In order to explore the darker side of the human mind, the horror movie genre has changed over the years, going from circus freak shows to slashers to psychological thrillers.
While scary campfire stories, folklore and literature have been expressing Gothic themes and gore for years, the year 1896 marked the first record of a film following the same route.
According to the New York Film Academy (NYFA), French director Georges Méliès’ “Le Manoir du Diablo,” known in English as “The Haunted Castle” or “House of the Devil,” is widely considered the first horror movie.
“The three-minute film is complete with cauldrons, animated skeletons, ghosts, transforming bats, and, ultimately, an incarnation of the Devil,” NYFA said. “While not intended to be scary—more wondrous, as was Mellies’ MO—it was the first example of a film to include the supernatural and set a precedent for what was to come.”
Once the precedent had been set, in the following years, filmmakers turned to literary classics, like “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, for movie inspiration.
Eventually, as the silent-film era began to fade, the classic monster characters we know today came about.
“We had a glut of incredible movies that paved the way for generations to come, particularly in the field of monster movies – think the second iteration of Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932) and the first color adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931),” NYFA said.
The 1930s marked the first time the word “horror” was used to describe these particular kinds of movies.
Each decade has its own contributions and spin on what a horror movie really is. Monsters eventually gave way to nuclear fear, which further morphed into explorations of possession and “psychological torment.”
“John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ (1978) introduced the world to the masked killer Michael Myers, blending psychological horror with the terror of an unstoppable, seemingly supernatural force,” TheHorrorDome.com said. “The film focused on the fear of being stalked and hunted.”
According to Dave Ross at History.com, 80s slashers turned into “torture terror” after “real-life horror” occurred on September 11, 2001.
“Whenever the world gets unpredictable and scary, we see a huge uptick in people’s interest in horror movies,” Ross said. “The shocking psychological thriller ‘Saw’ (2004) launched an entirely new horror subgenre on human cruelty.”
For writer Bryan Alaspa, the newest “horror craze” is “elevated horror.”
“This subgenre prioritizes psychological dread, complex themes and nuanced storytelling over traditional jump scares and gore,” Alaspa said.
Elevated horror movies dive into grief, trauma, identity or existential dread through a “terrifying lens.”
Most recent movies, like “Heredity” or “The Witch,” are prime examples of what elements make up elevated horror movies.
“These movies are designed to unsettle you on multiple levels,” Alaspa said.
As per The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), many horror movies mirror the state of the country at the time they were created.
“Horror movies, like many art forms, reflect the culture and the issues that society is facing at the time,” TCNJ said.
TCNJ believes advancements in technology have affected the movie industry.
“‘Blair Witch Project’ (1999) was a turning point as far as people rethinking what a movie can look like,” TCNJ said.
Whether you’re an horror-loving adrenaline junkie or someone whose hands cover their eyes, horror movies are important outlets used to explore darker elements of the world.