Examining the changes of the Horror genre in the past 100 years

Horror as a genre has morphed and changed many times since it's birth in the early days of cinema. Advances in technology, changes in culture and economy were reflected by the film makers in the films they produced to push the genre forward. In film, "horror" is designed to toy with people's minds with their worst nightmares and fears.

1925 was the year the first horror was considered to be made in. The film in question was the silent and original "Phantom of the Opera", which starred Lon Chainy as the Phantom. Whilst Chainy was praised by critics for his performance in the film, it was his use of make-up that made his name in the film industry. His use of make-up was ground breaking as he chose to do all of his own make-up, aiding him with 'getting into character'. It was said that Chainy went through pain to develop his make-up.

In 1927, the first commercial film with audio was released which pushed the genre on once more. This allowed film makers to take advantage of using audio to create pace throughout the films, whilst also using it to enhance the scarier moments of the film. The first 'horror' films that use sound are Universal Studio's "Dracula" and "Frankenstein", both released in 1931. From just those two films, Universal became renowned (and still is today) for producing Horror movies. "Dracula" starred Bela Lugosi as "The Count", a role which he became typecast for, starring in several re-makes and sequels, becoming the 'iconography' for horror films of the early film era and was directed by Tod Browning, whilst "Frankenstein" was directed by James Whale and starred Colin Clive as "Frankenstein" and Boris Carloff as "The Monster". Lugosi was due to play "The Monster", but later changed his mind. Lugosi struggled for work due to his accent and many productions not requiring a Hungarian accent. "Dracula" marked a development in the horror as it was the first film that featured dialogue all the way through. The original "Frankenstein" film had a clip in which the monster threw a little girl into the sea, however, it was deemed to violent to be displayed in cinema at the time of release, therefore, was removed. The very fact film makers began to attempt to add gore or twisted scenes into their films pushed the genre forward as viewers became susceptible to what originally frightened them. Whilst Lugosi was recognised universally for his performance in the horror genre, it was James Whale who's considered the first auteur of horror.

By the 30s, early technicolour had been introduced into film and cinema, which allowed film makers to experiment with colour to create moods and convey feelings throughout their story's. Due to a quota set by government, there was a flood of British films in production throughout the 30s which allowed British film makers to experiment and push more boundaries with horror as it was almost certain that there film would be shown due to the quota. Such British films included, "The Ghoul" (1933), which also starred Boris Karloff. Ironically, "Werewolf of London" (1935) was an American film, but also spawned a new genre of film, 'Werewolf', introducing a sub-genre of horror film. Sub-genres of horror didn't universally come around until the 40s. In 1931, and 1932, two films, "Freaks" and "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" were produced by "MGM" and "Paramount", and began to push boundaries once more. "Freaks" featured dwarves, amputees, conjoined twins and a bearded ladies and explored the lives and romances of the characters - something which was deemed 'horrifying' to audiences at the time. What made the film more controversial is the fact that these characters suffered with what they do in real life. "Freaks" was negatively received by audiences. "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", however, was generally received more positive due to the fact it was more 'normal'. The popularity of controversial films waned quickly, therefore, film production studios found that the most economical way to produce films from the Horror genre was to create sequels, causing the format of 'horrors' to become tired.

By the 1940s, the popularity of horrors was definitely declining, and one film that seemed to push that further was 1942 film, "Cat People", produced by Val Luton and RKO Pictures. Critics felt that the purpose "Cat People" was to just "induce shock", and although audiences weren't 100% comfortable with this, the film itself became renowned for one technique, known as the "Luton Bus", which references a scene in the film where a bus comes out of no-where and creates a loud noise - however, this is not the surprise we were expecting. This is seen in modern horrors such as "The Unborn" (2009), where there is an establishing shot and all of a sudden a train rushes past. The sudden noise and action appearing on screen shocks an audience, just like Luton intended in "Cat People". In 1952, RKO produced a sequel to the film as it was the style of Hollywood Horror at the this time. The film wasn't considered a commercial success. By the mid 50s, "Horror" became 'extinct' as sequels grew to be humorous parodies of what they once were. A "Dracula" remake in this period starred Bela Lugosi in the role that made his name, "The Count", however critics felt that the writers made the character a joke of what it once was.

The 1960s saw a wave of a new breed of horror, "The American Scream". Sparking the wave of new horror was individual film, "Phsyco" (1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The story was loosely based on serial killer and grave robber, Ed Gein. This film broke the 'convention' that horror films must have a hero/heroine by opting for protagonists who may not necessarily be 'good', but equally defeat the opposing side that the audience/film is fighting. By breaking the general conventions that 'horror' typically followed, it allowed to genre to be refreshed and move forward once more.

