History of Horror Films

1920s

This was the beginning of horror films and in this era, they believed monsters existed, therefore they found this element scary. The key conventions of horror films at this time were that there was a male antagonist with a female victim. They also had a very Gothic theme.

Nosferatu (1922)



1930s

The same theme and genre continued from the 1920s. Horror films were generally filmed in castles and far off land. Monsters, vampires and werewolf's were a common feature in horror films in the 1930s. The first talking horror appeared in this era, Dracula (1931).

1940s

In the UK, horror movies were banned due to the war, therefore America took over and they added characters that turned into animals, for example, Cat People (1942).

1950s

This is the era where teenagers became the primary target audience and when the war ended, people feared the effects of radiation. Therefore, horror movies were created to play on this fear, exemplified with 'The Blob' (1958), this was one of the movies in the era where there was a nuclear and unpredictable killer, creating fear as this sort of behavior was unusual.

1960s

This era focused less on monsters and nuclear changes, but more on psychological aspects. This was done to create fear for the teenagers as they were rebelling against society and showed what a normal looking human could become if they had looser morals and attitudes and what could happen to the human brain. 

Psycho (1960) gave fear to the audience by telling them that if they are bad, a killer is going to come and get them. This correlates with the eras common theme of intense killing as a consequences of wrong actions.

1970s

In the 1970s, the pill was invented and this suggested that sex was now for fun rather than to create a human life which society feared would break down decency and family life. Horror films during this period portrayed this by having an antagonist who was a younger child or an older psycho killer. Films in this era with this included The Exorcist and The Shinning.

1980s

This was the era of gore, technology had risen and more SFX was added. Slasher movies were more apparent as there was more blood and gore like in Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). During this era, household objects were used as weapons in horror films, this creates fear for the audience as these objects are easy to get a hold of. 

1990s

Scream (1996) was originally made as joke, it still made the audience feel fearful as the killing in this film was so sudden it stood out as a horror film, as it showed the irony of horror films. Weapons and masked characters were carried on during this era from the 1980s as well as the consequences of rebellious behavior from the 1960s. 

Horror films were becoming more predictable, therefore audiences were wanting films that were more unforeseeable. 

2000s

Supernatural was becoming popular in this era as people were watching horror films from across the years and were becoming accustomed to seeing monsters and psychotic characters, therefore they didn't feel as scared. However, the fear of the unknown makes the audience not expect what is going to happen next and it is still apparent even today. Movies with found footage became popular like Grave Encounters (2011).