Histroy of horror

Histroy of horror

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  Joseph Russo A HISTORYOF HORROR – “FRANKENSTEIN GOES TO HOLLYWOOD”
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  PHANTOM OF THEOPERA – 1925 SILENT FILM • The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the 1910 novel directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney, who was one of the most famous actors in this era of horror films. • Chaney was known for his makeup skills, designing all of his costumes himself and his makeup kit is now stored in the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. He painted his eye sockets black to give a skull-like impression and pulled the tip of his nose with wire to create the look of the Phantom. • The “unmasking scene” in the film was said to have made the audience scream and faint when it was first released in 1925.
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  DRACULA - 1931 •Dracula was released in 1931 and was the first horror film with sounds, also known as the first “talkie” horror film. • Bela Lugosi, a Hungarian actor was chosen for the role of Dracula though at first the director was reluctant to have him as the leading actor. However he convinced directors he was the perfect fit and accepted a small amount of payment for his work. • While this film was still very successful, it was said to have lacked many aspects of a typical horror film such as no blood or fangs on Dracula, or lack of typical scary locations that the audience would expect to see.
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  FRANKENSTEIN - 1931 •Frankenstein had many more horror aspects to it, with the film opening in a graveyard giving a very disturbing feel to it. Frankenstein was shot just a few months after Dracula but was a big leap forward from it. • Bela Lugosi was again chosen to be the leading actor, but he shortly left the project. An actor who went by the stage name of “Boris Karloff” was chosen to play Frankenstein’s monster because of his distinctive features. • The film endured criticism after there was a scene shown of a little girl being thrown in a lake and eventually dying. This scene was censored in many countries and eventually re edited completely. The original version was not released again for another 50 years. • Although it had a lot of criticism, Frankenstein and Dracula were very successful and horror became a very popular genre after this.
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  POST FRANKENSTEIN • OtherHollywood studios were quick to respond and began following the trend of making horror films such as Paramount and Warner Brothers. • “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” featured a single shot transformation sequence which helped the actor of the film win the best actor award. • “Mystery of the wax museum” was the first horror film to be shot in colour and created a very chilling story line.
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  JAMES WHALE (1899-1957) •James Whale was a horror film director best remembered for his four classic horror films: Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein. • “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935) was Whale’s greatest achievement as a director but also his last one. This was due to Hollywood’s horror industry being in an unstable position.
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  SON OF FRANKENSTEIN •This was a 139 horror film that is the sequel to James Whale’s “Bride of Frankenstein”. It was released as a more family friendly film after the double re-release of Dracula and Frankenstein. • This revitalised Universal’s declining horror output as it was very successful, and it also starred both Karloff (Frankenstein) and Lugosi (Dracula).
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  “LUTON BUS SHOCK’S” •A Luton Bus Shock is when a build up occurs to an event that makes the audience believe that a scare is about when it actually displays a regular event. • This first occurred in horror films in the film “Cat People” where a girl is walking down a street and she thinks she can hear a noise. After a while, a bus pulls up next to her causing a loud sound and shocking the audience. • A more recent version of a Luton Bus Shock was in the 1973 film “The Exorcist” where a whole scene is made up of Luton Bus Shocks.
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  A HISTORY OFHORROR – “HOME COUNTIES HORROR”
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  POST 1950’S –BRITISH HAMMER FILMS • Hammer Pictures is a British film production company based in London. They are best known for a series of Gothic, “Hammer Horror” films made from the mid 1950’s until the 1970’s. They also mixed horror with science fiction. • Their first film was called “Quatermass Xperiment” which became very successful. It was a science fiction film with many horror elements to it.
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  CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN& DRACULA • One of their successful films was “The Curse of Frankenstein”. It was Hammer’s first colour horror film and was a worldwide success, reportedly earning 70 times its production costs. • The Dracula film was the first mainstream horror films was to use props such as blood and fangs on the vampires. It was also one of the first horror films to include sexual references which caused censors to cut some of them from the completed film. • Dracula became a worldwide hit and horror was said to be “re- born” after its release.
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  POST 1960’S -70’S • Pit and the Pendulum (1961) – this was the first horror film to have a pivotal moment in which an image is shown of a corpse which shocked audiences worldwide. • The Haunting (1963) – distorted camera angles and the careful use of silence then sudden noise created an atmosphere of horror and this was a revolutionary idea.
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  BRITISH FOLK HORROR •Folk horror is a sub-genre of horror and the storylines typically involve rituals and demonic occurrences. The terms ‘demon’ and ‘devil’ appear to be associated with folk horror. • Witchfinder General (1968) was one of the first British folk horror films to be made. • The Wicker Man (1973), directed by Robin Hardy, is one of the most famous folk horror films to be made based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. This films was the start of folk horror films to make use of British landscapes to create a certain atmosphere.
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  A HISTORY OFHORROR – “THE AMERICAN SCREAM”
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  NIGHT OF THELIVING DEAD (1968) • Night of the living dead had a strong message in it because of the events happening in and around America such as political assassinations, the Vietnam war etc. This showed a metaphor of America turning against itself. • It has been a cult classic ever since its release but it was heavily criticised at its release for its explicit gore, but eventually received critical acclaim.
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  THE TEXAS CHAINSAWMASSACRE (1974) • Rather than the typical gothic approach that many directors used to base their films upon, the Texas chainsaw massacre was based on a partly true story. It was said to have been a true story to attract wider audiences but was loosely based on real life crimes of Ed Gein. • The film follows a group of friends who fall victim to a family of cannibals by the villain named ‘Leatherface’. • This was also the first film that emerged as a ‘slasher’ film.
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  THE EXORCIST (1973)AND THE OMEN (1976) • The Exorcist was one the first and most famous demonic possession films. It has also become one of the highest grossing films of all time. The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen were all part of a cycle of “demonic child” films produced in the late 60’s to the mid 70’s. • This was the first horror ‘blockbuster’ which included one of the most famous on screen deaths in the history of horror films involving a violent decapitation.