History of Horror Genre

History of Horror Genre

The First Horror FilmThe first horror movie, only about two minutes long, was directed and produced by Georges Melies, titledLe Manoir Du Diable (The Haunted Castle in USA and The Devils Castle in Britain) and it was made in 1896.There was no narrative in the film, it was a silent film. There are no accounts of any profit being made from the Film.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(1941 film)Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was Directed by Victor Fleming and Produced by Victor Savile. This film differs from The Devils Castle (1896) because Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has a narrative with English and also music. It also made a profit of around $39k. The content of the films also differ to each other because Dr Jekyll is a scarier film due to the fact that it focuses on scaring people rather than the slight comedy aspect in The Devils Castle also the duplicity between Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Them being the same person). The plot to Dr Jekyll is another difference because it is a straight remake of the original book well as The Devils Castle wasnt. This was an inspirational film because before this film the idea of split personalities hadnt been explored. Science was slow developing at this time as well so the science aspect made it unique and interesting, also a them to be carried on in films in the future.

Dracula(1958 film)The 1958 version of Dracula was Directed by Terence Fisher and was produced by Anthony Hinds. The Narrative much like Dr. Jekyll was English with music. It made 1,008,834 at the box office. The content of this film changed as it was now in colour and It also had the use of blood involved. The plot was somewhat more scary than previous horror films.This is felt to be one of the most inspirational films as it features Christopher Lee as the main character who is one if not the most legendary Actors in the Film industry (World record for most films). It was also nominated for 3 Oscars. Another aspect of this film is that the main character of the film has become famous/legendary and has produced a few other films such as Draculas daughter. The popularity of the main character has become a blueprint for many other future characters. It again also proved as a blueprint for many other horror films which included vampires, using some of the same aspects straight from Dracula.

The Shinning (1980)The Shinning was Directed and produced by Kubrick. The Narrative was English with music. It made $44.4 million at the box office.The content of the Shining is different from the older films (Dr. Jekyll and Dracula) because they were straight remakes of the original book well as The Shinning has a few differences between the original book and the film. It is an inspirational film because it had some memorable lines in the film, such as Heres Johnny which has been used in some video games etc, keeping the legacy of the film alive.

Zombie Land (2009)Zombie Land was directed by Ruben Fleischer and was produced by Gavin Polone. The Narrative was English with Music. The Budget was $23.6million and made a box office of $102.4 million.The Content of this film has changed yet again from some of the others as a bit like the first horror film it has an aspect of comedy in the film (which quite a lot of horror films dont have). It is also different from the older films as it uses some special effects within the film which the older films wouldnt have been able to do. It is an inspirational film as many aspects of it have been used in films/TV shows since then, such as the walking dead which takes the zombie apocalypse theme from it etc.