History of horror films

The history of horror films was described by author Siegbert Solomon Prawer as difficult to read as a linear historical path, with the genre changing throughout the decades, based on the state of cinema, audience tastes and contemporary world events.

[5] Early sources of material that would influence horror films included gruesome or fantastical elements in the Epic of Gilgamesh, where heroes fight monsters, and the Bible, where plagues and apocalypses are discussed.

[12] More key horror texts would be produced in the late 1800s and early 1900s than in all centuries preceding it, including: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), Trilby (1894), The King in Yellow (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), Dracula (1897), The Invisible Man (1897), The Turn of the Screw (1898), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904), and The Phantom of the Opera (1911).

These included characters like the mad Dr. Caligari, Jack the Ripper from Waxworks (1924) and Nosferatu as well as actors like Conrad Veidt, Emil Jannings and Peter Lorre.

[24] While horror was provided as an occasional adjective to the films of Chaney such as The Unknown (1927) and West of Zanzibar (1928), the actor was mostly known for the melodramas he made with director Tod Browning.

"[33] Universal was reportedly surprised at the strong box office and critical praise for the film, and forged ahead to make similar productions of Frankenstein (1931) and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) which would also star Lugosi for their 1931–1932 season.

[39] Other studios began developing their own horror projects with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer making Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) and Mad Love (1935) and Paramount Pictures with Island of Lost Souls (1932) and Murders in the Zoo (1933), and Warner Bros. with Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933).

[41] Other productions included independents in the United States, such as the Halperin Organization making White Zombie (1933) with Lugosi, whose success led to a series of voo doo related film such as Drums O' Voodoo (1934), Black Moon (1934) and Ouanga.

[45] A trade paper Variety reported that Universal Studios abandonment of horror films after the release of Dracula's Daughter (1936) was that "European countries, especially England are prejudiced against this type product [sic].

[58] In 1946, Curt Siodmak, the screenwriter of films like The Wolf Man (1941) stated that "When horror enters the gilded gate of top production, it is glorified as a 'psychological thriller.'

[61] Box-office receipts had fallen sharply due to decling theatre attendance leading to the Motion Picture Herald reporting that seven of the eleven major producer-distributors companies including MGM, Paramount, RKO, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros. and PRC would re-release their previous seasons films.

[66] Even films that adapted for older characters had science fiction leanings such as The Vampire (1957), The Werewolf (1956) and Frankenstein 1970 (1958) being influenced by the atomic inspired monsters of the era.

[67] Films with a Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde theme also appeared with The Neanderthal Man (1953), The Fly (1958), Monster on the Campus (1958) and The Hideous Sun Demon (1958).

[70] Following Psycho, there was a brief reappearance of what Newman described as "stately, tasteful" horror films such as Jack Clayton's The Innocents (1961) and Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963).

The film created its own cycle of Poe-adaptations by Corman, including The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), Tales of Terror (1962), and The Raven (1963) which provided roles for aging horror stars such as Karloff and Chaney Jr.

[75] The violence in Psycho (1960), which was released a week earlier than Black Sunday, was portrayed through suggestion, as its famous "shower scene" made use of fast cutting.

[74] This level of violence would later be seen in other Italian genre films, such as the Spaghetti Western and the giallo, including Bava's own Blood and Black Lace (1964) and the gialli of Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci.

[70] Historian John Kenneth Muir described the 1970s as a "truly eclectic time" for horror cinema, noting a mixture of fresh and more personal efforts on film while other were a resurrection of older characters that have appeared since the 1930s and 1940s.

[79] Along with Rosemary's Baby, Newman described the film as having the "grit and realism" that was part of the New Hollywood movement of the period with "nuanced performances" and non-star actors.

[91][92][93] Newman's described Jaws as a "concerto of shock" noting its memorable music theme and its monster not being product of society like Norman Bates in Psycho or family like in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).

[99] The decade started with a high-budgeted production of Argento's Inferno (1980) and with the death of Mario Bava, Fulci became what historian Roberto Curti called "Italy's most prominent horror film director in the early 1980s".

[106] Replacing Frankenstein's monster and Dracula were new popular characters with more general names like Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th), Michael Myers (Halloween), and Freddy Kruger (A Nightmare on Elm Street).

[96] These films usually revolved around five properties: unique social settings(campgrounds, schools, holidays) and a crime from the past committed (an accidental drowning, infidelity, a scorned lover) and a ready made group of victims (camp counselors, students, wedding parties).

"[128] These included Hideo Nakata's Ring (1998), which along with the South Korean film Whispering Corridors (1998), was the major hit across Asia leading to sequels and similar ghost stories from Asian countries.

The film only crossed over into the Western world after the 1990s.The second major hit was The Sixth Sense, another ghost story which Newman described as making "an instant cliche" of twist endings.

[129] Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, noted that the popularity of sites like YouTube in 2006 sparked a taste for amateur media, leading to the production of further films in the found footage horror genre later in the decade with Rec (2007), Diary of the Dead (2007), and Cloverfield (2008) and the particularly financially successful Paranormal Activity (2007).

[143] This led to what Newman described as the companies policy on "commercial savvy with thematic risk that has often paid off", included Get Out (2017), The Invisible Man (2020), Happy Death Day (2017) and series like The Purge.

[147] Streaming was cited as bringing increased international attention to Southeast Asian horror films, particularly Indonesian titles such as Joko Anwar's Satan's Slaves and Impetigore,[148] and Roh from Malaysia.

[156] Newman declared that one of the grander over arching themes of 21st century horror films was about collapse, with horrific effects and imagery and sounds overwhelm conventional storytelling in favor of the logic of the nightmare.

[144][158] Further franchise installments and reiterations of old stories were continued films involving Dracula, exorcisms and other entries in series such as Evil Dead, Insidious, Scream, and Saw.