| The genre of horror has long been a staple to theater | | | | in a great deal of money, and in huge demand, thus the |
| goers and makers alike. Its ability to terrify, and its | | | | era of the horror film star in America. Some of these |
| portrayal of atrocities unapproved of by middle | | | | stars include: |
| American society make it the target of scrutiny and | | | | -Lon Chaney (West of Zanzibar, The Hunchback of |
| praise alike. But the realm of horror has been twisted | | | | Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera) |
| again and again over the years, into a new beast | | | | -John Barrymore (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) |
| altogether. To understand horror films of today, one | | | | -Bela Lugosi (Dracula) |
| must first explore the films that inspired them, the | | | | -Boris Karloff (The Black Cat, The Raven) |
| original horror masterpieces and flops that shaped the | | | | The Atomic Age |
| cinema into what it is today. | | | | The distraction of the horrors in World War Two |
| The First Films | | | | made most films of that time shy away from terrifying |
| With the invention of the motion picture camera in the | | | | the audience, and musicals and wartime epics reigned. |
| 1880s, artists and writers had an entirely new medium | | | | But with the new technologies that that time bred, the |
| with which to explore the long standing traditions of the | | | | genre of horror was about to get a shot of adrenaline. |
| theater and dance. They used these early films to | | | | Space and science fiction ruled the screen, and people |
| push the boundaries between art and reality, making | | | | wanted sleek aliens and killer robots. A few of these |
| horror a particularly interesting genre, as many movie | | | | sci-fi staples are: |
| goers felt as if they were "actually there". Some silver | | | | -Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) |
| classics of the silent days include: | | | | -The Thing From Another World (1951) |
| -Le Manoir du Diable directed by directed by Georges | | | | The Late Fifties |
| Melies in 1896 | | | | As film production and cinematography became |
| -Der Golem directed by Paul Wegener in 1913 | | | | cheaper and more efficient, many horror films were |
| -The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari directed by Robert Wiene | | | | made by production studios solely dedicated to horror |
| in 1920 | | | | started popping up, including: |
| -Nosferatu directed by F.W. Murnau in 1923 | | | | Hammer Films, a British company remaking old classics |
| A Star is Born | | | | in a gorier way, often casting Peter Cushing and |
| Of course, these films included early experiments in | | | | Christopher Lee |
| the horror genre, which wasn't fully established until the | | | | American International Pictures (AIP), an American |
| monster flicks of the 1930s. Cinema became very | | | | company producing several interpretations of Edgar |
| popular during the Great Depression, because it | | | | Allen Poe classics starring Vincent Price |
| seemed to relieve the sense of hopelessness, if even | | | | The realm of the horror genre cannot be appreciated |
| for an hour, that was permeating society. Universal | | | | without knowledge of what it once was: a cathartic |
| Studios pioneered these films, with their releases of | | | | way to bring the audience to a new plane of |
| Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), and The Mummy | | | | awareness, to frighten, and to give people an excuse |
| (1932). Now, the horror genre was on the map, raking | | | | to have fun. |