A.M: History Of Horror

Horror is a very successful genre and stories that aim to scare their audience are very popular. Daniel Cohen believes that cultures create and ascribe meaning to monsters by giving them characteristics derived from the audiences most deep seated fears.

The study of horror monsters gives an insight into the anxieties and concerns of the contemporary culture. This is because of the cultural relevance the monsters have in the horror films. Although people don’t all have the same worries it is possible to identify general cultural and contextual trends through the monsters created.

Screen shot from Nosferatu

An example of how a monster has cultural relevance is in Nosferatu (1922 a German film shortly created after WW1. In the film the vampire is seen as an ‘invader’ that comes from ‘elsewhere. When the film was released, Germany was in an economic crisis, there was mass poverty, diseases were spreading and hundreds and thousands of people died from a flu pandemic. The pandemic was believed to have been spread by rats. As the nation had suffered and was now vulnerable to disease, that was linked to rats, a vampire with a rat-like appearance would be related to the deep seated fears of the culture.

 Over the decades horror films have changed due to their cultural influence:

1920s
In the 1920’s Frankenstein was released during the great depression. This reflected the worries and concerns of the ruling aristocratic people in Europe losing power. As it shows Dr Frankenstein, an aristocrat, changing back to a protector of the people instead of a master and lord of the people. This then enables the populace to be controlled as their anger is redirected from master to monster. Another possible reading of Frankenstein from a social prospective is that of American racial issues. Frankenstein representing black people who are unable to intergrate into white society. This link can be made because of the lynch mobs. Post WW2 the film can be seen to reflect abhorrent acts of science these are nuclear bombs and Nazi holocaust abuses.

1960’s

Screen shot from Pscho:This is Norman Bates, he's
 a confused young man with several psychological problems.

In the 1960s was a time of social change and this was mirrored in its horror monsters. Psycho (Hitchcock 1960) and Peeping Tom (Powell 1960) reflected the impact of Freudian theories. Both the monsters in the film were normal people so they brought horror close to the home. Also the fact the monsters look like ‘us’ creates an unsettling realism. By the end of the decade horror was reflecting some of the enormous social and cultural changes that had taken place. America was at war in Vietnam and audiences in the late 60s were growing accustomed to seeing images of horrific real-life violence. Horror directors could only hope to scare these audiences if they produced horrors as violent and as extreme as the films and photographs that were shown on the evening news. For example Night Of The Living Dead (Romero, 1968) used vivid and visceral representations of violence and had the main character as a black man still reflecting Americas racial tensions.

1970’s

Screen shot from The Exorcist

The Exorcist from the 1970’s is dealing with issues of a single working mother. It also looks at the secularisation of society which relies on science medicine and counselling(psychotherapy). It eventually shows how these fail to deal with the monster within and that religion is the answer which society at that time had been moving away from.

1980’s
In the 1980s Slasher horror films were very popular.  This may be a reflection of notorious serial killers, like The Yorkshire Ripper. However audiences soon grew used to the genres visceral assaults so more extreme spectacles were needed to maintain interest. In the end the genre became clichéd after franchises made too many replicated ideas.

1990’s
In the 1990’s irony is used to bring a double meaning to the monster of both comedy and horror. It shows the more sophisticated ways in which audiences were expected to follow plots. An example of this type of film is Scream (Craven, 1996).

2000’s

In the 2000’s Holly wood began to re-make Asian horror films. They adapted the eastern cultural meanings for a western audience. The eastern horror films mainly included supernatural monsters such as ghosts. An example of a film which was remade was Ringu (1998) a Japanese horror film into (The Ring: Verbinski, 2002) which became a successful film.

In contemporary horror torture-porn has developed, it focuses on extreme visceral violence, nudity and sadistic torture. An example of a torture-porn film is Saw (Wan, 2004) which is a long running and popular series. This shows how audiences tolerance of violence in horror films have changed. Torture porn is attempting to find more and more extreme ways to scare or repulse the audience.

In contemporary culture entertainment is available anywhere and anytime due to our pluralistic media landscape. It is frequently argued that over-stimulation could lead to extreme desensitisation, and this idea can be seen in recent horror monsters. Dehumanised ‘feral youth’ are the monsters of Eden Lake (Watkins, 2008). there is a of lack clear motive for the violence in these films other than the monsters’ desire to seek stimulation. They are calculating and deliberate, implying that they are making violent choices simply as a stimulus in their otherwise over-stimulated and desensitised lives.  Unlike those of previous eras, these monsters are not invaders or creations of science or poor parenting; they are selfish, nihilistic creations of the culture itself.

Screen shot from Eden lake

The horror genre is able to adapt to relate to each generation’s preoccupations and concerns and its metaphorical approach can be used to deal with ideas and issues that associate with the audiences anxieties and deap-seated fears.

A.M