A timeline of the horror genre.

1. History and evolution of the
horror genre
Definition: An intense feeling of fear,
shock or disgust.

2. Origins of the horror genre
Horror in movies was
inspired by gothic
literature. Famous
authors of the time
included Mary Shelley,
Bram Stocker and Edgar
Allen Poe, creating tales
such as Dracula and The
Raven.

3. 1920’s
Before the horror genre was established, movies
of the 1920’s were short, silent and black and
white. It was difficult to build suspense and
fear without the addition of colour and sound.
Due to technological restrictions, films had to
rely on captivating stories and visuals like the
mise en scene and costumes.

4. 1920’s
Popular movies at the
time were The Cabinet
of Dr Calligari (1920),
The Golem (1920),
which was the first
monster movie and
Nosferatu (1922) which
was the first vampire
movie.

5. 1930’s
The word “horror” was only used to describe
this genre when Universal Pictures released
Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931. Sound was
introduced which helped create suspense and
tension by using music and the voices of the
actors. Horror movies were popular at this
time due to the Great Depression as it gave
the audience a way to escape reality. During
this time, monsters were a big hit.

6. 1930’s
World news such as the
Tutankhamun Exhibition
touring the world inspired new
stories like The Mummy (1932).
This film gave a new setting on
the desert as well as
introducing the idea of ancient
evil returning.
A film that disappointed
audiences was Freaks (1933) as
it horrified people rather than
scare them. It was so
unpopular that it was banned
in the UK and other countries
for 30 years.

7. 1940’s
During WW2, directors
were cautious of
making horror movies
influenced by the war
as they didn’t want to
cause more panic and
chaos.
Films that came out this
period were The Wolf
Man (1941) and Cat
People (1942)

8. 1950’s
The 50’s introduced new ideas for monsters in
films. Better technology was being invented to
upgrade film however, audiences were so
used to the same quality of film that when it
changed, directors had to improve on
impressing the audience. Throughout this
period, horror movies were aimed at
teenagers and instead of horrifying the
audience, they thrilled them.

9. 1950’s
After WW2, radiation was a
common convention in horror
films. Radiation was used to
change the size of something
such as Godzilla. Directors
would photograph animals
and recreate into stop-motion
animation. It Came From
Beneath The Sea (1955) was
about a mutant octopus
assaulting San Francisco.
The Wasp Women (1959) was
also another popular movie
that came out in this period.

10. 1960’s
In the period, the Manson Murders took place
which changed people’s views on what was
horrible. The 60’s explored the ways in which
sex and violence could be used. Teenage
audiences started to notice the conventions in
usual horror films. Audiences wanted more
reality in horror thereby making it scarier.

11. 1960’s
Psycho (1960) has become
popular and iconic horror
film to be made. It has
influenced other films
such as Texas Chainsaw
Massacre and Silence of
the Lambs.
The Night of the Living Dead
(1968) has also become
one of the most popular
films. It created a darker
path for horror.

12. 1970’s
The general convention of horror films during
this time was children and childbirth. Also, the
occult and supernatural evil became a popular
theme during the 70’s. An example of this is
The Omen (1976). The advertising campaign
was inspired by Jaws where there were weeks
of teasers and ‘666’ was the focus of the
campaign.

13. 1970’s
The Exorcist (1973) has been
voted the scariest movie
of all time. It wasn’t
released in the UK until
1999 as it caused outrage
due to some of the
content.
Other influential movies
from this decade include
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(1974), Jaws (1975) and
Halloween (1978)

14. 1980’s
Slasher films is a subgenre that was very popular
during the first half of the decade. Defining films
of this time include Friday The 13th (1980) and A
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). The second half
added humour which included Re-Animator
(1985) and Child’s Play (1988).
Throughout the 80’s, special effects were being
commonly used. The effects became more
realistic as technology advanced.

15. 1980’s
The 80’s were filled with the
adaptations of Stephen
King’s books. A well-known
movie was The Shining
(1980). This was filmed in
one of the biggest sets ever
and took over a year to film.
Compared to Stephen King’s
works, Gremlins (1984)
showed a comic side to
horror. Each of the gremlins
were animatronics that cost
between $30,000 - $40,000.

16. 1990’s
Since the over-use of special effects, audiences
had become accustomed to the shock factor.
Films released were considered to be thrillers
and needed to captivate the audience with
other shock factors such as jump-scares and
plot twists.

17. 1990’s
The Silence of the Lambs
(1991) was the highest
grossing film of the year.
However it offended the
LGBT community as it
portrayed transgender
people through Buffalo Bill,
the antagonist.
Scream (1996) is part of the
slasher genre but is
considered a parody. This
inspired sequels and a TV
show plus spoofs such as
the Scary Movie franchise.

18. 2000’s
The 2000’s released film remakes of many old
horror movies such as The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre (2003) and Friday the 13th (2009). The
Ring (2002), One Missed Call (2003) and The
Grudge (2004) are Asian horror movie remakes
that received positive reviews.
Videogame, comic book adaptations, Hellboy
(2004) and Silent Hill (2006) and the new sub
genre ‘torture porn’, Hostel (2005) became box
office hits throughout the decade.

19. 2000’s
Saw (2004) being a popular yet
controversial film in the
subgenre ‘torture porn’,
received mixed reviews due to
the intense visuals. As a result
of its popularity, this led to the
start of a franchise with 7
films.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon
Barber of Fleet Street (2007) is
a unique horror film. Although
it is a musical, the movie does
contain conventions of the
subgenres, splatter (graphic
violence) and slasher (serial
killings).

20. 2010’s
Found footage films became increasingly
common during the 2010’s after successes like
The Blair Witch Project (1999) and the
Paranormal Activity franchise (2007-2015).
Past hits became TV spin-offs. Bates Hotel was
created from Psycho (1960) and The Silence of
the Lambs (1991) inspired Hannibal.

21. 2010’s
The Conjuring (2013) is a box
office hit and received many
positive feedback as well as
starting its own franchise.
However, James Wan, the
director, was being sued by
Norman Sutcliffe and Gerald
Helfrich, the owners of the
house that the film was based
on. This was because the
owners house was consistently
being damaged and found
many objects linked to satanic
cults.

22. Present
Upcoming films

23. THE END