Horror through the decades

Horror has changed and developed over the years. The term "horror movie" was first shown in the film industry at the release of Universals Dracula in 1931 and Frankenstein 1931, but has progressed ever since. Horror films deal with the viewer's nightmares and worst fears.It generally contains supernatural, morbidity, serial killers, and things of the unknown, that may be termed "horror". Plots written within the horror genre often include evil force or event. Themes which often occurs during "horror films" include ghosts, werewolf's, demons, vampires, and zombies.

The film which I am going to follow through the decade in this post is Dracula. The reason why I have chosen this one is because it has change and developed over the years. Universal studios have created many different versions of this film, however I am going to focus on just 3. The ones in which I am going to focus on are the, 1931 version, 1972 version and finally the 2000 version. I have chosen these 3 as there is a big time gap between then, where the equipment and the conventions would have changed, leading to a better film throughout the years.  

The first film of Dracula, came out in 1931. It was in black and white and was one of the first films to be classified as 'horror'. It was very technical for its time. The institution which created it was, Universal (shows how long they have been around.) To a reviewer today, this film would seem awfully put together, back camera skills and effect. One reviewer said, "Universals 1931 production of Dracula is a lot of things. It's badly paced, riddled with continuity errors, and ridiculously stage bound a good portion of the time."  However back in its day, this film was one of the best made.

 The second Dracula film came out in 1972. This was a lot more up to date, with the equipment used and the way they presented it. The biggest improvement was that it came out in colour, instead of the black and white version, this gave Dracula a whole new dimension, by creating it more visual for the audience. Also as the film industries were always changing their rules and conventions, to improve it for the audience, this meant they could add a lot more into the film itself, by making it more scarier, and making it more graphic. This engaged the audience more and made them want to continue watching the film.

The third Dracula film came out in 2000. Personally I feel this was the better of the 3 films, and I know many people who would agree with that opinion. The reason why this would be, is because the equipment has improved so much more. In 2000, there would have been better cameras and the equipment which comes with the cameras, such as the staff would be better trained, they would have cranes to get better shots and different shots, however still having a steady camera and boom poles, to get better quality sound for the film. They would have had more staff (people such a runners) for this version and a bigger budget to spend on the film. The thing which I feel made the film better than the other two, was the editing which they could now do. This gave it a whole new element and made the film more edging for the audience.