History of Horror

History of Horror

The concept of a horror film is to make it's audience fearful or on edge of the events that are to follow, either through sharp jump scares or physiologically distressing scenes. This idea has been around from almost the beginning of cinema it's self, with early film makers creating the genre as a new form of cinema all together.

The first documented example of a horror films is 1896's Le Manoir du Diable by Georges Melies, which was a comedic horror depicting a encounter with the devil. While not being made for any fear factor, opting for a more comedic approach through pantomime, the themes of the devil and hell shadows the horror genre with its dark concepts and imagery

One of the first true depictions of a horror film was 1910's Frankenstein by Edison Studios. While not mainly being made for the purpose of scaring or distressing it's audience like more conventional horror films, It did share similar themes and traits to a classic horror film, making it a film of that genre overall. The concept of monsters and scary creatures was seen prominently in this film, being one of the earliest examples of a monster appearing in a film.

Proceeding this point, the next major development in the horror genre would be 1922's Nosferatu, the first true depiction of a vampire film. Now becoming a cult classic, the film originally became popular for its impressive use of prosthetic and makeup that would genuinely scare audiences, due to its pioneering presentation of fear and horror in film, with audiences never seeing anything like it before. This film helped to develop and advertise the horror genre as a whole, as more and more people began to learn about it from this iconic picture.

The word horror would not be created until the 1930's, however themes of horror had been used for years before, creating the horror genre before its actual naming. Some notable examples are The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, examples of American productions cashing in on the growing popularity of monster films. These early films also relied heavily on emotional plots and heavy us of distressing storylines to evoke sadness.

After the official creation of the horror genre itself, companies began creating films for it much more frequently, with much higher critical acclaim. Some of these films are 1931's Dracula by Tod Browning, which followed the success of its predecessor for vampire films. Additionally, 1931's Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde was acclaimed for its innovative use of cinematography to present Jekyll's transformation in to Hyde on camera.

The genre as a whole exploded in the 1960's following films such as Godzilla, House of Wax and Night of the Living Dead,  all well known and acclaimed movies following the success of the genre. Popular films as a whole, irrelevant of the genre also came out in this time period, such as Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho in 1960 as well as many performances by Christopher Lee as Dracula. At this point in time the horror genre had been pushed in to the mainstream for film watchers, with many becoming household names.

After the release of many low budget gore horror films, company's began investing higher budgets in to the horror genre. This lead to films such as The Exorcist, Alien, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th all becoming not only the horror classics, but also all-round classic they are seen to be today. Additionally, many other mainstream medians were adapted in to film for this genre, such as Stephen King's The Shining. 
Moving in to the late 1990's and 21st century, critically acclaimed successes such as Silence of the Lambs and Blair Witch Project were released, once again redefining the genre with stellar performances and memorable charterers. In the modern day horror films are a common sight in cinemas, with franchises such as Saw and Scream  becoming little more than a cash grab to make money. However, newer, more original horror films are still being released, such as Cloverfield and 28 Days Later, two very different takes on the now ever popular genre