Early 20th century horror films originated from Victorian, gothic horror

literature like Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, originally written in 1818.

Edison Studios film followed 100 years later in 1910. It focuses on a
monster, created by a scientist who believes he can play God and create
a man. The monster, has human qualities, with its only goal to find love. It
has been said that the fictional creation of a loveless monster was
Shelleys way of expressing her own personal demons although her
portrayal of the creature was more sympathetic than the hideous visual
image presented in the film. This creature had a bolt through his neck and
was brought to life by electricity reflecting societys fascination, fear and
apprehension of new science. Shelleys theme of the dangers of
interfering with nature would have resonated with 1910 audience who
would have been timid about the speed of scientific advances. Shelleys
story also showed the dangers of man trying to be a creator. The audience
in a God fearing society would have felt that the terror created by the
Frankensteins monster was a reasonable outcome for trying to assume
the role that only God should have.
Despite the author of Frankenstein being a young woman, women were
side lined to minor roles during horror films of the period. Female
characters were most likely to be housekeepers or powerless women. Still
the most memorable image from King Kong (1933) is of the tiny Fay Wray
held in the grip of the giant (male) ape. The implication of this being that
she had to have a man to rescue her.
Plots focused around monsters created by humans or monsters that have
human qualities were commonplace into the 1940s. The reason why these
themes were so effective is that the world then was stepping into a new
age of science. This is seen by writers such as Kurt Vonnegut who
authored new age dystopian future books Player Piano and The Sirens of
Titan. This and so many other ideas were being created, but people were
apprehensive about what the future would bring. The unknown is what
scares people, especially when there was so much being discovered. The
human elements of the monsters gives the audience something to relate
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to: when something close to human form also behaves in a human way,
it can make the film even more unsettling. The fact everyone in the
audience has had a craving for love at some point and will do anything to
achieve this makes them sympathise with the monsters like Frankenstein,
however it also makes them look at themselves and makes them question
who they are. The films that the audience would relate to would have a
twist and make the monster commit acts contrary to normal behaviour so
threaten established society. This would make the audience question what
they, as humans, might be capable of.
Between the years of 1914-1945 the two World Wars meant fewer films
were made within the industry .This impacted on the number of horror
films being produced. Horror films that were made can be seen to have
propagandist objectives. For example, Ealing Studios The Halfway House
in 1942 which showed the Irish protagonist setting aside his national
loyalities for more humanitarian ideals. Such a character would be met
unsympathetically by a war time audience who felt united against a single
enemy.
Hollywood utilised horror films depicting the evil Nazis as the enemy to
stimulate nationalism. Motifs of medical experiments using syringes and
surgery on unwilling victims recalled Nazi Germanys clinical, genetic
selection and supremacy of a master race. In horror as with other genres,
using a hospital or medical setting allows for the casting of women as
nurses who support male doctors. The horror in this situation is derived in
part from the women being involved in doing evil which contrasts with
their real life roles as the caring and nurturing gender. These depictions
fed support of the Second World War in America and Britain and helped
encourage public backing for the war in Europe.
Horror films began to re-enter the public eye in 1950s and the mid-70s.
There was an obvious evolution in the ideas behind horror films because
instead of having monsters that the audience related to, the monsters
tended to be mutants or aliens. This reflected the creation of the sci-fi
craze genre which infiltrated all areas of the arts. It was also the time
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when the Americans and the Russians where racing to see who would get
to space first; people were scared that there was something other than
planet earth with life on and so this became the new unknown, the thing
that people were scared of facing.
Hollywood utilized these irrational fears for profit. Films like Godzilla
(1954) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) are famous examples of
this. Godzilla is a classic film that has been repeatedly remade. The film
targets one of the most famous cities in the world, Tokyo, which made
people scared that extra-terrestrial life out there was planning to attacking
humankind. Godzilla uses a scale models of Tokyo going up in flames. By
the middle of the 20th Century sets and lighting had advanced significantly
from previous generations of horror films.
The sets from 1920-40s horror films are filled with traditionally scary
locations. These consist of spooky castles, dilapidated houses or areas of
the world that hold historic real life horror stories. (Transylvania with
Count Dracula) Whereas 1950-mid 70s films are set in cities (using scale
models). This was because the world had just come out of a war and
peoples fears had changed, large numbers of the people had seen their
homes torn apart by bombs, seeing huge cities torn apart by monsters
brought back the feeling of war, a sensation of terror that Hollywood
wanted to achieve. It wasnt done to spite people who were affected but
people had become desensitised to violence because everyone had
witnessed such horrific gore that the only way horror films could scare and
shock people is by the suggestion of what is known and experienced
(devastated cities) combined with the threat of invasion.
The Uses and Gratification approach to audience reactions tells us that
audiences seek out in certain forms of media to satisfy a particular need.
This is where the first cases of uses and gratifications come from, and
there was a line between audience types. There were passive members
who accepted the horror film without a flinch and were just scared buy at
the active audience who questioned what was in the films and were
insulted or scared.
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The reaction of post war audiences, in seeking out terror when they had
already been through so much can be seen to fit this theory. Producers of
futuristic horror would compete for audiences who sought out films that
reassured them that mankind could conquer alien invaders.
Between the mid-70s and mid-80s, horror films still capitalised on the fear
of the unknown but instead of monsters, religion was used as a device to
convey horror. Following the First and Second World Wars and the Vietnam
War; people turned to religion to find solace and provide order in society.
Religion relies on faith rather than evidence and, like horror, there is a
degree of the unknown. This is where horror films exploited the concerns
of their audiences; challenging a comfort and making it evil. Films like The
Exorcist (1973) challenged the power God has over the devil while
exclaiming that the devil can be anywhere. It was the classic tale of good
versus evil, similar to the 1920s horror films which were based on gothic
novels; horror films now took inspiration from the Bible. The Exorcist
contradicted years of beliefs. The fact it was bringing hell to everyday life
threatened the ideals that God will save the believers but yet the devil has
power over people. Furthermore it scared people that the devil could
possess innocent children. This becomes real in many cases where
children have committed acts of evil, making the fear all the more
terrifying. Not only does the audience have to handle the discomfort of
children being evil in the case of The Exorcist, The Omen (1976) and
Carrie (1976) but horror moves away from the mystery of the science lab
via the big city to our own homes, schools and churches. Horror films had
finally become realistic by making people question whether they are safe
with religion, and all the while questioning if there is a god is as powerful
as they believe. This is why the church protested outside screenings of
The Exorcist; it threated their beliefs and organised religion didnt want
people to question faith. Instead of cities or gothic castles, these films
delve deeper into peoples lives by being set in peoples homes and about
their families. This would set the trend for the next 40 years as people
started feeling like they couldnt be safe in their own homes. Horror films
are designed to stay with you after you watch the film. The point of the
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film is to subtly persuade the audience to share the impact it has had on
them. The feeling of being scared in your own home sticks with the
audience.
Horror films from the 90s to noughties were based on serial killers like
scream and Halloween. This was the era which was the most influential
for the next generation of horror films; the 90s created the first horror
films with gore involved. Before, films like Psyco had to cut clips to
interpret someone being killed where as in the 90s make up and CGI had
evolved enough to show the violent scenes. Also in the 90s the world had
seen so much ,the Rwandan mascara was one of the most disturbing
events to happen in the 90s and the news covered it. They showed
massacred bodies on the street with their insides hanging out. Events like
this happened quite often as did rise of college shootings and teenage
cult murders and this influenced the Hollywood film industry. Although
exaggerated in their detail and gore, Hollywood was merely re-enacting
what was happening in real life. Society on the whole, although shocked
to the core with what was happening, almost needed to see it as
entertainment in order to understand it and justify it. Moral panic then
set in and people started to blame the film industry for what was going on
but the argument from them was that they got inspiration from real
events. Horror films needed to become more graphic because new
generations had become desensitised to past horrors and deemed them
funny due to the real events happening on their doorstep. Religion in
America and the uk had significantly dropped, not due to horror films but
science so it was clear to see from a directors point of view that both of
these key features in horror had been made redundant. Directors needed
to find another way of scaring an audience who cant be scared. The Blare
witch project was a horror film with instead of having a huge production
team with multiple cameras they used a single hand held camera. This
made the camera man a character in the film and showed the audience
the horror through their eyes. This kind of filming technique is still
effective because it is rarely used.

