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The House of the Devil
“The House of The Devil” is presumed to be the first ever horror movie made. It was a silent horror film that was 3 minutes long, and it was directed by French director Georges Melies. [https://www.liveabout.com/a-timeline-history-of-horror-movies-1873246]
Photo: [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Manoir_du_diable] -
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Germany’s Expressionist Movement
Influential horror movies in the 1920s where influenced by Germany’s Expressionist Movement. German horror films such as “The Cabinet or Dr.Caligari” and “Nosferatu” shaped the horror genre, by changing the visual aspects and aesthetics of horror. [https://www.liveabout.com/a-timeline-history-of-horror-movies-1873246]
[https://medium.com/@wetgertrude/what-german-expressionists-gave-to-the-horror-genre-f7df5194e6bb] -
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Monster Movies
The success of American horror films such as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “The Phantom of the Opera” brought Universal Studios to their prime time of creating monster movies in the 1930s. During this time, scenes from several horror movies were censored heavily for their gruesome scenes, and some movies had “H” ratings which stood for horrific films that were not suitable for children under 16. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_horror_films_of_the_1930s] -
Dracula
Release date: February 14, 1931
Directors: Tod Browning, Karl Freund
Adapted from: Dracula
Budget: $341,191
Produced by: Tod Browning; Carl Laemmle Jr.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_(1931_English-language_film)] -
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Invasion/ Mad Scientist Movies
During this decade, horror movies about the fears of invasion were popular due to The Cold War, and new scientific breakthroughs in this decade influenced mad scientist movies. Also, 1953’s horror movie “House of Wax” was the first ever color 3-D feature film created by a major American studio. [https://www.liveabout.com/a-timeline-history-of-horror-movies-1873246] -
Godzilla
Release date: November 3, 1954 (Japan)
Director: Ishirō Honda
Music by: Akira Ifukube
Story by: Shigeru Kayama
Distributed by: Toho Co., Ltd. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_(1954_film)]
Photo: [https://sciencefiction.com/2020/04/23/throwback-thursday-gojira-1954-the-original-godzilla-film-still-rocks/] -
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A New Era
Acclaimed horror movies from the 1960s were very influential, as they pushed boundaries and were edgier. There was a controversial increase in violence in 1960s horror, with cult classics such as “Peeping Tom” and “Psycho” paving the path for slasher movies in the coming decades. Also, movies such as George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” transformed the zombie-horror genre. [https://www.liveabout.com/a-timeline-history-of-horror-movies-1873246] -
Psycho
Release date: September 8, 1960 (USA)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Adapted from: Psycho
Music by: Bernard Herrmann
Box office: $50 million
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures Studios, Universal Pictures [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(1960_film)]
Photo: [https://ew.com/article/2009/08/04/psycho-the-horror-movie-that-changed-the-genre/] -
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The Shock Factor
1970 horror movies had underlying themes of current social issues, such as sexism (“The Stepford Wives”), consumerism (“Dawn of the Dead”), and war (“Deathdream”). There was an increase in movies expressing sexuality and violence such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and the “The Hills Have Eyes”. Horror movies such as “The Exorcist” and “Jaws” pushed the shock factor during this decade and became cult classics. [https://www.liveabout.com/a-timeline-history-of-horror-movies-1873246] -
Texas Chainsaw
Release date: October 1, 1974 (USA)
Director: Tobe Hooper
Budget: 140,000 USD
Music by: Tobe Hooper; Wayne Bell
Box office: $30.9 million
Distributed by: New Line Cinema, Bryanston Distributing Company
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Texas_Chain_Saw_Massacre]
Photo: [https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/a-double-date-with-leatherface/] -
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Slasher Movies
Horror movies in the early 1980s were defined by slasher movies such as “Friday the 13th” and “Nightmare on Elm Street”. Slasher movies from this decade went on to get several sequels, installments, and remakes over the years to come. There was also an influence from the works of Stephen King’s horror novels, as his books such as “The Shining” and “Pet Cemetery” were adapted into movies. -
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Release date: November 16, 1984
Director: Wes Craven
Music by: Charles Bernstein
Box office: $57 million
Production companies: New Line Cinema; Media Home Entertainment; Smart Egg Pictures;
Distributed by: New Line Cinema, FilmFlex [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nightmare_on_Elm_Street] -
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Critical Acclaim
Horror movies began to gain critical acclaim in mainstream media in this decade. The horror classic “Silence of the Lambs” won an Academy Award in 1992, and Kathy Bates won an Oscar for “Misery”. As the horror genre was achieving success, studios were more willing to fund larger horror projects. In 1996, “Scream” was released, and similar teen-slasher films were created after Scream’s success. The 1999's found footage film "Blair Witch Project" paved the way for other documentary-horror films. -
The Silence of the Lambs
Release date: February 14, 1991 (USA)
Director: Jonathan Demme
Sequel: Hannibal
Adapted from: The Silence of the Lambs
Distributed by: Orion Pictures [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silence_of_the_Lambs_(film)]
Photo: [https://www.cbr.com/silence-of-the-lambs-anthony-hopkins-never-blinks/] -
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A New Sub-Genre
Horror films in the 21st century consisted heavily on remakes of previous acclaimed horror movies such as “Friday the 13th”, “Halloween”, and “Texas Chainsaw”. There was a new sub-genre of horror that was heavily focused on gore and violence, such as the “Saw” and “Hostel” film series. [https://www.liveabout.com/a-timeline-history-of-horror-movies-1873246] -
Saw
Release date: October 29, 2004 (Canada)
Director: James Wan
Story by: James Wan; Leigh Whannell
Budget: 1.2 million USD
Music by: Charlie Clouser
Distributed by: Lionsgate Films, Lionsgate Home Entertainment [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saw_(2004_film)]
Photo: [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387564/mediaviewer/rm3068836096/] -
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Horror Movies Today
Currently, Blumhouse Productions is the leading American production company that produces prominent horror films today. The prevalence of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have also been increasing the popularity of horror, as these services are producing and distributing a greater number of horror movies. Two of the stand-out horror movies from the 2010s were “Insidious” which went on to become a franchise, and “Conjuring” which ended up having several spin-off movies. -
Insidious
Release date: April 1, 2011
Director: James Wan
Music by: Joseph Bishara
Budget: $1.5 million
Produced by: Jason Blum; Steven Schneider; Oren Peli
Distributed by: Blumhouse Productions, Sony Pictures [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insidious_(film)]