Horror Movies: Emergence into Mainstream (1950-1980’s)
The genre of horror and thriller has been around ever since motion picture was born in the early 20th century, but not the horror we’re used to today. Throughout the early 1950’s and on, horror movies took a large advancement to what we know today. With the advancements of technologies and with an ever changing society, Horror film was a direct effect from them. Special effects, the use of music, and many aspects evolved during this time period that set the standard for decades to come. I will explore into this time period and delve into the horror genre and find out what aspects affected the growth of it in each decade with the emergence of new technologies and social issues.
Many of the earliest horror movies were based on classic novels and themes from earlier centuries, for example Dracula, The Mummy, Wolfman, and the Phantom of the Opera to name a few. Though the fear of ghosts and ghouls were still present, new themes for evil evolved in the 1950’s. After WWII and once Americans were exposed to death, as 40 million people died during the conflict, a sense of inhumanity was shown. During the time, the main audience for horror movies was teenagers. Drive-in movies were common in the 1950’s as the genre focused mostly on monsters and mutation. With the emergence of new technologies such as the atom bomb and ‘flying saucers’ being spotted, they were on the mind of many Americans. Movies portrayed monsters spawning from radiation and other unexplainable scientific processes. Fear of nuclear apocalypse and mutation created a vision for a possible future which was on the mind of Americans at this time. It Came From Beneath The Sea (1955) and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman are few to name from this time period. Events such as the Roswell incident and many to follow brought a new light to our thoughts of life outside of our planet. Stories of dead pilot aliens, Men in Black, alien abduction, mistrusting governments came into the media, along with film. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) represents aliens in human form. A famous line from the movie goes as follows, "He looks just like uncle Joe, and he acts just like uncle Joe, but he ain't Uncle Joe".
Paranoia was common during this time as the alien-era came about. “Though many horror movies were released during this time period, they still were at produced at a B-movie rate. With help from Television, the new large scale medium at the time, advertising became widespread for movies which brought more people to the theaters. The 1950’s found new technologies in the movie industry itself as CinemaScope, Cinerama, Sterophonics, 3-D, and even smell-o-vision came into the industry. As television grew many Americans felt comfortable staying at home and being entertained, new technologies were used to lure audiences.
The 1960’s were perhaps the best decade for horror film, not necessarily for the production of the movies at the time, but the cultural and social change in the country. Horrorfilmhistory.com states it well with “Kennedy. Cuba. Thalidomide. Acid. Vietnam. The sexual revolution. Hammer. From Psycho to Charles Manson, the sixties saw a great sea change in what the public perceived as horrible.” After twenty-some years after WWII, and without a nuclear fallout or widespread radiation mutation, the fear of these conflicts seemed to cool off. The emergence of the Thriller genre came early in the 1960’s with great impression from Alfred Hitchcock. Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963) were two movies that not only scared the audience externally but internally as well. Prior to the thriller, most of the villains were creatures, beasts, and aliens. The thriller posed the idea that anyone and anything can be a threat. In the early 1960’s we saw another subgenre come onto the big screen – the “splatter genre”. Blood Feast (1963) Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis did not leave much to the imagination as blood and violent murder was the main focus of the movie. The storyline of the movie is nearly irrelevant, as the gore takes over as the focal point. Many directors in later decades such as John Carpenter and Wes Craven were influenced by movies such as these.
In the late 1960’s we saw sex being brought into the horror genre as the first X ratings were issued. The subgenre known as Hammer film brought erotic aspects of film into horror films. In the 1950’s, as many horror films were geared at teenagers, for the most part they were family oriented. The Hammer Film genre blew this idea out of the water as films such as The WitchFinder General (1968) came out. The paradigm of sex and violence played nicely with this genre and the two conflicted against each other.
Lastly the 1960’s brought in a franchise that is still used to this day. Zombie movies were a turning point in the film industry as the idea of sequels and series came into play. George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), a low budget zombie film, was noted as an influential film at the time. According to Almar Haflidason of the BBC, the film represented "a new dawn in horror film-making." Not only did the violence and gore push the envelope, but opened the door to slasher films to come. Not only did Romero continue making zombie films, but many other films and filmmakers created countless zombie movies; Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971), Zombie (1979), and Hell of the Living Dead (1980) to name a few. Demonic and gothic themes also showed their prevalence in the late 60’s and through the 70’s with Rosemary’s Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973), and The Omen (1976), all of which showed great success. The thought of our ‘loved ones’ not being who we think they are, and the distancing that these themes have brought to light a new form of horror.
