Horror movies has been around for almost as long as movies have been
made. Before looking at the horror movie it may be best to look into
horror in literature. Knowing this can help our understanding of horror
films and where they come from.
Horror
in literature left a legacy that helped to propel this genre into
films. If there had not been such a legacy of literary works then we may
not have the same movies we do now. The term horror was first coined in
1764 in a book by Horace Walpole's called The Castle of Otranto which
was full of the supernatural. In the following centuries literary giants
like Edgar Allan Poe championed this genre with great works like The
Raven. Some of the great horror movies of today are based on old horror
stories like Frankenstein and Dracula which were both written in the
1800's.
At the beginning of horror movie history these movies were
often ones that had the supernatural in there. In the late 1890's short
silent films was where these movies start. The Frenchman Georges Melies
is thought to be the creator of the first horror film with his 1896
short silent Le Manior du diable. Around this time the Japanese also
tried their hand at this genre with Bake Jizo and Shinin no Sosei.
The
first full horror film was an adaptation of the hunchback of
Notre-Dame. Many of these first horror films were created by German film
makers as the early 1900's were the time of the German expressionist
films. These films have influenced horror film makers for decades to Tim
Burton. During the 1920's Hollywood started dabbling in the horror
genre with Lon Chaney Sr. Becoming the first American horror star.
0 comments:
Post a Comment