This period in the genre of horror cinema did earn the nickname “slasher films,” after all. While Universal created its icons of horror during the era of black-and-white film, the peak of horror movies in the '80s gave us new icons that to this day live on in popular culture.
Since the early days of cinema, we have had horror movies starting with the 1896 short film The Haunted Castle, believed to be the first. The 1920s and 30s saw the genre really take off, inspired by the gothic literature and classic novels of earlier eras.
Although the Golden Age would be defined largely by the output of Universal Studios, the first “all-talking” horror movie was released by Warner Bros. in 1928 and was called, The Terror.
Because 1980s horror films often took themselves less seriously in terms of storytelling, because there was more of an emphasis on “Because it's cool” or “Because it's scary”, they're just more entertaining than serious modern horror films. They can make you laugh out loud as often as they make you gasp or scream.
While Universal created its icons of horror during the era of black-and-white film, the peak of horror movies in the '80s gave us new icons that to this day live on in popular culture.
The decade produced some of the most iconic slasher villains of all time, and introduced a slew of cult classics built on practical effects alone. To this day, directors still pay homage to films of this decade easily categorizing it cinema's Golden Age of Horror.
The Human Centipede was banned altogether from Icelandic, British, and Australian theaters and released in the US without a rating. Its sequel, The Human Centipede 2, was placed under even heavier bans, due to its exacerbation of the horrific elements in the first film.
Just a few years after the first filmmakers emerged in the mid-1890s, Mellies created “Le Manoir du Diable,” sometimes known in English as “The Haunted Castle” or “ The House of the Devil,” in 1896, and it is widely believed to be the first horror movie.
Thirteen Women (1932) is perhaps the earliest example of what would become a slasher film. It documents eleven (not thirteen, as two women's scenes were cut before theatrical release) women being harassed and murdered after a clairvoyant swami mails them a horoscope foreseeing swift doom.
As of October 2022, almost two-thirds (64 percent) of adults aged 30 to 44 surveyed in the United States said they either liked or loved the horror movie genre. Among respondents aged 18 to 29, that share was 10 percentage points lower, at 54 percent.
Méliès was a french director and actor, who starred in the majority of his short films, spearheading the genre with, La Mainor du Diable / The House of the Devil (1896) and The Bewitched Inn (1897).
The older ones have a bit more character and mostly better writing,(although that's not exclusive to older films) more gore doesn't mean a better film. An opinion. They made you think. They showed nothing and sometimes our imagination is scarier than anything.
They respected and celebrated the origins of horror stories the most. However, that slow burn factor doesn't equate to the same thrilling entertainment that the 1980s provided. The '80s horror masterpieces are the most eventful, artistic, and iconic – truly the greatest decade in the history of horror cinema.
The genre was invented by Horace Walpole, whose The Castle of Otranto (1765) may be said to have founded the horror story as a legitimate literary form.
Notes: Major influence from Universal with Chaney, Sr., Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Claude Rains, and Lon Chaney, Jr. Clear good and evil, morality, exorcism, virtues.
The resulting film, The Curse of Frankenstein (d. Terence Fisher, 1957), was the most important horror film since Universal 's Dracula (US, d. Tod Browning, 1931). Its contemporary impact was immense; it was the first horror film in colour, and its critical reception was savage.
One of the very first feature-length films to feature a “monster” dates back to the silent era. Soon after the development of motion pictures, filmmakers began exploring ways to bring traditional folklore to life on the big screen, beginning with Der Golem, a German silent film made in 1915.
When the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984, the video version was banned. In 1990, an additional 66 seconds were cut from the already censored version, earning the film an 18 certificate for home video release. Finally, in 2000, the uncut version received an 18 certificate for both cinema and home video.
One of the first widely banned movies in the U.S. was “The Birth of a Nation” in 1915. It was controversial for its portrayal of the Civil War, the post-war era and race. The NAACP led some efforts to ban it. “Babe Comes Home” was banned in Chicago in 1927 for a scene portraying baseball star Babe Ruth chewing tobacco.
Horror movies dealing with contemporary social issues and addressing genuine psychological fears were big hits during the decade. Consequently, big name directors lined up to produce horror properties. This attracted big studio budgets that would have made Herschell Gordon Lewis's head explode.
Practical effects provided an all too real quality to 80's horror that continues to resonate with audiences today. Practical effects in 80's movies not only added an extra edge to the gore in horror movies but also inspired many present-day filmmakers to get their start making their own contributions to horror.
This decade had a horror film trend of including slashers into their movies. Horror films during this time mirrored serial killers in reality through popular films such as “Texas Chainsaw”. Postmodernism became a widespread ideology in the 90s. Skepticism of the known was a popular theme in horror films.
