Classic horrors such as German Expressionism, Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, Dracula and Sweeney Todd themes originated after novels and stories. Horrors started off with things that related to the public at the time, such as going against religion or sinning.
Horror also twisted entertainment purposes into frightening things, such as clowns or jesters. They made the costumes and masks as over the top as possible, and twisted small details, such as making eyes smaller or making teeth bigger to create a more disturbing element to films.
Older films also used people as the main source of horror in the films, such as Dracula, Alice Sweet Alice etc, so individual people would be the terrifying thing about the film. Many of these characters were possessed by the devil, linking back to religion, such as The Exorcist, Incidious, Devil Inside.
As older films didn't have the technology we have now, there was a lot of use of makeup, costume and location settings to scare the audience, such as fake blood, supernatural humans and isolated locations, which directors still use in films today. Gore, thriller, Gothic and slasher themes were common, as actors could reenact fighting scenes, which is also where the use of weapons and fake blood come in. Now, CGI is used a lot to create un-natural or ghostly characters, as well as having better editing software to create trippy effects, such as filters on the camera which makes everything seem hazy or realistic.
Psycological films such as the Shining are very popular nowadays, as they seem to scare audiences the most. Gore, body horror or slasher films are unpleasant to watch such as Hostel, but psychological films can mess people's heads around the most. Is that person behind that corner?
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