By Dominic Harris
1922: Horror as a film genre was created with the hit vampire movie, ‘Nosferatu’. 100 years later, ‘Nope’ is released and shocks audiences. This is the journey of the most unique genre of all time, HORROR!
Until the 1950s, horror was primarily supernatural, filled with characters like the universal monsters – Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man. This is what horror was until 1960 when famous film director, Alfred Hitchcock, released, ‘Psycho’. This was the start of “Modern Horror”. A new and shocking feature that ‘Psycho’ had was that it killed off the main star only 45 minutes into the film. Janet Leigh, who played Marion Crane in the film, was built up to be the star with posters up all over the world, but then her famous role was abruptly ended in the infamous shower scene. This film didn’t just terrify people to close their eyes in the shower, it changed horror forever.
‘Psycho’ (1960) Poster:
(FUN FACT: The blood in ‘Psycho’ is actually chocolate syrup!)
I’m sure you have all heard of zombies – video games, movies, tv shows, but have you ever wondered where they come from? (don’t ask your parents). They came from the 1968, George Romero classic, ‘Night of The Living Dead’. You see zombies weren’t actually a thing until ‘Night of The Living Dead’, and on a shoestring budget, George A. Romero created zombies, and one of the greatest horror films to date. ‘Night of The Living Dead’, is a simple story about a world destroyed and taken over by zombies, and the few survivors are holed up in a house thinking about what to do with zombies surrounding them. (FUN FACT: The movie was meant to be a comedy.)
’Night of The Living Dead’ (1968) Poster:
Now, we can’t talk about horror without discussing what is often referred to as the greatest horror film of all time – 1973’s ‘The Exorcist’. ‘The Exorcist’ is one of the most unique films of all time, it follows a young girl who gets possessed by a demon and her parents call in an exorcist, (a sort of priest who specialises in getting rid of demons). ‘The Exorcist’ was a very shocking film when it released because it wasn’t set in a dodgy hotel or a zombie apocalypse, it was set in a normal house, so when viewers watched it, it felt like you were watching something set in your own home, like it is close to you. It terrified viewers worldwide, and although it had a massive impact, it didn’t completely change the genre like this next film did.
‘The Exorcist’ (1973) Poster:
(FUN FACT: The role of the exorcist was originally going to be cast as Marlon Brando!)
50 years ago, in 1974, one film shocked audiences worldwide, it became known as the “The Horror Film to End All Horror Films”. Tobe Hooper’s, ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’. ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ is one of the most influential horror films of all time, as it is credited as the first ever slasher, (a slasher is a subgenre involving a killer stalking and killing a group of people with sharp weapons). From Hoopers amazing cinematography to the sadistic ‘Sawyer’ family, ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ is many peoples favourite horror movie, and although a lot of it might not hold up to today’s standards, it still has the edge and the power that it still is considered one of the greatest horror films of all time. I mean, when you think of slashers you probably think of people like, ‘Jason Voorhees’, ‘Michael Myers’, but we wouldn’t have any of those guys if it wasn’t for the legendary classic, ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’.
’The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ (1974) Poster:
(FUN FACT: The infamous dinner scene was filmed in Texas in the middle of summer, making it so hot that the raw meat on the table cooked!)
This next film I am sure a lot of you know. If not, I am sure you will at least know the main antagonist in John Carpenter’s 1978 ‘Halloween’. Although ‘Halloween’ was not the first slasher (that belongs to ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’) it was the film that made slashers popular. This low budget film is famous for its stalking killer, Michael Myers. It truly is amazing how ‘Halloween’ had a tiny budget of $300,000 and was able to make one of the most influential horror films of all time, the franchise would eventually get 12 sequels and many references in pop culture, same as the next film on this list.
’Halloween’ (1978) Poster:
(FUN FACT: The original mask for ‘Michael Myers’ was a Star Trek William Shatner, Captain Kirk mask spray painted white!)
The next film on this list is also a low budget film that had a massive impact, the 1980 Sean Cunningham classic, ‘Friday The 13th’. ‘Friday The 13th’ is a very famous horror film that started a 12 film franchise including a crossover and a reboot. Now I’m sure when you think of ‘Friday The 13th’, you think of ‘Jason Voorhees’ you know, the hockey mask killer, but (SPOILER ALERT) the killer in the original movie wasn’t Jason but was in fact his mother, Pamela Voorhees. ‘Friday The 13th’ is one of the biggest slashers in all of horror, and it also had one of the most recognisable villains in all of cinema, much like the next film on this list.
’Friday The 13th’ (1980) Poster:
(FUN FACT: ‘Friday The 13th’ was originally just meant to be a rip off of ‘Halloween’!)
Can your dreams be fatal? Well, we’re about to find out as we talk about the 1984 classic, Wes Cravens, ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’. ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ is known for probably the most iconic horror villain of all time. The sweater wearing, finger knife tearing, dream impairing, son of a hundred maniacs, ‘Freddy Krueger’. As you probably know ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ is about a group of teens who are terrorized in their dreams by the burnt, finger knifed, ‘Freddy Krueger’ who kills them in their dreams which makes them die in real life! ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street changed so much in horror, and made my personal favourite horror franchise with 9 movies including a crossover and a reboot.
’A Nightmare On Elm Street’ (1984) Poster:
(FUN FACT: The movie is famous for casting a 20 year old Johnny Depp and the only reason that happened is because Wes Craven’s daughter made them cast him because he was “dreamy”.
This next film is my all-time favourite horror movie, again by Wes Craven, ‘Scream’ (1996). Now ‘Scream’ is definitely one of the most interesting horror movies because it’s not a straightforward slasher like ‘Friday The 13th’ or ‘Halloween’. It is a scary, funny, and very self-aware slasher/murder mystery involving a bunch of teens and a ghostface murderer. You see, slashers were dying in this period of time – (late 80s early 90s) – and ‘Scream’ revived them making a so far 6 film franchise and a perfect movie, and it all started with a phone call.
’Scream’ (1996) Poster:
(FUN FACT: The original actor cast as ‘Sidney’ was actually Drew Barrymore!)
Now this final film I’m sure you all know, the 2017 adaptation of Stephen Kings, ‘IT’.
‘IT’ is a movie I really love; it was originally a book, it got a miniseries in 1990 and then in 2017, Andy Muschietti created his own adaptation of the iconic story. It follows a group of kids who start seeing the things they fear most, a terrifying clown, and they find out that ‘IT’ feeds off their fear and can turn into what they fear most. As kids start going missing around town, they must face their fears and put an end to the thing that plagues their town of Derry, Maine.
’IT’ (2017) Poster:
Honourable movie mentions: ‘The Thing’ (1982), ‘Alien’ (1979), ‘Jaws’ (1975), ‘Childs Play’ (1988), ‘The Evil Dead’ (1981), ‘Hellraiser’ (1987), ‘The Shining’ (1980), ‘Dawn of The Dead’ (1978), ‘Saw’ (2004)
This brings us to the end of our journey through the horror genre, a genre that can make you laugh, cry, scared, or deeply disturbed. Thank you for reading this black and white article, and I hope this taught you more about horror.