Horror film Wikipedia. A famous scene from the 1. German horror film Nosferatu. A horror film is a movie that seeks to elicit a physiological reaction, such as an elevated heartbeat, through the use of fear and shocking ones audiences. Inspired by literature from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley, the horror genre has existed for more than a century. The macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Cult Horror Movies Monsters Inc. Cult Horror Movies Monsters Inc. Horror may also overlap with the fantasy, supernatural fiction and thriller genres. Horror films often deal with viewers nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, aliens, vampires, werewolves, demons, satanism, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, zombies, cannibals, psychopaths, natural or man made disasters, and serial killers. Some subgenres of horror include action horror, comedy horror, body horror, disaster horror, holiday horror, horror drama, psychological horror, science fiction horror, slasher horror, supernatural horror, gothic horror, natural horror, zombie horror, first person horror and teen horror. Historyedit1. 88. The first depictions of supernatural events appear in several of the silent shorts created by the film pioneer Georges Mlis in the late 1. Le Manoir du Diable, which is sometimes credited as being the first horror film. Another of his horror projects was La Caverne maudite 1. The Cave of the Demons, literally the accursed cave. Japan made early forays into the horror genre with Bake Jizo Jizo the Spook and Shinin no Sosei Resurrection of a Corpse, both made in 1. The era featured a slew of literary adaptations, adapting the works of Poe and Dante, among others. In 1. 90. 8, Selig Polyscope Company produced Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In 1. 91. 0, Edison Studios produced the first filmed version of Frankenstein. The macabre nature of the source materials used made the films synonymous with the horror film genre. Before and during the Weimar Republic era, German Expressionist filmmakers would significantly influence later productions. Paul Wegeners The Student of Prague 1. The Golem trilogy 1. Robert Wienes The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1. 92. 0, Arthur Robisons Warning Shadows 1. Paul Lenis Waxworks 1. The first vampire themed movie, Nosferatu 1. Bram Stokers Dracula. Other European countries also, contributed to the genre during this period. Victor Sjstrms The Phantom Carriage Sweden, 1. Benjamin Christensens Hxan DenmarkSweden, 1. Frenchman, Jean Epstein produced an influential film, The Fall of the House of Usher, based on the Poe tale. Have you ever actually considered how the mechanics of having sex with a fishperson mermaid or otherwise might actually work Guillermo del Toro certainly has, and. We cant wait to get back to Hawkins, Ind., and the Upside Down on Oct. See which other movies and TV shows were excited about this month. Universal Monsters is a phrase used to describe the horror, suspense and science fiction films made by Universal Studios during the decades of the 1920s through the. Universal Monsters 101 In the 1920s, Universal Studios enjoyed some of its greatest successes with movies featuring monsters, murder, and the macabre but it was. Though the word horror to describe the film genre would not be used until the 1. Universal Pictures released their initial monster films, earlier American productions often relied on horror themes. Some notable examples include The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1. Critics Consensus Clever, funny, and delightful to look at, Monsters, Inc. Pixar elevated the bar for modern allages. Chris, Haleigh, and Perri take a look at the best horror movies of the decade so far, including Insidious, Sinister, Youre Next, and The Conjuring. The return of American Horror Story is almost here, and hints and details about season seven have flown in earnest. Creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy. Cult Horror Movies Monsters Inc. Cult Horror Movies Monsters Inc. The Phantom of the Opera 1. The Cat and the Canary 1. The Unknown 1. 92. The Man Who Laughs 1. Many of these early films were considered dark melodramas because of their stock characters and emotion heavy plots that focused on romance, violence, suspense, and sentimentality. The trend of inserting an element of macabre into American pre horror melodramas continued into the 1. Directors known for relying on macabre in their films during the 1. Maurice Tourneur, Rex Ingram, and Tod Browning. Ingrams The Magician 1. James Whales version of Frankenstein. The Unholy Three 1. Brownings use of macabre and unique style of morbidity he remade the film in 1. The Terror 1. 92. During the early period of talking pictures, Universal Pictures began a successful Gothic horror film series. Tod Brownings Dracula 1. James Whales Frankenstein 1. The Old Dark House 1. Some of these films blended science fiction with Gothic horror, such as Whales The Invisible Man 1. German films. Frankenstein was the first in a series of remakes which lasted for years. The Mummy 1. 93. Egyptology as a theme Make up artist. Jack Pierce was responsible for the iconic image of the monster, and others in the series. Universals horror cycle continued into the 1. B movies including The Wolf Man 1. Other studios followed Universals lead. The once controversial Freaks 1. Spurs, was made by MGM, though the studio disowned the completed film, and it remained banned, in the United Kingdom, for thirty years. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Paramount, 1. Jekylls transformation before the camera. With the progression of the genre, actors like Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were beginning to build entire careers in horror. Both appeared in three of Val Lewtons atmospheric B movies for RKO in the mid 1. The Body Snatcher 1. Christopher Lee starred in numerous British horror films of the era, produced by Hammer Films. Shown here is the 1. Dracula. It was Lee who fixed the image of the fanged vampire in popular culture. With advances in technology, the tone of horror films shifted from the Gothic towards contemporary concerns. Two subgenres began to emerge the Doomsday film and the Demonic film. Low budget productions featured humanity overcoming threats such as alien invasions and deadly mutations to people, plants and insects. Japans experience with Hiroshima and Nagasaki bore the well known Godzilla 1. Theatrical release poster of Psycho. Hollywood directors and producers found ample opportunity for audience exploitation through gimmicks. House of Wax 1. 95. D film to draw audiences, while The Tingler used electric seat buzzers in 1. Filmmakers continued to merge elements of science fiction and horror over the following decades. Considered a pulp masterpiece1. The Incredible Shrinking Man 1. Richard Mathesons existentialist novel. The film conveyed the fears of living in the Atomic Age and the terror of social alienation. During the later 1. United Kingdom emerged as a major producer of horror films. The Hammer company focused on the genre for the first time, enjoying huge international success from films involving classic horror characters which were shown in color for the first time. Drawing on Universals precedent, many films produced were Frankenstein and Dracula remakes, both followed by many sequels. Other British companies contributed to a boom in horror film production in the United Kingdom during the 1. Released in May 1. British psychological thriller Peeping Tom 1. A Town Called Panic Online. Michael Powell is regarded as a contender for the first slasher film. Alfred Hitchcock cemented the subgenre with Psycho released later that year. France continued the mad scientist theme, while Italian horror films became internationally notable. American International Pictures AIP made a series of Edgar Allan Poethemed films. Films in the era used the supernatural premise to express the horror of the demonic. The Innocents 1. Henry James novel The Turn of the Screw. Meanwhile, ghosts were a dominant theme in Japanese horror, in such films as Kwaidan, Onibaba both 1. Kuroneko 1. 96. 8. Rosemarys Baby 1. American psychological horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski, based on the bestselling 1. Ira Levin. Another influential American horror film of this period was George A. Romeros Night of the Living Dead 1. Produced and directed by Romero on a budget of 1. An Armageddon film about zombies, it began to combine psychological insights with gore. Distancing the era from earlier gothic trends, late 1. Low budget splatter films from the likes of Herschell Gordon Lewis also gained prominence. The financial successes of the low budget gore films of the ensuing years, and the critical and popular success of Rosemarys Baby, led to the release of more films with occult themes during the 1. The Exorcist 1. 97. Evil children and reincarnation became popular subjects. Robert Wises film Audrey Rose 1. Alice, Sweet Alice 1.