What makes the horror genre so enticing to us?

Is it the feeling of dread that looms in the air?

The search for what tingles your spine.

Or perhaps it's the charm and wit of boundary pushing

films filled with schlock and awe.

Whatever it is that entices you to watch a movie that makes you afraid

of things that go bump in the night.

I invite you to take a seat and learn about the rich history

of your favorite horror films, where they came from

and the influence it has on cinema history.

I'll be taking you on a spiraling journey,

retracing the most impactful horror movies and trends over the decades.

The birth of different subgenres and the fight against censorship.

In an attempt to catalog the complete history

of horror films.

Horror movies are like spicy foods.

At first, things like peppers and hot sauce make your mouth burn.

But as you condition yourself, eating jalapenos here.

Adding spicy seasonings there.

Your tongue's palate gets used to the pain

and you're soon able to enjoy more complex flavors.

Aliens. Zombies.

Found footage.

Vampires, werewolves, Exploitation.

Giallo, body horror.

Most of subgenres in horror seemingly goes on forever, ranging

from the cutest creatures to the spine tingling supernatural.

The history of horror is vast, and fortunately,

we live in a time where watching these impactful movies

and understanding these subgenres, where they came from, why they exist,

and what happened to them is information more widely available than it's ever been.

With such a large catalog of influential and impactful horror films

and media, it can be difficult giving each one their due praise.

Throughout this video, we'll talk about the growth of the genre

from the beginnings of film

to the modern age, while showing examples of important films of their decade.

However, that doesn't mean that they're the only influential films of their time.

If this particular program leaves you excited and wanting for more,

please do leave us a positive review and a healthy thumbs up

as we move into the beginnings of film.

During the silent film-

our first stop on the Train of Terror begins in the early days

of the film industry from the 1900s until the beginning of the 1930s.

During this time, the film industry was smitten with the likes of Charlie

Chaplin and Buster Keaton, which is what occupied American theaters in the 1920s.

Horror films in the United States were very far and few in between,

although it's documented that in 1896, the first horror

film ever created was called The House of the Devil by Georges Méliès,

It only lasted a couple of minutes,

and so I wouldn't really recognize it as the first proper horror feature film.

It looks silly by today's standards, but this was the first time

people were seeing what's called a jump cut.

One of the first in-camera effects ever shown in cinema

history, bringing the imagery of demons and ghosts to life.

Melees was later recognized as the grandfather of special effects

as he moved into creating films like The Astronomer's Dream and A Trip to the Moon.

Although a lot of movies during the silent film era had at times very unsettling

images, the intention of a lot of these movies were more humorous and playful.

Still, one can't ignore how some movies undoubtedly

attempted to strike thoughts of horror and dread in their audience.

One in which is 1911's Italian film

L'inferno, based on Inferno of Dante's Divine Comedy.

The movie follows Dante being led by Virgil

through the circles of Hell and bringing to life

these fantastically morbid visuals pulled from the epic poem

watching Dante and Virgil witness the carnal sinners float above them,

or watching the two walk through the circle of Glutton with these

naked bodies laying on the ground, pelted by rain.

Feels so horrifying to watch.

Watching the film in the dark with the lights turned off can feel very unsettling.

Between the 1900s through the 1930s, the silent film era for horror

consisted of literary works of past gothic tales

like The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The most influential genre films of the era

came from the expressionist movement

in Germany, with movies like The Cabinet of Dr.

Caligari and Nosferatu, two films that have iconically

given inspiration to some of the most celebrated directors of our time.

Most notably the works of Tim Burton.

This town needs an enema.

German Expressionism used tall, sharp and warped buildings,

shadows that were painted on walls to give rooms, these unnatural shapes.

Misshapen windows and doors, exaggerated towns and buildings.

Almost every Tim Burton film uses this art style

to show these dreamscapes of the macabre by using these harsh shadows

and exaggerated silhouettes as ways to signify feelings of dread and tension.

And although Tim Burton is the most well-known for his use of expressionism,

the influence of these landmarks can be seen in multiple movies throughout film history.

Citizen Kane's use of harsh lighting and tilted

cameras is very reminiscent of the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Noir Films also pulled a lot of inspiration from the lighting used

in German expressionism.

Even films like Disney's Fantasia have scenes referencing the art

style of these gothically set stories.

The Cabinet of Dr.

Caligari and Nosferatu is what some consider the beginning

of the horror genre since the term horror film

wasn't created until 1931 after the release of Dracula.

And although horror films were few and far in between, the film industry

in the United States was rapidly growing towards the end of the 1920s.

And as more theaters opened up to show more movies to cash in on the new media.

Universal Pictures in Hollywood, California, would break into the industry

in 1931 with the greatest addition to film.

-have come

-you can't piss on hospitality.

I won't allow it!

How do you do?

