A History of Horror Movies

• 19th Century Literature• Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker etc• German expressionism• The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919)• Nosferatu (1922)• Hollywood Horror - 1930’s• Dracula, King Kong, Frankenstein

Things from Other Worlds!

• The Thing From Another World (1951)

• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

• 1960’s - A return to gothic horror• Hammer Horror• Cheaply made - used “gore” to

shock

Significant Developments

• Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960)• The monster is not supernatural• Night of the Living Dead (Romero,

1968)• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

(Hooper, 1974)• Halloween - John Carpenter (1978)• The slasher / stalker sub-genre

1980s Horror

• Body Horror• Sex & Violence• “Video Nasties”• An American Werewolf in London,

Return of the Living Dead, Fright Night

• Affectionate mocking of the genre

1990s Horror

• Modern renderings of classic horror• Big-budget Hollywood productions• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram

Stoker’s Dracula, Interview With The Vampire

• The Blair Witch Project (1999)• Supposedly a new direction for the genre• HORROR , THE FILM READER - EDITED BY

MARK JANCOVICH (IN FOCUS)

Halloween Facts & Figures

• Made in 1978• John Carpenter’s 1st horror movie• Low-budget• Shot in California• Not an immediate box-office hit• Word-of-mouth made it popular