“Death, the final, triumphant lover.” – Bela Lugosi

Horror films are created to frighten and panic, to cause dread and discomfort, to provoke our hidden worst fears, to twist our minds into believing the most disturbing thoughts. They are displayed in a terrifying and shocking manner, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a seat gripping, heart racing experience.

Horror films effectively center on the dark side of life, the forbidden, strange, and alarming events. They deal with our most delicate fears and insecurities: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our repulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, our fear of loss of identity, or simply fear of the dark.

However, has modernization lost its touch with the originality of what makes us clench our eyes closed in bed or makes us leave the theater paranoid of what lurks or bumps in the night?

The golden age of classic horror began in the 1930’s with the Universal original films, that were so simple yet remarkably made and included our beloved Bela Lugosi’s Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Wolf Man (1941), Boris Karloff’s The Mummy (1932), and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). However, these iconic successors that have remained so prominent in popular culture and have come to serve as the symbols of classic horror wouldn’t have come to be had it not been for the directors that first began to revolutionize the horror genre in the silent film era, with works such as Nosferatu (1923) and Faust (1926), both heavy influences on the future of horror led under the vision of German director, F.W. Murnau.

Over time, you had the deviant films that were all too shocking to grasp in their concept of man-made monsters because they were either created by mankind or were the monsters themselves. These unconventional films that were simply way ahead of their time as shown in the disturbed reactions out of their mass audiences, such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and the development of my personal favorite creature, the zombie, with George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), paved the way for the future that was to come in the modern age of horror we have all come to eagerly consume today.

The thrilling and appalling horror genre has dramatically evolved over time. Modern horror seems to focus more on the gore, psychological disturbances, and ways to shock the audience, while classic films had no special effects, and strictly focused on impressive acting and the goal to cause terror, not on the common traditions of a group of teens going out to the woods, doing drugs, and having sex, as they’re slowly being taken off one by one. Today for example, we have Rob Zombie, blowing up our screens, literally, with guts and gore making us squeal and screech out of our seats because we are so grossed out. This may be the appeal to some now, or may not, but it is definitely a noticeable difference showing where the bar has been set now for future filmmakers on what is considered horrific by viewers.

Filmmakers are focusing more on real life figures and ideas such as murderers, psychopaths, poltergeists, and probable catastrophes like apocalypses, whether they’re caused by nature or science fiction or zombies. There’s a whole series dedicated to the latter on AMC. Within this decade alone, the interest for this film genre has shifted from classic monsters to paranormal activity and to the modern monster: man itself.

New age horror began in the late 60’s/early 70’s with films like Brian de Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise (1974), Carrie (1976), John Carpenter’s The Fog (1980), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Halloween (1978) Wes Craven’s Scream (1996), Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), etc. The noticeable gore and sexuality now featured across all films was a giant step for the film industry. What was considered inappropriate in the 20th century has become the center of attention and demand by those experiencing scary movies in the 21st century.

Our most recent example being Jigsaw (2017), yet *another* film added to the Saw franchise, showing really nothing different from its previous films in terms of on-screen gore and torture. However, the storyline and plot twists of the villainous mortal that is its captivating antagonist, John Kramer, and his ability to shock with his devices is what keeps fans coming back for more. The story as a whole revolves around this vengeful man’s dying wish for justice and teaching degenerates a lesson on life based on what he would do for a second chance, blah blah blah, mortality. That is the theme. Another all too common fear imprinted in the minds of humans since long before the golden age of film and horror; only today, Hollywood has chosen this reminder of our own impermanence as the focus to cause scare in films than the original fantasy of made-up boogeymen.

So, although the monsters and ghouls have changed over time, our cynical and disturbing fears that manipulate our imaginations have not. The only significant changes have been in how we watch these films as viewers, since what has truly transformed and will continue to pose a challenge to filmmakers in the future of horror, are what our tolerance can take on movie screens and the limit to which we’ve pushed ourselves to in handling these films. What scares us? What scares you? Are we all just being conditioned and minds being trained for the real monsters out there?