Mr. Carl Laemmle feels it would be a little unkind to present this picture

without just a word of friendly warning.

We are about to unfold the story

of Frankenstein, a man of science who sought to create a man

after his own image without reckoning

upon God.

Welcome to the golden age of horror films, where we've got the monster mash

or Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Wolf Man, the Mummy, Creature

from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man.

I got it. I got it.

I know your damn words. All right.

Hollywood's horror films were centered around

these iconic monsters of the thirties leading up to the fifties.

Listen to them.

Children on the night.

What music they make.

which were honestly just melodramas taking place on these striking

gothic set pieces where you can see the clear influence of the Cabinet of Dr.

Caligari with these long castle stairwells and deformed shadows to show both wonder

and dread.

1931 marked the first introduction

to the Universal Monster Classic with Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi.

And since the term horror film wasn't created yet,

the vampire movie was instead marketed as a love story, calling it

the story of the strangest passion the world has ever known.

Something I've always found interesting with Dracula was how it was filmed

two different times and had three versions available for theaters.

The English version, the Spanish version, and the silent film version.

Instead of dubbing the actors voices, Universal Pictures would instead hire

foreign actors to re film the movie to release for the foreign market

during the day.

Tod Browning would direct the English version of Dracula, and by night George

Melford would use the sets to create the Spanish version of Dracula.

So there's actually two different versions of the movie.

Listen!

The children of the night.

What music they make.

However, the idea ended up being a flop,

and so Dracula was the last film that Universal Pictures did this idea with.

Even during the transition of Sound, some theaters even had a silent

film version with Intertitles cut into the scenes.

If you want even more versions of the movie, there's the original score,

which is just the title sequence with Swan Lake played in the background.

Or you could have the Philip Glass score

that was created in 1999.

The point is,

this movie has more versions than your modern day Zack Snyder film.

Dracula was a resounding success, and Universal Studios wanted to capitalize

on their recent venture immediately going into production

with their next motion picture, Frankenstein.

Production of the film was incredibly quick.

It began in August 1931,

concluded in October of the same year and released in November.

Bela Lugosi, who had just found success with Dracula, was hoping to land

the role of Henry Frankenstein, but was offered the role of the monster,

which at the time of the pitch, had no emotional pathos added to it.

Lugosi famously turned down the role, and instead it was given to Boris Karloff

in the classic story of a misunderstood man made creation

and its mad scientist.

Frankenstein was a cinematic masterpiece with

some of the most iconic images in film history.

It's been referenced countless times

throughout the history of cinema and its artistic style of grasping German

expressionism influenced some of our favorite movies to this day.

Something I find

interesting is that both Dracula and Frankenstein ended up being censored

by the motion picture production code, commonly referred to as the Hays Code

that took place between 1934 to 1968.

It provided films with do's and don'ts on what Hollywood

films should be depicting, and studios followed the guideline

all the way until, I think like around the mid 1950s.

These guidelines forced cuts in movies deemed to be too much for viewers,

such as the ridicule of the clergy, the use of drugs, the use of firearms,

arms, pointed profanities at God and white slavery.

As tame as these films are to a modern day viewing.

At the time,

these movies were very revolutionary and frightening to audiences worldwide.

There's a famous line in Frankenstein where Henry says,

In the name of God?

I know what it feels like to be God.

In the thirties, that was a pretty blasphemous thing to say,

and so they replaced the second half of that line with thunder.

the restored line

actually only became available in 1999 on VHS and DVD,

and before that it was only available on laserdisc to get the restored version.

The reason why I find this interesting is because in the movie Scream,

which came out in 1996, it played the censored version on VHS

because that was the only version that was available in that format until 1999.

It's alive!

Henry in the name of God.

In the name of God?

Now I know what it-

So if you or your kids watch Frankenstein with its modern cut nowadays

and end up loving it and then went to go watch Scream, you'd be confused

as to why there's a thunderclap covering up an iconic line.

Another interesting tidbit is that the Castle thunderclap recorded

specifically for the censorship of Frankenstein, is also

incredibly famous and has been recycled, updated,

revised and used through films and TV ever since it was released.

You can find it in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.

I don't need anybody!

The Haunted Mansion.

Back to the Future

and Ghostbusters.

Making it kind of the Wilhelm Scream of horror movies.

The Wolf Man stars Lon Chaney Jr,

who would reprise his role in four sequels as The Wolfman.

He's also the son of Lon Chaney, who was an actor and makeup artist

for movies like The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Although not the first werewolf film ever created, it's really

what catapulted the werewolf subgenre into the mainstream.

Even though Universal Pictures released Werewolf in London in 1935,

six years prior to the Wolfman.

However, that movie wasn't as much of a commercial success.

And no, not an American Werewolf in London, just Werewolf of London.

But it was a large influence on an American Werewolf in London

and its sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris.