The History of Horror Films

By Emma Weeks

1920’sNosferatu

• Release date: 3rd June 1929• Run time: 1hr 21 min• Genre: Fantasy horror• Synopsis: A vampire seeks to

buy a new home so contacts an estate agent upon discovering the fact that the Count is a vampire Hutter becomes trapped in a shipment of coffins when the Count travels to Wisbourg causing death along the way.

• Additional info: One of the first monster horror films. Inspired by the novel “Dracula”.

1930’sDracula

• Release date: 14th February 1931

• Run time: 1hr 25min• Genre: Horror• Synopsis: A vampire arrives

in England and he begins to prey on a young woman named Mina.

• Additional info: Inspired by the novel of the same name “Dracula”.

1940’sThe picture of Dorian Gray

• Release date: 3rd March 1945

• Runtime: 1hr 50min• Genre: Psychological• Synopsis: A rich young man

wishes for his portrait to age rather than him and falls in and out of love with an actress. The painting absorbs more than his age however.

1950’sLes Diaboliques

• Release date: 21st November 1955

• Run time: 1hr 32min• Genre: Drama, horror,

mystery• Synopsis: The wife of a

cruel headmaster and his mistress kill him but his body disappears and the women suffer a series of strange events. Thought to have inspired Hitchcock’s Psycho.

1960’sPsycho

• Release date: 8th September 1960

• Run time: 1hr 49min• Genre: Horror, mystery,

thriller• A young woman steals

$40,000 from her boss and runs away to a remote hotel owned by a male psycho.

1970’sTexas Chain Saw Massacre

• Release date: 4th October 1974.

• Run time: 1hr 23min.• Genre: Horror slasher.• Synopsis: Siblings visit their

grandfathers grave in Texas with a group of friends when they are attacked by cannibalistic psychopaths.

• Additional info: The horror slater genre was prevalent in the 1970’s. This sub genre featured little psychological impact and a great deal of gore and blood.

1980’sThe Shining

• Release date: 7th November 1980

• Run time: 2hr 26min• Genre: Psychological horror• Synopsis: A family stay in a

remote hotel when their psychic son begins to have premonitions of danger in the past and future. The father Jack overcome by malevolent spirits then attempts to murder his wife and son.

• Dolly’s and steady cams were used to create slow long shots opposed to genre typical fast jump cuts. It was one of the first powerful psychological films.

1990’sThe Blair Witch Project

• Release date: 22nd October 1999• Run time: 1hr 21min• Genre: Found footage horror• Synopsis: A group of film students

seeking to uncover the Blair Witch legend are lost in the woods of Maryland and become victims to the Witch’s psychological games.

• Additional info: A handheld steady cam was used to create a realistic found footage effect. A more immersive experience was created as the actors were not told everything that would occur whilst filming which made reactions more genuine and believable. This was one of the first found footage films and as a result of this many actually believed that the events were true accounts.

2000’sAmerican Psycho

• Release date: 14th April 2000

• Run time: 1hr 42min• Genre: Psychological horror

drama• Synopsis: A wealthy

investment banker works to hide his psychotic fantasies from his co-workers and family.

2010’sThe House at the End of the Street

• Release date: 21st September 2012

• Run time: 1hr 41min• Genre: Horror, mystery, thriller• Synopsis: A girl moves to a small

town with her mother and discovers that the house opposite her own was the sight of a tragic accident. After meeting a boy she develops a romantic relationship with him. The boy is psychotic and locks her in the basement of his home.

• Additional info: A psychological horror film in which the audience do not know who the true antagonist is until the protagonist is abducted.

Summary• Between the 1920’s-1930’s horror films generally consisted of

monsters such as vampires and their inspiration was often drawn from novels such a Frankenstein and Dracula.

• CGI has been introduced to add more developed effects in horror films.

• A larger frame rate is now in some media works (48fps opposed to 20-30 fps).

• A larger film size of IMAX is now used in some media works (65mm opposed to 35mm).

• DSLR’s offer a simple and cheaper alternative for lower budget productions.

• Drones can be used to achieve high angle shots for example “The Shining” opening.

• Advances in prosthetic makeup make characters more scary and less comical (appearance of characters is also now altered by CGI) examples of this would include progression from horror such as “American Werewolf in London” 1981 and “Zombieland” 2009 which have a vast difference in prosthetic effect quality.

• The audience are now more engaged through the promotion of film through viral marketing techniques.