Many horror movies are quite influential in our lives. There are many topics related to horror movies, such as serial killers, haunted houses, satanic practices and others. There are also many variations and unexpected twists that are often associated with horror movies. Many of us really enjoy horror movies, but only a few have real understanding of when and how horror movies started. It all began in 1922, at Germany. It’s widely considered as the birth of modern horror movies. Nosferatuthe is a film about the bloodsucking vampire Nosferatu. Although, it isn’t the first film about vampire, Nosferatuthe has a storyline that has plenty of similarities with modern movies. As an example, we find in the end that the vampire was incinerated by the sunlight.
After that, we saw various vampire movies, especially the Dracula with Bela Lugosi. Another influential film was the Frankenstein, with Boris Karloff. Both movies are famous until today and we occasionally, see snippets of these movies. Boris Karloff is a well-known filmmaker in early horror film industry and his another movie, The Mummy in 1932, was another influential product. The World War 2 was influential in changing the horror genre. For awhile, the filmmaking industry focused on films with patriotic tones. However, when the world was at relative peace once again, horror movies re-emerged. The House of Wax is a memorable film among lovers of the horror genre.
Psycho is an interesting movie in the movie during the 60’s and it was created by Alfred Hitchcock. He also made other interesting thrillers, such as Dial M for Murder, North by Northwest, Vertigo and Rear Window. It’s when the spaghetti Western movies were quite popular. In the 70’s, the horror filmmaking industry was quite productive. It’s the time when filmmakers made big exploration in the genre with various story lines and topics. The Exorcist (1973) surprised by many people with a child with devilish face and the green slime. Stephen King released his novels and he become an influential figure in the genre. Carrie, The Shining, Dream Catcher, Cujo and Cat’s Eye were quite popular.
The Amityville Horror impressed by people with a story based in a real-life tragedy. Freddie Kruger rejuvenated the slasher horror movie with people killed one by one. In the 90’s, the Dracula storyline re-emerged with Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Interview with Vampires. Other than the typical slashers like Urban Legend, H2O and I Know What You Did Last Summer, there are also various lost-tapes films, popularized by the Blair Witch Project. With innovative marketing technique, people actually believed that the footage was real and those people are truly missing. There are also adaptations of Asian Horrors, like Ring and Missed Calls. There are also semi-horror genres, typically based on zombie outbreaks.
We could expect filmmakers to continue looking for new topics and story lines in the horror film genre. It will be quite interesting what new things that we will get from the horror film industry. We may continue to see some new ways, styles and approaches to entertain viewers.
