1920's
The 1920 horrors was an era of mythical monsters which were often found in literature and the movies were dark, eerie and had scenes of mutilation. As there was no sounds in the movie, costume, location and dark lighting were used to created a scary atmosphere; these are some of the important conventions which are continued in today's horror movies.
Nosferatu is an example of an early horror movie which featured a mythical vampire; it was released in 1922.
1930's
During this decade people were still scared of mythical creatures in far away lands inspired by 19 century novels however the movies began to show a lot more experimentation and sound was introduced. 'Dracula' was released in 1931 and in the early days of cinema, when scenes of a sexual nature were seen as too taboo and inappropriate for the silver screen, blood-sucking from a vampire who crept into the bedrooms of his victims in the dead of the night, was used to symbolize an act of physical and sexual violation. Also in 1935 the first female villain appeared in 'The Bride of Frankenstein', however unlike the usual male monsters, the female monster remained looking beautiful to use sex in a threatening way.
1940's
During WWII horror movies were banned in Britain as the Americans took over. However the Americans continued to make horrors similar to the 1930 movies which featured mythical creatures. Most of the horror movies featured humans which turned into animals creating a half man/half beast. In 1942 'Cat People' was released and featured featured a female villain who kept her beauty but was allowed to be truly scary by transforming into a cat; the movie was also one of the first to use the film methods which are still popular today such as using the art of suggestion and subtlety for a scare which can be seen in a variety of modern horrors.
1950's
Because of the horrible effects of WWII people were now more scared of real life events caused by nuclear bombs, radiation and scientific development. In 1958 'The Fly' was released which featured mutated creatures affected by radiation. Another similar movie is 'The Blob' which included an amoeba like creatures terrifying a town. These movies are signs that society at the time feared what affect scientific experiments had on the world.
1960's
As no nuclear attacks happened during the 1950's, people had moved on and the 60's was a decade of a huge social change where drugs, alcohol, fashion and sex became more popular. Horror movies no longer contained mythical creatures but instead featured humans, as society realised the animalistic behaviour of humans and explored the darkness of the human minds. Furthermore the mythical beast of horrors before the 1960's could be defeated whilst the 'normal' looking human being with a twisted mind could not be defeated so easily. In 1960 the classic 'Psycho' was released and Alfred Hitchcock featured a character who on the surface was a man but underneath a true monster. Along with Hitchcock, Roger Corman also produced horror movies in the 1960's but they were completely different as they oftened lacked the intelligent story lines, contained gore-heavy scenes, curvaceous women and were purely produced just to make a profit.
1970's
Even though this was the time of the depression, horrors continued to grow by handling societies fears. A fear of birth defects rooted from a drug called thalidomide, which was prescribed to pregnant woman suffering from morning sickness and that led to several babies being born with deformities. Also the contraceptive Pill was introduced which prevent babies being conceived Due to the arrival of the pill, society feared the break down of decency and family life, as the pill suggested that sex was now for fun rather than to create human life and ultimately, a family. So films such as 'The Exorcist', 'The Shining', and 'The omen' all reflected societies fear of the breakdown of the family because the monster come from within the family itself. Furthermore the slasher sub-genre and final girl character were created.
1980's
Horrors in the 80's went through more of a technical change as the society become more materialistic. Horror movies become bigger with the increased use of SFX, lots of colour, brighter lighting and gruesome killings with the killer in full view of the camera. the villain remained humans and people now had VCR's and so were able to enjoy horrors at home. In 1984 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' was released which contained typical features of the 80's such as extreme gore and bright sets.
1990's
The horror audiences were bored of the gore movies and found the movies predictable as they became aware of the conventions and so they seeked more intelligent and sophisticated story lines. 'Silence of the Lambs' was released in the 90's which was a disturbing horror featuring Hannibal Lecture, the cannibal. Also 'Scream' was released and Wes Craven cleverly included characters which new of the slasher conventions but were unable to avoid them as they still died. This delivered fear to the audiences as they too knew the conventions and so felt in danger.
2000's-modern day
Terrorist attacks such as 9/11 changed the audiences views on what is scary. Horrors which occurred in reality were so devastating that they needed something more sophisticated and real to scare them from this point on. Modern horrors now include a game where the main character is in a race against time or they include a force which cannot be seen or which is unknown; these are known as supernatural horrors. Supernatural horrors are usually filmed by the found footage technique, especially if they are based on a true story; the fact that the horror is based on a true story will make the audience believe that this occurrence could possibly happen again. Both 'Rec' and 'Grave encounters' have a narrative based on possession and the audience view the protagonists experiences through a camera.
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