History Of Horror Movies

History of Horror Movies

All horror movies aim to do one thing, produce a negative emotional reaction from the viewer. They relate to humans primal fears, eg. the fear of the unknown. This is why plots will most often revolve around things like; ghosts,cannibals,serial killers, zombies and demons. The first ever moving-picture revolving around horror was in the 1890's. It was shown in a 'silent short' ( a short film with no sound) created by Georges Melies. It was called 'the haunted castle'. When the period of talking pictures began in the 1930's, Universal pictures began to release a range of 'Gothic Horror' movies. Famous releases include 'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein'. At this point horror also began to blend with the science fiction genre. During the 1950's and 1960's technology advanced, and so did horror. As people became bored of the gothic sub-genre, studios were able to create contemporary films that were able to relate to viewers fears in the way that the horror films plot could actually happen in real life. These related to illness, serial killers, cannibals ect..