Horror movies are a type of film that can be traced back to the beginning of film making. To better understand the horror movie it will be best to start with horror literature. When you understand the literature it is possible to have a better idea of where the movies come from.
Horror films would not have been as prominent if not for the horror literature. Horror literature is what made the horror film what it is today. It was in the 1764 book by Horace Walpole called The Castle of Otranto the term horror was first mentioned. Other great writers like Edgar Allan Poe helped this genre with timeless classics like The Raven. These old horror tales are what many iconic horror films are based on. Some of them will include the classics from the 1800's like Dracula and Frankenstein.
The supernatural was the main theme of the horror movie when they first came about. Short silent films were the first place horror films were found in the 1890's. In 1896 the short silent film Le Manior du diable is thought to be the first horror film. At the same time as Georges Melies made this film the Japanese also made horror films Shinin no Sosei and Bake Jizo.
The full length horror film was first seen as a version of the hunchback of Notre-Dame. In the early 1900's the German expressionist film was at its peak meaning most of the first horror films were made by Germans. These German films have acted as influential works for many modern film makers like Tim Burton. The 1920's brought about the first Hollywood dabbling in the genre and the first American horror star in Lon Chaney Sr.
The Hollywood popularization of these movies came about in the 1930's. At this point movies like Dracula and Frankenstein were made as well as other gothic horror and supernatural mixture movies. The Wolf Man is an iconic movie about werewolves made in 1941 by Universal studios. You should keep in mind that this was by no means the first werewolf film but it is known as the most influential. The 1945 movie The Body Snatcher and other B pictures also came about at this time.
In the 1950's there had been many innovations in the technology used to make films. Additionally in this time the horror film was divided into two categories being Armageddon films and demonic films. During this time social ideas and fears were placed into movies but in such a way that it was not direct exploitation.
It was during the 1960's that many other iconic films were made including Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. This movie is one of the first American Armageddon movies set in a modern backdrop. Zombies were made into what they are today in the movie Night of the Living Dead made at this time. This movie also changed the look of horror films into what we know them as today.
The history of horror movies goes back to the beginning of movies. The long history shows how they changed from Gothic classics to what we know today.
Horror films would not have been as prominent if not for the horror literature. Horror literature is what made the horror film what it is today. It was in the 1764 book by Horace Walpole called The Castle of Otranto the term horror was first mentioned. Other great writers like Edgar Allan Poe helped this genre with timeless classics like The Raven. These old horror tales are what many iconic horror films are based on. Some of them will include the classics from the 1800's like Dracula and Frankenstein.
The supernatural was the main theme of the horror movie when they first came about. Short silent films were the first place horror films were found in the 1890's. In 1896 the short silent film Le Manior du diable is thought to be the first horror film. At the same time as Georges Melies made this film the Japanese also made horror films Shinin no Sosei and Bake Jizo.
The full length horror film was first seen as a version of the hunchback of Notre-Dame. In the early 1900's the German expressionist film was at its peak meaning most of the first horror films were made by Germans. These German films have acted as influential works for many modern film makers like Tim Burton. The 1920's brought about the first Hollywood dabbling in the genre and the first American horror star in Lon Chaney Sr.
The Hollywood popularization of these movies came about in the 1930's. At this point movies like Dracula and Frankenstein were made as well as other gothic horror and supernatural mixture movies. The Wolf Man is an iconic movie about werewolves made in 1941 by Universal studios. You should keep in mind that this was by no means the first werewolf film but it is known as the most influential. The 1945 movie The Body Snatcher and other B pictures also came about at this time.
In the 1950's there had been many innovations in the technology used to make films. Additionally in this time the horror film was divided into two categories being Armageddon films and demonic films. During this time social ideas and fears were placed into movies but in such a way that it was not direct exploitation.
It was during the 1960's that many other iconic films were made including Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. This movie is one of the first American Armageddon movies set in a modern backdrop. Zombies were made into what they are today in the movie Night of the Living Dead made at this time. This movie also changed the look of horror films into what we know them as today.
The history of horror movies goes back to the beginning of movies. The long history shows how they changed from Gothic classics to what we know today.
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