Every genre of film has a starting point.Comedy in the 1895s L’Arroseur Arrosé (Sprinkler)1901, fire! was the first drama (or at least the first one to stitch together a series of shots into a story). The first surviving animated film came in 1906 with his funny face humorous phase1920 saw the actor Douglas Fairbanks Take on the role of the iconic hero Zorro in Mark of Zoro, the first film in the superhero genre. The origins of horror films can be summed up in his three-minute film released in 1896. Le Manoir du Diable,alias devil’s housefollowed shortly by two other notable “firsts” in the horror genre. Dante’s Hellthe first feature-length horror film, Fearthe first “Speak All” horror feature.
The story of “The Devil’s House”
devil’s house supervised by Georges MélièsThose interested in film history may know the 1902s film director best. trip to the moonthe iconic shot of the space capsule crashing into the Man in the Moon, with the square eyes that are the key visual of the documentary footage. devil’s house It starts with a large bat flying into a medieval castle, where it turns into a demon. He summons a cauldron and an assistant, and his assistant helps summon a woman from that cauldron. Two knights enter the room, where a demonic assistant taunts them by teleporting to another part of the room. The demon re-enters the room as a skeleton and transforms into a bat, which transforms into Mephistopheles himself, but is defeated upon seeing a large cross. The film was less terrifying, giving Méliès more opportunities to wow viewers with his innovative camera tricks. For example, the illusion of transformation by stopping filming, replacing the skeleton with a bat, and restarting filming (think about it). enchanted and Samantha’s quirky results (Elizabeth Montgomery) jerking her nose). Long thought to be lost until the last surviving copy was found in a New Zealand junk shop, the film counts as horror given the presence of bats, skeletons and, of course, demons.
A Long Time Coming: “Dante’s Inferno”
devil’s houseremember, it was only three minutes long, and as a result, the horror element in the film was really little, but really effective screen time. horror movies feature lengtha whopping 71 minutes Italian movie LinfernoAlso Dante’s HellThanks to rapid advances in technology, Dante’s Hell 55 minutes longer than the 16 minutes of Horror’s predecessor, Edison Studios frankensteinwhich adapted the classic first Mary Shelley With a monster that looks like a novel ( curly From The Three Stooges in Cowardly Lion Suits from wizard of oz).This film adopts the first canticle of Dante Alighieriof Divine ComedyInferno (Hell), where Dante is led into the nine circles of Hell by an ancient Roman poet. vergilVisually, the film is a masterpiece, with fantastic sets depicting all nine of the concentric circles of eternal torment that make up Hell. It also features extreme violence and gore as some highlights, including demons eating whole humans, harpies eating the corpses of suicide victims, and a man carrying his own severed head. Never forget nudity. The intent is clear. It terrifies people and instills piety. The film has come to fruition thanks to three directors. Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo PadovanWhen Giuseppe de LiguroThe first screening of the Italian film took place at the Teatro Mercadante in Naples on March 10, 1911, and from there it grew into an international success, grossing over $2 million in the United States alone (and , gave cinema owners a reason to raise ticket prices). .
must watch horror movies When Heard: “Fear”
The first talkie horror film and the second full-length film released by Warner Bros. was in 1928. FearThe setting is in an old English country house converted into an inn. The guest list includes the spiritualist Mrs. Elbery (Louise Fazenda), Detective Ferdinand Fane (Edward Everett Horton), and an unknown killer known only as “Terror” (presumably signed in under a pseudonym) packed him with strange sounds, mysterious organ music, and murder. A London film critic described the film as “so bad it’s almost suicidal”. Sadly, both of his versions of this film (the all-speaking version and the silent version for theaters that aren’t yet equipped with sound equipment) are considered lost, so we’re left with our own You may never know yourself. Vitaphone sound on disc soundtrack and movie stills conduct However, since there exists Fear‘s legacy has not been entirely lost to the whims of contemptuous history. Despite the harsh London critics’ assessment (very clear about the novelty and wonder of talkies at the time), Fear It’s a touchstone moment in the evolution of horror movies.
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The mature, envelope-pushing, often hedonistic and violent content of these and other films (and the industry itself) led to the introduction in 1930 of the Film Production Code, commonly known as the Hayes Code. lead to restrictive bans. The Hayes Code has effectively neutralized horror films for years, imposing Draconian limits on profanity, nudity, crime, morality, and violence of a graphic or realistic nature.That said, many films made under the Hayes Code creatively circumvented the restrictions, weakening their influence over time. Alfred HitchcockThe 1960 masterpiece of Psycho, was the film that delivered the fatal blow to Hayes Code, and in doing so became another first in the history of the horror genre. It’s the first Postcode modern horror movie (technically, Code wasn’t replaced until 1968 by the MPAA rating system we know and love, but Psycho I really lost my teeth). And it was these pioneering firsts that the horror movies we enjoy today are built upon.