A History of HorrorSean Edwards

1890s-1920sIt was in the late 1980s that the first supernatural events Image from Nosferatu (1922)

appeared in a series of short films made by the director George Mélies, however it wasn’t until much later the the term “Horror” was first used. In the early 20th Century the first monster to appear in a feature-length horror film emerged in the 1906 film Esmerelda, based on the novel Quasimodo. In the 1920s Hollywood picked up the horror theme in works such as; The Phantom of the Opera (1925) & Nosferatu (1922)

1930s-1940sIn the early 1930s the Horror genre was made popular by Left: Frankenstein (1931) Right: Dracula (1931)

American film producers Universal Pictures, allowing them to bring films such as Dracula (1931) & Frankenstein (1931) to the silver screen. These films combined elements found in sci-fi films of the time with the idea of an antagonist who was a “monster” seen in previous horror films. In the early 1940s, arguably the most influential werewolf themed film was made The Wolf Man (1941).

1950s-1960sThe advances in technology seen in the 1950s saw the tone of horror films change from gothic to more contemporary themes such as humanity being attacked by “outside” sources such as viruses, aliens, zombies and plants. Because of this horror films seemed to fall into either “horror of armageddon” or “horror of the demonic” A key example of this would be George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) which blended psychological insights with gore, a theme commonly seen in contemporary horror films.

Zombies as seen in George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968)

1970s-1980sThe 1968 film Rosemary’s Baby led to the release of horror films which dealt with the theme of the occult in the 70s, for example The Exorcist (1973) which used the Devil as a supernatural being who would possess women and children. In the late 70s horror saw the emergence of the “Slasher” genre with films like Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980) & A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) in which a psychopathic serial killer would play the main antagonist.

Slasher antagonist Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street

1990s-2000sIn the early 90s prominent films included sequels to previously popular 80s films such as Child’s Play, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the Thirteenth. Throughout the latter half of the 90s horror as a genre struggled as it’s old audience had grown up and the new audience were being captivated by Sci-fi and Action/Adventure movies. In the 2000s however, the Zombie genre made a return in the movie adaptations of the Resident Evil series and more of George Romero’s Living Dead series saw release at e cinema.

Chuckie from Child’s Play (1990)

Horror Poster Comparison

Frankenstein (1931) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1986) Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

In these three examples we are able to see how the posters used to advertise horror films have changed over time. On the left we see one of the earliest film posters for “Frankenstein” which appears very cartoony, which suits the un-realistic genre of the film. As time progresses, and story lines become more believable, as do the posters used to advertise them. On the far right we see the poster used to advertise “Paranormal Activity 2” which uses real life imagery, this reflects the more realistic plots of film seen in the modern horror genre.