Horror in the Maing
Changes in the Genre
THE HORROR GENRE HAS DEVELOPED OVER TIME
The types of content being presented in films has changed significantly over time as a result of advances in technology and changes in society.
The horror genre is one of the oldest ones, dating back to the early 1920s. From day one to around the 1960s horror films were almost always just about your typical horror monsters- Count Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, Mummies and occasionally zombies- notable such films including Nosferatu (1922) The Phantom of the Opera (1925) Frankenstein (1931) Dracula (1931) Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and the wolf man (1941) In the 1950s horror films sometimes had representations of the Cold War and Communism in the underlying themes, notable examples including The Thing from Another World (1951) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
By 1960 the Hammer Horrors had become established films and had established Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as some of the best horror actors in the world. The 1960s also saw a series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations that established Vincent Price as a truly excellent horror actor. 1960 also saw the sub-genre of psychological horrors take off, with films such as Psycho (1960) and, to a lesser extent, The Birds (1963), and continued as a major sub-genre till the end of the 20th Century, with films such as A Clockwork Orange (1971), Halloween (1978) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and its sequels, and The Sixth Sense (1999) - which was combined with supernatural horror (see below) - as well as a number of Stephen King adaptations, such as The Shining (1980) and Misery (1990). Another sub-genre of supernatural horror took off in the 1970s also, with Carrie (1976), a Stephen King based film, and The Omen (1976), which was part psychological horror, part supernatural; and was strongest in the 1980s with films such as Poltergeist (1982) and Child's Play (1988).
Since 1978's Dawn of the Dead horror has been almost always full of
THE HORROR GENRE HAS DEVELOPED OVER TIME
The types of content being presented in films has changed significantly over time as a result of advances in technology and changes in society.
The horror genre is one of the oldest ones, dating back to the early 1920s. From day one to around the 1960s horror films were almost always just about your typical horror monsters- Count Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, Mummies and occasionally zombies- notable such films including Nosferatu (1922) The Phantom of the Opera (1925) Frankenstein (1931) Dracula (1931) Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and the wolf man (1941) In the 1950s horror films sometimes had representations of the Cold War and Communism in the underlying themes, notable examples including The Thing from Another World (1951) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
By 1960 the Hammer Horrors had become established films and had established Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as some of the best horror actors in the world. The 1960s also saw a series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations that established Vincent Price as a truly excellent horror actor. 1960 also saw the sub-genre of psychological horrors take off, with films such as Psycho (1960) and, to a lesser extent, The Birds (1963), and continued as a major sub-genre till the end of the 20th Century, with films such as A Clockwork Orange (1971), Halloween (1978) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and its sequels, and The Sixth Sense (1999) - which was combined with supernatural horror (see below) - as well as a number of Stephen King adaptations, such as The Shining (1980) and Misery (1990). Another sub-genre of supernatural horror took off in the 1970s also, with Carrie (1976), a Stephen King based film, and The Omen (1976), which was part psychological horror, part supernatural; and was strongest in the 1980s with films such as Poltergeist (1982) and Child's Play (1988).
Since 1978's Dawn of the Dead horror has been almost always full of