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DVD cover showing horror characters as depicted by Universal Studios. Elsa Lanchester from Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Claude Rains from The Invisible Man (1933), Bela Lugosi from Dracula (1931), Claude Rains from Phantom of the Opera (1943), "The Creature" from Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Boris Karloff from Frankenstein (1931), Lon Chaney Jr. from The Wolf Man (1941) and Boris Karloff from The Mummy (1932)A horror film is a film dominated by elements of horror. This film genre incorporates a number of sub-genres and repeated themes, such as slasherThe slasher film is a sub-genre of the horror genre and is also known as a splatter film. Typically, a masked, psychotic person stalks and graphically kills teenagers who are away from adult supervision. The genre may have had its origins in two 1960 horr themes, vampireCount Orlok from Nosferatu A vampire is a mythical or folkloric creature said to subsist on human or animal blood often having magical powers and the ability to transform. Usually the vampire is the corpse of a dead person, reanimated or made undead by on themes, zombieA zombie is a kind of undead, or figuratively, a very apathetic person. Zombies in Vodun According to the tenets of Vodun (voodoo), a dead person can be revived by a houngan or mambo. After resurrection, it has no will of its own, but remains under the co themes, demonic possessionPossession is having some degree of control over something else. A person may be in possession of some property (although possession does not always imply ownership); a spirit may be in possession of a person. Like ownership, the possession of things is c and SatanismSatanism is a religious or philosophical movement centered around Satan or another entity identified with Satan, or centered around the forces of nature, particularly human nature, represented by Satan as an archetype. Unlike many religions and philosophi, alien mind control, evil childrenA Brief Chronology of the Devil-Child Movie Era 1960 Village of the Damned 1964 Children of the Damned 1968 Rosemary's Baby 1973 The Exorcist 1974 It's Alive 1976 Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby (made for television) 1976 The Omen 1976 Carrie 1977, cannibalismCannibalism is the act or practice of eating members of the same species, e. humans eating humans (sometimes called anthropophagy), or dogs eating dogs. Among humans, this practice has been attributed to people in the past all over the world, including ri, werewolves, animals attacking humans, haunted houses, etc. The horror film genre is often associated with low budgets and exploitation, but major studios and well-respected directors have made intermittent forays into the genre. Some horror films exhibit a substantial amount of cross-over with other genres, particularly science fiction.
Certain stories and themes have proven popular and have inspired many sequels, remakes, and copycats. See Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, werewolves, and zombies.
1 History and milestones
The horror genre is nearly as old as film itself. The first "monster movies" were silent shorts created by film pioneer Georges Melies in the late 1890s. The earliest horror-themed feature films were created by German filmmakers in the early 1900s; the most enduring of these is probably F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu 1922, the first vampire-themed feature. Early Hollywood dramas dabbled in horror themes including versions of The Hunchback of Notre Dame ( 1923) and The Monster ( 1925) (both starring Lon Chaney, the first American horror-film movie star).
