History of the Horror genre

Horror is a genre with a tempestuous history. From the first horror “films” of the 1890’s to modern day horror films, the genre has had intermittent popularity.  Horror films by definition are unsettling films designed to frighten, induce panic and invoke our darkest fears. Throughout the history of Horror many sub genres have been introduced and have enjoyed sporadic popularity like the genre itself. Sometimes, what determines the sub genres used by film makers are the ones that can best represent the stresses of society at the time e.g. 28 days later represents the threat of laboratory made viruses and the threat of pandemics that were popular news stories during the time. The first “horror film” (film with the conventions we recognise today as belonging to horror), was Le Manoir du diable which was made in 1896. The film was of the supernatural sub-genre however it had pantomime influences and was meant to amuse the audience rather than scare them.

The turn of the century introduced a new sub-genre which set the trend for the next 40 years and that was the monster sub genre. Classic films such as Frankenstein, Nosferatu, Dracula, Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde received wide recognition and popularity.

Due to advances in technology the 1950’s/1960’s saw the tone of horror films shifted from the gothic towards themes that were more relevant to the mid-century audience. A stream of low-budget productions featured humanity overcoming threats from “outside”; alien invasions and deadly mutations to people, plants, insects, most notably in films imported from Japan, whose society had firsthand knowledge of the effects of nuclear radiation. Film makers began to create films that borrowed heavily from science/science fiction e.g. The thing from another world, Invasion of the body snatchers. These films also mirrored and played on the fear and paranoia felt by societies during the cold war. A British production company called Hammer film productions was also popular during this time with their versions of Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy making a horror icon of Christopher Lee in the process.

The 1970’s/1980’s saw a lot of trends/themes introduced and reintroduced into the horror genre. There was a wave of films released with occult themes or films in which the devil was depicted as the ultimate evil/villain (The Exorcist, Alice Sweet Alice, The Omen). The Vietnamese war inspired conscientious horror films; The Hills Have Eyes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre while Dawn of the dead (George Romero) satirised the consumer society. During this period The “Slasher” sub genre was introduced and quickly popularized through such films as Halloween, Friday the 13^th, Black Christmas, and Nightmare on Elm Street. Critically acclaimed films such as Alien, Jaws and Nightmare on Elm Street, Evil Dead (which reportedly cost $250,000) were successful at the box office making millions of dollars in profit.

The 90’s saw a decline in popularity with audiences in general wanting a more cerebral experience offered by fantasy and science fiction films which also showcased the latest in computer generated technology. Towards the mid-to-late 90’s there was a brief rejuvenation with the releases of scream and I know what you did last summer re-igniting the dormant slasher sub-genre.

The early 2000’s, again, was a quiet period for the horror genre with a few notable films; American remakes of The Ring and The Grudge, Final Destination and Jeepers Creepers making a little impact at the box office. Recently we have seen the rise of “gorenography” films such as hostel, saw, and the collector which contain extreme graphic violence and realistic and detailed torture scenes.

Prominent horror directors include Wes Craven (Scream), Sam Raimi (Evil Dead), John Carpenter (Halloween), Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho) and Ridley Scott (Alien).