The History of Horror 

We just want to say thank you to everyone for taking time out of your day to watch our little opus(s). You have unlimited entertainment options in today's marketplace. The fact you spent time with us means a lot. For those of you that wish we covered more on these topics, know that we are here for the long term. We plan to dig deep into all these subjects, but we must start with the basics. Stay tuned and we promise to never take your time for granted.

Fun fact: Danny Lloyd, the kid who played Danny in The Shining, didn't know they were making a horror film while they were shooting. He didn't see a full, uncut version of the movie until 11 years later, when he was 17.

Very well done -- but the 50s part missed the giant atomic insect/animal cycle that dominated most of the decade (Them, Tarantula, Giant Gila Monster, etc.), the importance of the drive-in/teen market, late 50s-early 60s transformation horror (The Fly, Wasp Woman, Alligator People, Hideous Sun Demon, etc.), and Italian gothic supernatural horror and Giallo films of the 60s and 70s.

You seem to have forgotten Italy's incredibly influential contributions by Mario Bava and Dario Argento. Other than that, very thorough.

Wow this is actually a really good topic you did there. But there's one thing you've forgotten, Giallo and italian horror, they kind of started out so well and inspired the visual style of Friday the 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street.

John Hess: I stumbled on your videos for the first time today, and have spent all morning devouring them. You're an incredible host and these history videos are amazing. I've seen others, including horror like this, and yours takes the cake. This may be my favorite series on film history that I've ever seen, and your passion and delivery is bar none. Thanks for making these!

May I request a "History of Science Fiction"?

No Argento or Fulci? Cmon.... Or the whole asian horror scene?

I love that I always go wow, what thorough and in depth video, and then realize it's not even halfway done

I'm working on a totally new genre of horror movie, starring John Hess, where he is required to pronounce the names of several French directors. (just kidding, John, we love you)

So glad to know that people such as John are on RU-vid, making these sensational informative videos. I learnt more from this 30 minute video than I have listening to the media teacher at school for 5 weeks. Bravo!

• Liked the ‘History of horror’. Thanks for taking the time to review this material. • Favorites in this genre are the old Universal classics and RKO; and the Sci-fi of the 1950’s. When was the last time you saw an actor as interesting and entertaining as Boris Karloff, Claude Raines, and Bela Lugosi? • Note concerning ‘The Shining’ - Stephen King was not happy with Kubrick’s interpretation of his book. • Prometheus is the only movie that interests me that you didn’t mention. Will see the next 2 parts, but some of the gruesome scenes from the first movie could easily been edited out. • Suspect the next strong iteration of this genre will be technology related, since we have all entrusted our lives to Computer Technology. Daniel Suarez has written some books that would lend themselves to ‘Horror’ • Thank you for the hard work!

Hey I'm currently in film school for production and your videos have helped me pass my exams on editing and the montage period of filmaking. thank you!

"The History of Horror" is the way to go! It is the only genre that has the most money, time and perfection put into it because it is the most truest form of filmmaking. It scares the hell out of us and gives us the shivers like we'll never believe and terrifies us all, but there's always something about the genre that keeps us going back for more!

I’m a janitor and cleaning a dark and empty school while I listen to this and it’s honestly making me hear things behind me

There seem to be two or three kinds of horror films: movies where the characters go to the danger, and movies where the danger goes to them. And there's the "in between" where the danger is present in the neighborhood, but the characters go to it, or vice versa. Examples: *The Danger Goes to Them* _A Nightmare on Elm Street_ _Halloween_ _It Follows_ _The Exorcist_ _Cloverfield_ _Fright Night_ _Child's Play_ _Jaws_ _Poltergeist_ _Signs_ _Dead Alive_ _Scream_ _The Thing_ *They Go to the Danger* _Friday the 13th_ films _The Texas Chainsaw Massacre_ _The Blair Witch Project_ _The Hills Have Eyes_ _Psycho_ _The Haunting_ (1963) _The Evil Dead_ *Right in Between* _Dracula_ _Frankenstein_ _Saw_ films _Carrie_ _The Sixth Sense_ And the list goes on...

The invisible man was a perfect example of the real practical use of CGI- the removal of objects from the screen. if you look up the trailer, when he unwinds the cloth in the inn, it looks great.

Actually, there were two zombie films that kick-started the zombie boom in 2002, 28 Day Later (as mentioned) and Resident Evil, which is less respected but had a bigger box office.

This is what school should be like.

