The History of Horror.

The history of the horror genre.

The horror genre is a very unique and bespoke genre for a number of reasons. Many other genres can can class as a variety of different types. This is because films are often mixed into different sub-genres. In terms of horror, it is very individual and that is why they have been so successful for so long and continue to be so successful. Also, the horror genre continues to change its image and update to the specific time frame to be as successful as it has been. This can be seen below.

In 1896, the first official horror film was made. It was made by a so called 'illusionist' and staggeringly, the duration was only a mere 3 minutes. The title of this film was The devil's castle. The ideas of 'Gothic Horror' that originated in the late 1700's, take effect in this horror film.

In 1910, the first Frankenstein film was made. Another adaptation that the horror genre made to ensure they succeed and fulfill the refreshing needs of the audience. The horror industry adapted to these needs through creating a 'monster', something that was deemed to be the most appropriate way of scaring the audience at this period of time.

German expressionism was a cinema movement throughout Europe that was developed in Germany during World War One.  It grew very quickly. In 1919, a film was created through this movement called On the slate. It would go onto become the so called 'Great grandfather' of all time horror films; The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari.

In 1931, the film, Dracula was released. This is the point in time where people believe that the horror audience 'began to scream'. This is where the Gothic Horror era began to lose its effect and a new type of horror film would need to be created. This film lasted almost an hour and a half, a big difference from the first horror film 35 years prior to it.

During the aftermath of World War Two and the 1950's, the horror genre adapted once again and this time took the approach of more ridiculous monsters to scare the viewers that simply wanted to be scared. Godzilla (a Japanese made horror) was released in 1954 and lasted just over an hour and a half.

From the 1960's and on-wards, producers such as Alfred Hitchcock focused the genre on the psychological side of horror. In 1960, Psycho was released, simply shocking the audience. 

Jaws was released in 1975, this began an era of absolute terror in situations that could effect the everyday person. It could end up in every day people being scared to go into water. 

Steven Spielberg made Jaws in 1975 and also made Poltergeist in 1982. These types of films are considered to be very successful with sequels and remakes following them up.

Next up came the independent horror films. The Texas chainsaw massacre, first released in 1974, is an example of a low budget horror film production. Another example in 1978 is Halloween. This is one of the most successful low budget ($325,000) films made in history. It generated $240 million as of 2012. It was successful manly due to the every day relativity of it.

  

The 1990's and the modern day era of horror produced such films such as Scream in 1996. The modern day produced films such as Saw first in 2004 which is considered one of the most successful horror films of all time.

The Blair Witch project in 1999, is a new and different type of horror film, it is referred to as the 'found footage' sub-genre. This type of horror focuses on evidence to scare it's audience. An example is The Paranormal Activity Series starting in 2007. 

Films that focus on events that involve the 'apocalypse' are usually successful as this is generally a new idea or sub-genre. Although this type is seeming to fade out. An example is 28 days later made in 2002 or more recently World War Z in 2013. 

A totally new sub-genre or idea is through using modern day technology to scare the viewers and mainly the younger generation. This is seen in the 2014 release of Unfriended.

In conclusion, my research shows that the horror genre has changed regularly and will continue to do so. This is arguably the main reason why they are so successful and been able to stay this way.