Mar '19 *
We do threads now and then ranking decades of horror films. I don't want to rank anything here, bu I was just wondering, if you had to break down the last century of horror movies into distinct (not necessarily totally distinct, they could overlap) periods or eras of horror.... how would you do it? They don't necessarily have to correspond perfectly to decades, of course. Like, movies about the Devil infiltrating homey, domestic settings probably peaked between the late 60's and mid 70's.
So, how would you do it? How would you classify the eras, the periods, the chief defining trends of horror, over the years? Just post an idea or two, even if you don't have time to give a comprehensive, highly detailed breakdown of the entire last century.
Like, the golden age of MONSTER movies, featuring various kinds of monsters, was probably the 30s and part of the 40's.
After that, there was the period of scifi/horror movies about mutants produced by radiation.
Coming back to edit: how about a Vincent Price heyday era, in the early 60s? His Edgar Allan Poe movies were one of the biggest things going on in horror for awhile there.
In the late 60's and into the 70's, there were many movies about the Devil and Satanism. Often they were set in a home, but not always.
The 80's of course, had a lot going on. Among the trends going on that could be said to typify that era were 1.) slashers, 2.) movies set on various holidays, or days of the year, 3.) sequels... there started to be really prolonged series of sequels, and entire franchises, 4.) maybe movies just featuring demons, regular, run of the mill, average albeit still badass demons, but not necessarily The Devil?? Like, the Poltergiest movies, Night of the Demons, Demons 1 and 2, and others. I feel like Satan was less of a presence in horror movies than he had been a little earlier.... any thoughts on that???
After the 80s, there was just a total, pathetic train wreck of nothingness. No, not true, but there was kind of a lull. How wouild you describe the era just after the 80's?? Maybe the Blockbuster era? People would rent a lot of 70's and 80's horror movies from Blockbuster. Some of the great 80's franchises continued through the 90's and beyond. Anyway, yeah, maybe the bockbuster era??? Any discussion on that??
After that... it is hard to classify this period perfectly, but you could say it was 1.) the found footage era, 2.) the fashionable vampire era, and eventually 3.) the zombie apocalypse era. How would you define this period? Like, basically the 2000's, but perhaps including the late 90s and early 20-teens.
Since then... hmmmmm... how would you describe the current era of horror? The era of domestic demons? Like, the Insidious movies, Paranormal Activity movies, etc....??? There are many other things going on, of course. Anyone? Anyone?
So, how would you do it? How would you classify the eras, the periods, the chief defining trends of horror, over the years? Just post an idea or two, even if you don't have time to give a comprehensive, highly detailed breakdown of the entire last century.
Like, the golden age of MONSTER movies, featuring various kinds of monsters, was probably the 30s and part of the 40's.
After that, there was the period of scifi/horror movies about mutants produced by radiation.
Coming back to edit: how about a Vincent Price heyday era, in the early 60s? His Edgar Allan Poe movies were one of the biggest things going on in horror for awhile there.
In the late 60's and into the 70's, there were many movies about the Devil and Satanism. Often they were set in a home, but not always.
The 80's of course, had a lot going on. Among the trends going on that could be said to typify that era were 1.) slashers, 2.) movies set on various holidays, or days of the year, 3.) sequels... there started to be really prolonged series of sequels, and entire franchises, 4.) maybe movies just featuring demons, regular, run of the mill, average albeit still badass demons, but not necessarily The Devil?? Like, the Poltergiest movies, Night of the Demons, Demons 1 and 2, and others. I feel like Satan was less of a presence in horror movies than he had been a little earlier.... any thoughts on that???
After the 80s, there was just a total, pathetic train wreck of nothingness. No, not true, but there was kind of a lull. How wouild you describe the era just after the 80's?? Maybe the Blockbuster era? People would rent a lot of 70's and 80's horror movies from Blockbuster. Some of the great 80's franchises continued through the 90's and beyond. Anyway, yeah, maybe the bockbuster era??? Any discussion on that??
After that... it is hard to classify this period perfectly, but you could say it was 1.) the found footage era, 2.) the fashionable vampire era, and eventually 3.) the zombie apocalypse era. How would you define this period? Like, basically the 2000's, but perhaps including the late 90s and early 20-teens.
Since then... hmmmmm... how would you describe the current era of horror? The era of domestic demons? Like, the Insidious movies, Paranormal Activity movies, etc....??? There are many other things going on, of course. Anyone? Anyone?
1930s: Universal Monsters and some early Poe adaptations. A lot of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Hollywood was already getting into sequels.
1940s: More Universal Monsters, more sequels, more Lugosi and Karloff, plus Lon Chaney Jr.
1950s: The final years of the Universal Monsters and the start of Hammer Horror. A lot of sci-fi horror.
1960s: More Hammer, frequently featuring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, or both. Roger Corman and Vincent Price. Mario Bava was priming Italy for their upcoming horror craze. Japan was also getting more involved with horror.
1970s: A few great slashers made their mark. Hammer was winding down, but similar production company Amicus was there to pick up some of the slack. More Italian horror was emerging, most notably from Dario Argento. European horror in general was pretty much at its peak. Overall, horror was starting to get more violent.
1980s: Slashers. So many slashers that by the end of the decade, they'd worn out their welcome. More sequels than ever too. A lot of zombies and Stephen King adaptations. John Carpenter. Italian and other European horror was starting to fall in both quantity and quality. Remakes were starting to rise in quantity.
1990s: More sequels, more King adaptations, and a brief slasher revival in second half of the 90s. Kind of a shitty decade with not much of anything worthwhile going on in the way of horror trends.
2000s: Speaking of shitty decades. Except instead of sequels, the focus was remakes. And zombies. Zombies were to the 00s what slashers were to the 80s, just with a lot of CGI and less charm. Found footage started getting popular. Japanese horror made a resurgence and to a lesser degree, French horror.
2010s: King adaptations are probably more popular than ever. Some remakes still happen, but reboots are more common. Some old franchises are receiving new sequels. Found footage is even more popular, as are the supernatural and throwbacks. It hasn't been that great of a decade, but I'll take it over the previous two.