EVOLUTION OF HORROR MOVIES

Horror movies are a staple to October and Halloween, everyone that takes part of the movie making has evolved. The first horror movie was a French film made in 1897 called “Le Manoir du Diable.” In English that’s “The Haunted Castle” or “The House of the Devil.” This film is available to watch on Youtube. The plot of the film is, two men enter a room of a castle, one man offers the other man a chair and then exits. The man left in the room now sits but the chair suddenly moves away. The chair turns into a ghost, skelton, and then an armed knight before vanishing. Then the man is confronted by Satan, he tries to leave but is blocked by the ghost. This film is also 45 seconds long... 

"HERE'S JONNY" - THE SHINING; PHOTO BY JAIDYN CALKINS

Moving through the years we’ve gotten better at effects and film making as a whole. So the 80’s was the time for horror movies like (Halloween franchise, Nightmare on Elm Street, Evil Dead, and The Shining.) All of these movies are known and loved by horror movie lovers. But the one I want to focus on is The Shining. The Shining has been shown to be one of the best films of all time. Many parents have shown this movie to their kids. The Shining came out in 1980 and is two hours and twenty six minutes long, you can watch it on Max, Youtube, Hulu, and Prime Video. The plot of The Shining is this man Jack Torrance gets a job to be the winter caretaker at an isolated hotel in Colorado. On this trip he brings his wife Wendy and son Danny. Danny is diagnosed with psychic premonitions which means you’re able to see or know what happens in the future. Jack is also writing a book during his time at the hotel but he’s in a writer's block. Danny’s premonitions become more disturbing, and Jack becomes a homicidal maniac and tries to hurt his family. Although this movie doesn't have crazy effects and super scary monsters in it, that’s what makes it scarier; it makes it seem like this could happen in real life, unlike the first film I covered. It’s a movie that will stick with you. 

We’ve talked about our first horror movie and a very popular loved horror movie, now I want to talk about a new horror movie that came out on September 13th called Speak no Evil. This film really grabbed my attention when I saw the trailer and learned about the plot. The plot is a family that is going on a vacation and meets this innocent family, they invite the family back to their house and realize this isn’t a normal family. They uncover secrets and horrors. I would definitely recommend this movie to someone who loves a good heart racing movie. It got me to the edge of my seat at some points. 

For me, I think that horror movies have gotten better as a whole. Actors and everyone in the movie department have grown (effects crew, cgi, and makeup). Now I won’t deny that the 80s was an amazing time for horror movies. But I feel like horror movies now have more life-like scenarios with plots then just scary monsters. For me watching “The Haunted Castle” was like watching a bad comedy show. I didn’t even know what the plot was until I looked it up. But with “The Shining” I was bored at first but once they got to the hotel, I got more into it and afterwards I wanted to watch it again. With “Speak no Evil” I was left in shock, I was just in shock with the plot and how the movie ended. Overall movies in general have and are continuing to involve but in my opinion horror movies have made more of an impact in change. There’s so many new horror movies out and in the making, make sure to catch them in theaters! Happy Halloween everyone!!