1930’SHistory of horror

SOUND

Horror movies were reborn in the 1930s. The advent of sound, as well as

changing the whole nature of cinema forever, had a huge impact on the

horror genre. The dreamlike imagery of the 1920s was replaced by

monsters. Sound adds an extra dimension to terror, whether it be music

used to build suspense or signal the presence of a threat, or magnified

footsteps echoing down a corridor. This was also despite the struggle that

many of the major players - such as director Tod Browning - had to adapt

to the new medium. Making talking pictures was a very different process

to producing silent movies and, watching today, some of the early efforts

seem very awkward.

1930 HORROR CONTENT

The horror films of the 1930s are exotic fairy tales, invariably set in

some far-off land peopled by characters in period costume speaking in

strange accents. Horror was still essentially looking backwards,

drawing upon the literary classics of the 19th century for their source

material. Audiences seemed even more enthusiastic about the horror

genre than in the 1920s, and flocked into cinemas to be scared by

largely supernatural monsters wreaking havoc, events far removed

from the everyday realities of Depression and approaching war. 80

million people attended the cinema on a weekly basis in 1930, some

65% of the total US population.

1930 HORROR

During the early period of talking pictures, the American Movie studio Universal

Pictures began a successful Gothic horror film series. Tod Browning's Dracula

(1931), with Bela Lugosi, also James Whale's Frankenstein (also 1931). Some of

these films blended science fiction with Gothic horror, such as Whale's The Invisible

Man (1933) and, mirroring the earlier German films, featured a mad scientist. These

films, while designed to thrill, also incorporated more serious elements. Make-up

artist Jack Pierce was responsible for the iconic image of the monster, and others in

the series. Universal's horror cycle continued into the 1940s as B-pictures including

The Wolf Man (1941). With the progression of the genre, actors were beginning to

build entire careers in such films, most especially Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.

FRANKENSTEIN

The scene in which the monster throws the little girl into

the lake and accidentally drowns her has long been

controversial. Upon its original 1931 release, the second part

of this scene was cut. people also objected to a line they

considered blasphemous, one that occurred during

Frankenstein's exuberance when he first learns that his

creature is alive. The original line was: "It's alive! It's alive!

In the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God.

FRANKENSTEIN

As with many Pre-Code films that were reissued after strict enforcement

of the Production Code in 1934, Universal made cuts from the master

negative. They cut:

Frankenstein's line, "Now I know what it feels like to be God!“.

Some footage of Frankenstein's assistant Fritz scaring the monster by

waving a lit torch near him while the monster is shackled in chains.

Close up of needle injection was removed.

In the scene of the monster and the little girl tossing flowers into the

lake, the second part of the scene was cut, beginning at the moment he

extends his hands to pick her up.

HORROR TRAILERS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN8K-4osNb0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skyuybdkb4w