In the noughties horror didnt let go of the gore, in fact they thought they
would amplify it. Horror Films turned into torture porn (it was referred to
this because people got a strange satisfaction from watching films like
people get a sexual kick out of watching porn),.films like Saw and Final
Destination were the craze. The films were more focused on satisfying the
audiences needs for seeing something horrific and shocking. The plot was
based around the different manifestation of murder like Final Destination,
the whole franchise is based around various, creative ways of killing
innocent people. These kind of horror films have ironically killed horrors
rich, intelligent history. The films became less realistic as the audience
couldnt relate to the meaningless death because it wasnt shocking
enough. This was because the world had just seen 9/11 and it shook the
world as it was the first act of terrorism on American soil and in the 21st
century the idea good VS evil is more apparent than ever. With such
devastating events fed into the audiences home the personification of
death into a character in final destination meant that people could
channel their fear and the entertainment become a distraction. Horror
films had become so exaggerated that they became funny and towards
the end of the craze quite satirical. The idea of someone being able to
predict another persons death in the most flamboyant, and unbelievable
way makes the threat of death a lot easier for the audience to
comprehend. Torture films have a very generic look to them, they are like
graphic novels. The colours are blacks, greys, reds, the colours that often
resemble death. The setting has gone back to the beginning of a horror
where the settings where in dark dungeons or science labs. The
difference between 1920s settings and the settings from the noughties is
they both had different effects on the reader. In the 1920s science was a
threat and something unknown so people were scared. In the noughties,
even though it was the same settings the effect it had on the audience
was to show what power science has over life and death.
Into the last generation of horror films, there was a shift from 2008 where
torture porn had run its course and horror Had taken a new turn into
paranormal activity/ghosts. Like horror films before the 90s, they now
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relies on the unknownagain. It plays with peoples irrational fear of the

