History of horror

Horror movies have been around since the time movies started being made. Before viewing any horror film, it might be a good idea to take a look into the literature that is behind it. It always helps to look into the literature behind a film because this way, we get a better sense of the movie and the story behind it.

The horror movies we see now owe a lot to the horror literature of the past and the legacy that it left behind.  There exist a ton of horror movies with all sorts of plots and stories, mainly because of the rich literature that started this entire genre. Horace Walpole’s classic tale filled with the supernatural called The Castle of Otranto first coined the term horror in 1764. Following this in succeeding centuries, other literary giants like Edgar Allan Poe also wrote stories, one of them being The Raven. Today, some of the great horror movies that we enjoy are still carrying themes from masterpieces from the past such as Frankenstein and Dracula, which were both written in the 1800′s.

At the infant stages of the horror movie genre, stories about the supernatural were what one could usually see being featured in films. Horror movies began in the 1890′s with silent short films. The short silent film of Georges Melies called Le Manior du diable has always been thought to be the first real horror film. It was also around this time that the Japanese started making their own short silent films with Bake Jizo and shinin no Sosei.

The adaptation of the Hunchback of Notre Dame was probably the first full length horror film to be created. The creation of the early horror movies in the early 1900′s also came with German expressionist films, which abounded during that time. Horror movie filmmakers such as Tim Burton were highly inspired by these early films. Lon Chaney Sr. became America’s first horror star, when they began tinkering with horror films and the genre in the 1920′s.

The efforts from Hollywood in the 1930′s brought about greater popularity and recognition for the horror film genre. it was around this time that Gothic horror films that dealt with supernatural themes were also created, alongside the stories of Dracula and Frankenstein. Follow the link for more information on horror movies. In 1940, Universal Studios created the iconic classic The Wolfman. It was also around this time that other B movies, which were recreations of older classics, were also created.

There were a lot of innovations in film technology in the 1950′s which improved and evolved film making in general. Certain social ideas and fears were starting to be injected into films, but not in such a way that was too direct. Alfred Hitchcock’s works in the 1960′s were also a hug step in the horror film making industry.