- key conventions of the genre at the time
- famous films from this time period
1890s-1920s
Key conventions:
- silent films with the first supernatural events appearing
- gothic themes were present during horror films
- first monster and first vampire shown in horror movie (The hunchback of Notre-Dame and Nosferatu)
1930s-1940s
Key conventions:
- gothic themed films were heavily present, and some films blended gothic horror with science fiction
- in examples such as Frankenstein and The Mummy, whilst they were designed to thrill they also incorporated more serious elements
1950s-1960s
Key conventions:
- colour was used for the first time in films, which allowed the films to be more realistic
- whilst ghosts and monsters still remained frequent in horror, threats from 'outside' such as alien invasions as well as contemporary issues through the advances in technologywere introduced
- low budget gore-shock films were made
Key conventions:
- horror films with more supernatural themes were created; the devil represented supernatural evil
- evil children and reincarnation became popular
- creation of Jaws by Steven Spielberg led to a wave of killer animal plots
- the 1980s saw an increase of gory 'B movie' horror films
1990s
Key conventions:
- a few films were created part of a mini-movement of self-reflexive horror films. Each film touched upon the relationship between fictional horror and real-world horror
- due to the advances in technology, the genres of sci-fi and fantasy drew away the attention from horror films. To bring back the interest of horror films they featured teenagers who were fully aware of, and often made reference to, the history of horror movies, and mixed ironic humour with shock
2000s
Key conventions:
- psychological horror started in the early 2000s including The Others
- the zombie genre of horror movies had a come back
- a larger trend was a return to the extreme, graphic violence that characterized much of the type of low-budget horror from 1975 onwards
- an extension of this trend was the emergence of a type of horror with emphasis on depictions of torture, suffering and violent deaths often referred to as "horror porn" such as Saw
2010+
- usually uses an isolated location
- uses young characters often
- death and murder, mind games, torture and survival are all key aspects of horror films
- females are almost always shown as being the victim and the man the murderer
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