developed from the decade 1920 to 1930. 4/29/12

1940s horror genres 1940s was the era where the

began to aim at both gender audiences. The film genre let to Cat People in 1942 which was aimed at the female audience which was a result of the film Rebecca. The film companies tried to increase the quality and help aim at target audiences. Where as, Wolf Man was more of a male audience film. The two main features that occurred in the 1940s was the horror cycle. Horror genre needed to 4/29/12 appeal more to female audiences so therefore

This was the decade of efficiency and increasing the quality of sound film production: Sound recording Lighting Special Effects Use of colour Some films (Cat People) were released as B-Movie films which meant that they showed more than the horror.

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1950s
1950s was the era where Terrance Fisher, a famous director did something unique within the horror genre which is still seen today. He put a laugh or some connotation of comedy after something scary- this created a slight subvert of sub-genre. Films were more gruesome through emphasizing the blood and colour films. It also was the threatened era where the TV was competing against theatres. Since the TV was 4/29/12 released theatre ratings declines and less people went to them.

Therefore film companies had to find a new way to compete. Some film companies produced TV programs. The filming industry has to think of new things to compete: Cinerama bigger screen, better quality and sound 3D and Smell-O-Vision CinemaScope This also shows how technology had developed to create the things above. Horror films dominated the cinemas, also 1950s was seen as having an energetic revolution of horror where directors produced the remaking of Frankenstein and Dracula.
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1960s
This era was the spark in change in audience expectations as films used graphic images to redefine horrors to make them seem more realistic. Charles Derry also wrote a book, Dark Dreamswhich then created the rise of subgenres. The three clear sub-genres within this era are: Psycho 4/29/12

Hauntings and Demotic Pocessions

This was the era where society changed becoming more laid back and its known as the rock and roll era which had an effect on cinema. Film industries were low on money due to high budgets and worldwide films were being shown which was known as an invasion. The horror genre was experimented on to create the sub-genres. Psychological thrillers, Shadows, as well as Alfred Hitchcocks influence on comedy horror. Horror films became more graphic, by having more freedom of language due to the film censorship slowly becoming less important which then increased adult content of explicit violence.
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1970s
Began to use a set structure which was represented within most film. A disruption on a group of survivors who then barricade themselves inside which then ends up usually with people dying.

It was the era that began to use animals within films.

1970s was seen as a new decade due to the laid back 4/29/12 society culture which led to film companies becoming laid back also.

Block buster films were released as well as home video production technology (VCR) to play films from home but were very expensive. The rating system was modified- X rated was for 18s and over. It emerged psychological horrors and thrillers. I big hit was Jaws which was a horror movie that was very successful.

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1980s
The 1980s consisted of rising cost and technical advances. The technical advance during this era was through special effects, foam latex, animatronics, and gory images. Each of these advances the horror genre to become more realistic. Something that was regularly used within horror films were shadows and what lurked within them. With all the sub-genres being created it gave the 4/29/12 genre freedom to create a wider range of horror.

Horror films started to see a new bomb of special effects through different origins: Supernatural Human Unknown These gave the horror genre a cumulative effect as the repetition of horror images were constant so therefore the horror was constantly on so the film industry needed special effects to increase horror effect. The genre also started to become more graphic by pulling apart body parts which consisted of slimy and bloody content.
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1990s
1990s cinema started to pick up again as cinemas then went to become multiscreen and budgets then rose to an average $53 million. Cinema tickets also rose to $4.25 then to $4.50 by the end of the era. Most households had VCRs, DVDs were also released. Internet marketing was also available, technology developed so better effects available New feminist consciousness Better quality equipment and resolution 4/29/12

This era for horror was known for serial killer horror films. Psychological thrillers also became more popular. Silence of the Lambs Man bites Dog The horror films became more and more disturbing and had deeper exploitative plots. The films became more visually disturbing through the use of better enhanced special effects.

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2000s
2000 era was the recession decade, where horror genre took human sequences, curses and accidental deaths. This was the era where film producers created remakes of old hit films i.e. Jaws. Due to the recession it caused the film industry to have low budgets which then created: Saw, Hostel and Wolf Creek. These films were all reflected into the film industry due to Global issues (torture in Iraq and global war). Also, technology thrived as the film industry then 4/29/12 marketed films online through social networking

Due to the growth of horror in this era, remakes of films were created.

Audiences expectations changed to have more gore, torture, violence and blood. Parodies of horror films were also create (Scary Movie) which is a comedy out of horror films.

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I received my research from a variety of websites:

http://www.filmbug.com/dictionary/horror.php http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v9gy5 A bbc horror A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss http:// horror.about.com/od/horrorthemelists/ss/horrortimeline.htm http:// www.slideshare.net/jontowlson/the-horror-genre-an-overview http://cinephilefix.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/the-roots-and-histor / http:// www.horrorfilmhistory.com/index.php?pageID=1920s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)

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