As the 1970’s started, society was in a stir and lost in place. Horror movies during the early 70’s reflected much of the counterculture of youth, which was prevalent at the time. Teenagers, drug use, and sex are common themes in horror movies at this time, as well as in society. Oil Stikes, Vietnam, Nixon, are a few things that were topical during the time. The 1970’s marked the return of the big budget for horror movies. Movies were geared towards contemporary social issues addressing popular fears in the nation. As sexual exploration was at its heights a common fear in the country was children. The fear of conception, the pain of child bearing and the weight parenting heeds were common fears during this time. As family units became more frail and divorce rates rose, the family became a common theme as well. The fear was that the nemesis is not from the planet Mars, but someone that lives in your own household. There are many examples of family units being used as a scare tactic, for example The Shining, The Stepford Wives, and the Exorcist (1972). The family unit was pushed to the limit with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). In the movie the Sawyer family is a group of warped violent murderers. More specifically, Leatherface is the semi-retarded chainsaw wielding lunatic that tortures the trespassers. Remarkably the movie hails very few bloody scenes despite it being banned in countries such as England.
During this time, the first generation of kids that grew up with the television and media literacy was now making films. Referred to as Movie Brats, moguls such as Spielberg, Scorsese, and Lucas emerged into the industry. The common theme of “run, hurry up, its coming to get you!” was used by Spielberg in the movie Jaws (1975). As many B-movies were becoming successful in the horror genre, Steven Spielberg released Jaws. Not only did Spielberg craft a new style of horror, but proved great box-office success, which many films prior failed to do. Ever since the 1950’s drive-in theaters, the main audiences for horror films are teenagers. In the late 1970’s a subgenre came into play with the release of Carrie (1976). Teen Romance turns into terror were the common theme, as the ugliest girl in school is elected to prom only to be humiliated. Teenage insecurities and the fear of not fitting in were touched in this film as much of the audience was teenagers themselves.
With the popularity of horror movies grew, the demand for more was high in the late 1970’s. Halloween (1978) was a low budget film that took suspense and added teenage flavor to it. Some credit the film for spawning the slasher films that were widely popular in the 1980’s. The film itself contains a low amount of blood and gore and uses a collaboration of music and suspense as a shock factor. The success of the film has spawned eight sequels, the most recent in 2007, and a Rob Zombie production.
The 1980’s horror genre to most experts say starts in 1979 with the release of Alien. As the decades progress the need for special effects were raising, and Alien proved its effectiveness. Animatronics, liquid and foam Latex proved a new age in cinema. As the past decades showed great success for the genre, audiences were hungry for more fear. Audiences wanted bigger, faster, scarier villains. As the new technologies grew, movies that could not have been created in previous decades could now be done. Ghosts and Werewolves were two themes that could now be touched on with the new technologies.
In the 1980’s chains such as Blockbuster became widespread. Movies now can be taken home and enjoyed in the comfort of home. Not only were the blockbusters such as Alien available to rent, but many Direct-to-video horror movies. Many low budget movies that could not have the funds for distribution went directly to renting chains. Because most horror movies are based on death and killing, the need for A-list actors was not necessary for these direct-to-video movies.
Many series came to follow for example Friday the 13th (1980), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). One of the most effective themes of these movies are the everyday-like situations that they pose. In a Nightmare on Elm Street, the movie is suprisingly well lit and is in common places such as a teenager’s room, or a school hallway. Wes Craven added humor to it as Freddy Krueger runs around spitting one-liners causing terror. There is a surprisingly low body count in the first film (four) yet the movie. The Friday the 13th series usually encompass teenage kids (still the demographic for horror) doing normal things, such as going camping, drinking, and having sex. The Friday the 13th series have shown great body counts in the most grotesque of fashions. Jason Voorhees is rendered invincible as he has gone through 11 installments and counting.
As we look at the horror genre from the 1950’s onto the 1980’s we can notice a similar trend. Societal impacts dictated much of the themes for the movies and as technological advancements surged, the demand is ever increasing. We’ve noticed as times in our country seem to have been at its worse, horror movies seem to have turned out the best.
Bibliography
Jones, D. (2006) Horror: A thematic History in Fiction and Film. Media Bridge, New York
Silver, A. (2001) Horror Film Reader. New Leaf Press, Los Angeles
Worland R. (2006). The Horror Film: An Introduction. New York
Muir J. (2007) Horror Films in the 1980’s. Blue Star Productions, St. Louis
Humphries, R (2003) The American Horror Film. Libraries Unlimited, Los Angeles.
Savini, T (2007) Horror 101: The A-list of Horror Films and Monster Movies. Mercury House Inc, New York.
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