Research: The History of Horror Films : A Journey Through Time

The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist was voted 'the scariest movie of all time' by the Total Film magazine in October 1999. The special effects for this movie were created mechanically on set instead of from post-production, even good to todays standards.
This movie is seen as a landmark of the genre and is now an undisputed classic, banned from video release in the UK until 1999.
Said by the Daily Mail it is "the most shocking, sick-making and soul destroying work ever to emerge from filmland".
Nominated for 10 oscars, won 2. (Best sound, best adapted screenplay).

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

From the very first seconds of this movie the watchers were exposed to flashed images of decomposing flesh. An extremely gory film.

After the first five minutes the rest of the movie involves a slow, measures descent into the madness of the sawyer family and culminates in a final ten minute torture and terror, largely round the dinner table.
Domestic violence gets
extreme.














Jaws (1975)

From the most scariest film of all time to the most popular film of all time, Jaws.
It was filmed and edited in just 23 days.
Based on best selling novel of the same name, written by Peter Benchley.
Main plot - big shark chews up skinny-dipping teenagers who scream a lot, the adults trying to solve the problem start having affairs with each other.
First film to exceed $100M in box office receipts. Budget of $12M and an overall gross of over $400M
So scary because the thought that it could happen to them. Not so scary nowadays as it is very unrealistic.

Carrie (1976)

Starts off like the movie is a 'teen makeover romance' where the ugliest girl in the school only needs a new dress and a visit to the salon to suddenly date the prom king and to find out her school isn't had after all.

After a voyeuristic opening, Carrie White found herself naked in the shower menstruating for the first time being pelted with tampons by her classmates shouting "Plug it up!"

Carrie has telekinetic powers. She just wanted to be loved.

She sorted herself out and went to the prom and even got elected prom king and queen, and for this moment it looked like she may be able to put her weird background behind her. But then Chris and Billy disrupt the carefully laid genre of high school romance with a bucket of pigs blood on her head.

The final third of the film is grotesque to the extreme - gallons of blood, fire, destruction of ALL characters (even the ones we thought were quite nice), chaos, flying knives and of course the oft-copied-never-equalled final shot.
Carrie was a great success at the box office. Oscar nominations for Spacek and Laurie and Spacek won the Golden globe for the iconoclastic portrayal of an unwilling and very female monster.

Halloween (1978)

Low budget ($325,000) masterpiece.
Teenage babysitter tries to escape the attention of a rampaging serial killer.
Greatest horror icons, Michael Myers is the killer. Face slowly lurks from the shadows and he lurks around.