Thanks for making these, love the longer form looks into more specific areas of film

thank you so much for doing these videos, i had to write down some papers for school about the history of cinema and later about horror film, but now im searching it not just for the paper but to check out these great movies and how amazing all this was and still is

Fun fact and horror trivia: Hitchcock's "The Birds" is devoid of a musical score. Music is usually a very important and advantageous asset in horror films, helping to emphasize atmosphere and mood. In "The Birds", however, the mood is already established without the help of this. Instead, the audience hears the chorus of its avian antagonists. In the final scenes of the film, the birds chatter on without interruption in an otherwise silent and seemingly empty world. The feeling it provides can be quite unsettling.

i'm an indy filmmaker and found this vid fascinating,educational&entertaining.love horror but hate slasher films.you're an excellent host john and kudos!-well done!

Stumble upon this channel and started watching almost all of the videos...got to say your hosting have improve (eyes were following the script during the eariler videos) and made me appreciate film even more. Thanks for making this videos

Thank you for such a wonderful video on the history of horror. This was extremely educational. You listed so many older movies that honestly I have forgotten about. I now have a wonderful list of must have movies that I need to add to my collection. Thank you again FilmMakerIQ for the top notch informative videos!

I'm currently doing an assignment on horror movies for my Film studies course in college; this has been such a big help! :)

We just saw your video during the english lesson today ! I was really proud to be already subscribed to you :)

Great video. I wouldn't be into movies if my lit teacher hadn't told me to watch The Shining.

Hey there! Good stuff ;) Thanks for sharing!

Love these videos. Thanks for the information. I also love how much general history seeps in as we learn film history.

He missed out the entire Giallo scene, the 80s video nasties and the resurgence of the supernatural psych-horror which is running its current course.

This series is so great. Thank you John Hess.

Horror is particularly fascinating in the ways directors had to work within the limitations of production codes and rating systems. How do you show graphic violence without actually showing graphic violence? How far can you push the envelope without getting shut down by the studio? Looking at the way home video removed those limitations is equally interesting. Of course, you did leave out my favorite horror film of all time - Robert Wise’s The Haunting. I’ve seen that film more times than I can count. It is a masterpiece of atmosphere and suspense, without the silliness or over-the-top monsters of other horror movies of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. I’ve found that many of the greatest horror films come from directors who didn’t usually make horror films at the time, like William Friedkin.

This must be one of the best researched and organized channels. It's not often that your own overview of a topic seems improved after watching a video. I feel educated and entertained!! Why didn't RU-vid suggest your channel earlier?!!

Love how you guys included Sharknado! :D

Fantastic, informative documentary. Thank you very, very much for the tour of horror movies from 1896 to the present day. I'm now subscribed to your channel!

This is so well made and goes over everything in a brief yet well explained manner. I actually picked up a lot from this.

I have to do an assessment and an exam on horror this is so helpful thanks!

A little late to the party, but so glad to have found this channel! PLEASE keep making videos. I teach film to high school students and we are currently discussing the pre-classical era of cinema. We just might have to watch the Manor of the Devil.

I love this. You guys do such a great job with all of this history! I absolute love Filmmaker IQ!!!

Great video as always! You're like Vsauce but in the movie industry.

Dear Filmmaker IQ Team, thanks a lot for this video. It's admirable that you took your time and did reasearch to put up this project for free. Now I have to critize something here: when talking about the history of horror film, you claim a generalized overview. The films included in your timeline are entirely "western" productions, meaning American (European) centered. But when you mentioned Godzilla and the American reboot of Japanese original The Ring (1998), you didn't relativize this focus on the US. Japan has an incredible history of horror film as well, reaching back into the 1920s (although most pre-1940 j-horror-movies are missing). Subsumed under the term J- or K-horror, newer Asian horror-films have had a great impact on western productions and continue to be produced. You also didn't mention giallo from Italy.

I loved this thank you so much for your passion and clarity! :) Curious to see all your other videos

Absolutely amazing, you covered all but the paranormal films. Very in-depth. Thank you for the great history lesson.

very impressed with this channel. Thanks for taking the time to make these vids.

Well done! Thanks for taking the time to deliver such an informative video. Have a film language exam coming up and this really helped me, so thank you once again.

An excellent video about my favorite genre! Thanks Filmmaker IQ

This is lovely and very well done. Just an FYI from a Midwesterner: "Gein" is pronounced "geen," like "wean." Probably not the right pronunciation from a German language perspective, but the way that the name was pronounced by the family.

Fascination John! Keep them coming please!