1968 saw another refresh in the horror genre as "Night of the Living Dead" was released, directed by George A Romero and starring Duane Jones. "Night of the Living Dead" wasn't a studio production so, therefore, did not have a higher authority saying 'no' to their ideas and content. As such, 'obscene' things for the time were allowed to be shot, it pushed the genre forward and allowed for a wider goal posts on the type of things allowed to be scene in a movie. The film also contained the first news report on television as part of the story, one convention that is widely used in television and film production in recent times. The intention of the film was for it not to be a supernatural film, but something very much human and portraying the undead 'zombies' as humans who are just living the only life they know, possibly reflecting political worries at the time? "NOTLD" also proved that low budget films could profit, and in recent times, this theory has been proved correct with the success of 2007 horror, "Paranormal Activity" - with a budget of $15,000, it grossed over $193million at Box Office worldwide. "Night of the Living Dead" also broke boundaries by featuring a black actor, Duane Jones as the main character, "Ben". At the time of release, this could have potentially been controversial as a film had never featured a black actor in a lead role before. The director and producers simply put it down to his audition being the best. 1968 was also the year of another horrific release, "Rosemary's Baby", directed by Roman Polanski. This film allowed to horror genre to move forward once more due to the almost blasphemous topics covered in the film - a cult of Satan worshipers who sacrificed a baby's pair of eyes.

"Rosemary's Baby" is one of three films in the 60s and 70s that featured a demon child - the other two, "The Omen" and "The Excorcist", which continued an almost blasphemous theme, a theme that is still present in modern horror. The 70s also introduced new themes that we still see associated with modern horror, the introduction of Halloween as a convention, enforcing a notion that 'evil is ever-present'. In 1978, George Romero directed "Dawn of the Dead", and once more, the horror genre was used to represent reality, as in the film, love and romance is shown between the dead.

The 80s, 90s and 2000s saw the introduction of psychological thrillers, such as "Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984), where the antagonist of the film was able to access the minds of it's victims. In recent times, in films such as George Romero's 1985 hit, "Day of the Dead", filmed suicides, gore and decapitated bodies were becoming acceptable, and the boundaries that the horror pioneers had tried to push became a world apart from what they used to be. The foundations which had been laid by Chainy's make-up, directors such as, Romero, Luton, Whale and icons such as Lugosi and Carloff are now reflected in modern cinema and horror.

Horrors, in the silent movie age used to be melodramatic and hint at grotesque imagery as appose to showing it, however, as we, as an audience became susceptible to the "same-old" events in each film, slowly, over time, the introduction of displaying grotesque imagery as appose to just hinting or suggesting it. This has changed not only the horror genre but cinema in general, as films in modern times contain much more gritty and realistic action. It could be considered that horror was highly influential on not only it's modern form of genre, but the whole of the film world. Possibly being the most realistic genre in the film industry.

Technology and facilities gradually improved as cinema improved, which allowed film pioneers to really explore the boundaries and possibilities of the horror genre as it was the most extreme. In terms of shots, the practicalities of shooting much more dynamic shots such as the "Steadicam shot", invented in 1975, allowed horror directors to build suspense. Not only this, but it allowed horror auteurs to blend certain shots with iconic features, such as the "Luton Bus".

Up to the 60s, there was a harsh ruling against sexual imagery, gorey imagery and strong content in films, which prevented horror from truly shocking it's audience. So, naturally, the films relied upon suggestion of shots and Mise-en-Scene to convey it's meaning. A typical convention of horror that still stands today is the lighting. In the most tense and dramatic scenes, horrors tend to have low, almost uncomfortable lighting. This gives off the impression of being 'cut off' from the outside world, and through lighting alone, it emphasises the feeling and relays it onto an audience watching it in a presumably low-lit cinema.

In the early days of horror, films were shot back to back and some settings were often used across multiple films. This allowed studios to produce numerous amounts of quality horror films but at a much cheaper budget. As horrors typically rely upon their settings, it was crucial that the sets the studios were doubling up could be customised depending on the film. Many horrors, up until the 80s were reliant upon supernatural 'monsters' or 'characters', whilst in modern horror, it's more about what we can't see. As such, over-the-top sets such as castles were common in early horror. This marks a major change in the genre over the past 100 years. Another reason for such cheap props and sets was due to the budgets each film received. Especially independent films. Independent films rarely peaked $15,000 for a budget in the early days of horror (20s-60s), therefore had to be extremely cautious on costs for settings and props, not to mention costs of promotion and production in general.

Representation of characters and people within horror has changes substantially since the birth of horror. Traditionally, horror contained stereotypes for their lead characters - a strong male as the 'hero' who saves the day, a beautiful and fashionable woman who serves as the 'damsel in distress', with a group of characters, a mix of both "average-looking" males and females in supporting roles, who eventually die in the film. The reason for the less beautiful supporting characters dying was to allow the torture or death of a beautiful main character to seem much more shocking and to make the character more cared-for and important in the film.