HISTORY OF HORROR

Demi Wrenn

LATE 1700S• Filmed horror began in the late 1700s and the genre within horror was

Gothic Horror. • It was developed by writers within Great Britain and the USA. • Gothic refers to all the medieval buildings where the stories took place. An

example of gothic is an old castle on a dark night within a gloomy forests and dungeons and secret passage ways within.

• The famous gothic writers include Mary Shelly, Bram Stoker and Edgar Allan Poe.

SPOOK TALE• Gothic horror films were inspired by Gothic literature. • The term horror didn’t come into use until the 1930s however there was

certain film makers and film goers who had an interest in this genre.• Evidence of this is that the Lumiere brothers created a short film called

Spook Tale in 1895. • There will be a short snippet on the next page.• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNReoA8BV_Y

FIRST HORROR MOVIE EVER MADE

• In 1896 Georges Méliès created what we believe to be the first horror movie called The Haunted Castle or The Manor of the Devil – no voice included, just silence and spooky animation.

• The film involved bats, castles, trolls, ghost and a demon played by Georges Méliès.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPmKaz3Quzo#t=26

Germany • After Germany had lost the war, the UFA decided they

should turn there goals to produce films for profit. • In 1919 The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was written by Carl

Mayer and Hans Janowitz. They wanted this film to be one of the greatest of all horror films.

• German filmmakers then made another film ‘The Golem: How He Came into the World. This was made in 1920 and lensed by Karl Freund.

SOUND

• Universal Pictures is responsible for the first cycle of horror films. During the silent era Universal Pictures did have reasonable achievements.

• In the 30s, Universal really discovered horror as they made there first hit Dracula directed by Tod Browning in 1931.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nfmh178L98#t=28

AFTER DRACULA…

• FRANKENSTEIN WITH NORIS KARLOFF – 1931• THE MUMMY BY KARL FREUND – 1932• INVISIBLE MAN BY JAMES WHALE – 1933• WEREWOLF IN LONDON BY STUART WALKER -1935• DRACULAS DAUGHTER BY HAMBERT HILLYER -1936

MODERN HORROR• When it got to the 1990s/2000S there was a

lot more thriller and psychological horrors other than Gothic. Such as Final Destination, The Sixth Sense, Se7en, The Others and The Ring.

COMEDY• A lot of people decide to make fun out of thriller by turning it

into a comedy as well as thriller. An example of this is Shaun of The Dead as it is zombie themed and they make a joke out of what is happening.

• Evidence of the comedy elements within a horror is the actors tend to be already famous for being in a comedy movie.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUCqPxfpMCQ#t=179

CONVENTIONS OF HORRORSetting • the setting of a horror film tends to be in a

dark and gloomy location. The main meeting point or point of location is a haunted house or a grave yard during the night.

• The film tends to start during the day and then the horror begins at night or it starts at night. The horror activities rarely occur in daylight.

• The meeting point so for example the Haunted house would be away from any sort of city or retail and just deserted on its own.

• The setting people gloomy and spooky during the night help create the impression that the characters are vulnerable.

CONVENTIONS OF HORRORClothing/ Make Up • In horror movies characters are

expected to have some sort of blood makeup.