dark and that its possessed. It reaches the audiences childhood fear of
the dark and what is in the dark. The films are set in people homes and
based around families like in the 70s. they use a lot of night vision effects
which adds a pathetic fallacy to the films because the dark represents
death and the end. This representation combined with a plot of something
uncontrollable and unknown makes the film a lot more realistic because
the audience feel unsafe in an environment they cant escape from.
Compared to previous horror crazes,ghosts and parnormal themes havent
been created through the audience being desensitised or changed by
politics/the news but was made out of a lack of respect for horror films
from the previous generation. Horror films these days try to gain the
respect back with instead of gore they use suspense and make the
audience jump like the horror films in the 70s. they play psychological
games on the audience by bring up childhood fears that they will always
have a slight irrational fear and make them paranoid when they come
across what they are scared of, then it relates to the audience.

In the last twenty years of the 20th Century the representation of women
had started to become more equal to that of men. The womens
movement saw more women enter the workplace generally and this was
reflected in a variety of roles across the film industry. The increase of
powerful women in the arts and business world meant that films showed
women in similar roles to the roles they undertook in real life and female
audiences were not satisfied with being shown as powerless. This is
apparent in Ridley Scotts Alien franchise (1979 to 1997). This Sci-Fi/Horror
series of films returns to the scientific setting of early horror films but in a
more familiar way than would have been acceptable to audiences in the
first half of the century: space travel on its own is not frightening to a
modern audience. The female lead, with the androgynous name, though is
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mentally and physically strong enough to defeat the alien that has killed
her male and female crew mates. A further twist on Horror genre is that
the alien is female and implants itself inside the body of Weavers Ripley.
Here we can see the role of women, mothers and children as the evil
characters just as in much earlier films. The roles women play in the 21
century are the biggest contrast between female roles. Between 20002007 women are portrayed as stupid, damsels in destress this is another
reason why horror films lost respect. Women felt victimised and insulted.
Compared to 2007-present day ,women are represent equally and if not
the main antagonist. The mother in horror films tend to be the last ones
standing. This was a clearly a conscious decision because it represents
mothers throughout history and the bond they have with the family, they
are a tie that brings everyone together and by making the heroine a
mother exaggerates a mothers will to protect her family.

These days, as a result of technological advancements, horror films are

able to be watched on everyday technology. You can stream them on
services like Netflix and Amazon Prime on your phone or tablet anywhere
at any time. There is a problem with this though. This is because this
doesnt represent the sensationalised fear factor which horror films are
designed to have. Along with ignorance, the reason why horror film were
so effective in the 1920s was because there were lots people packed in to
a black room. They couldnt see what was behind them, faced only with
the inexplicable. These films put an impossible idea into the audiences
head and made it plausible. The unknown factor in horror films should
take up the audiences concentration. The difference is that if they are
streaming in on the train they have to pay attention to whats going on
around them which destroys the feeling of being in an impossible world.
When horror films are broadcast on television, they tend to be late at
night so there is the unsettling atmosphere but the problem having them
on terrestrial television (ITV, channel 4) is that they have ad breaks every
15 minutes which when you are trying to concentrate or escape into
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another world (the whole point of watching films) it distracts the audience.
Adverts for horror films often have audience reaction in the cinema. This
isnt just to persuade people to purchase products, but to aid the sense of
needing to be scared from the film.