You forgot Bob Clark’s “Black Christmas”. This was before Halloween and was the inspiration for John Carpenter to make it.

First video of yours I have seen. I loved it, it was very insightful.

Such fine selections of film subjects and excellent presentations of their content!!!

Wow this is amazing, really interesting to watch. Great dissection of the Horror genre and the inspirations it got from other forms of art

Pretty decent overview for how brief it is. I did not know that bit about Rocky Horror being shot at Hammer's mansion studio.

Thanks for taking time and making a wonderful video on history of horror. While you covered German expressionism, I am curious to learn some about the role of Asian horror impacting hollywood. Asian horror seems to have so much respect and they definitely stand out when it comes to current horror genre. I wish you had touched upon that.

This is an impressive analysis of horror films. Really enjoyed your video and even learned a few new things :)

Fabulous, and very interesting, I am glad you included the Ring, I consider that film to be revolution in horror as it scared the heck out of me, which is rare with any horror this days. That really does tap into something, simular to Elm Street

You're my favourite for revising for my tests

These videos are always so incredibly well researched.

thanks for making this video on the history of horror! learned a lot from it :)

Now, this is a topic I've been waiting to see on this channel!

Excellent look back on horror. Cabin in the Woods would've been a good point of reference, and maybe body horror with Hellraiser and Videodrome etc.

Your videos on film are excellent. I've been learning so much. You deserve many more subscribers.

incredibly informative, brilliantly told. Thank you for this.

Very well done look at Horror History!

Shaun Of The Dead actually helped reboot the Zombie genre, on the strength of the success of that film George Romero was able to secure finances to produce 'Land Of The Dead'.

I'm inspired by the way you put things in perspective...

There's a movie that inspired Halloween: Black Christmas. The slasher genre actually began with Black Christmas. It's an interesting movie and has only gained a following since its release in the late 70s.

very, very good! thank you so much! you have a pleasant voice and created a great overview!

You take an approach to mostly the english side of horror. I do believe you left a bunch of important Italian and other European landmarks in horrorhistory. But that's maybe because that's more my environment. I still learnt a lot from this video thanks!

Aww.. If only this lesson came out earlier, it would help my horror short film so much. Anyway, great work as always!

Interesting Quantity of horror movies there. Loved it, and your presentation style is 1st class! KAN

Great video. I am always impressed by the qualiyt of your videos, and the invofmation that you guys give us.

How could anyone think Kubrick deserved a razzie for "The Shining," even if you don't like it?

Really great work. Thanks

Great documentary but should have included Italian horror, namely the works of Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci.

Many thanks Filmmaker IQ. Your videos are both entertaining, informative and fun. That's a great combination in my opinion. Is there any end to the exposition of cinema? It's hard to say. Keep it coming.

This is a wonderfully informative, insightful, well organised and eloquently delivered vid. Having just watched the vapid, uninformative and ponderous 3 piece BBC documentary on horror by Mark Gattis, this is gold dust in comparison. Thank you!

subscribed.Speechless. great video

you guys are great! as a first year cinema student from israel, i wish you could come and lecture us:) keep making great video lessons.you are giving me a great reason to make great movies:)

Great coverage of the history of terror I would have mentioned Suspiria, [Rec], Black Christmas or Phantasm but I still liked it very much I subscribe.

this was such a good video essay thank you so much!!

brilliant as always!

I would have liked to heard mention of the new Evil Dead remake and Event Horizon. The half hour flew by though, subscribed. :)

you're the best in filmmaking theory thank you!

Love love loved this!

My god this was THE most amazing and informative video about film I've seen. I have two questions if you don't mind. What did you mean by B-Movie? And what mic are you using to get this clean audio? I use a lav mic and I don't get clean audio as yours. Thank you for the effort :)

Excellent! Thank you!

brilliant thanks

I do not see a History of Sci-FI, did I overlook it? Great video presentation of Horror.

Sir, I am watching your entire series again after some years and am learning much. A small detail: your depiction of Germany is post WW2; during the time you speak of it included Prussia.

Fascinating and easy to watch, please cover the history of other genres too

Haha I at the beginning of the video you sounded just like Jack Nicholson. SpOoKy!

Another very informative video! I believe there is supposed to be a reboot of the Hammer studios, too.

Thank you for your videos, I really do enjoy them. I have learned a lot. I honestly feel that some soft background music while you speak would enhance these videos. Its just a small stylistic opinion is all, either way these videos are fantastic!

thx you i been waiting for anew episode

Hello John, I just wanna say thank you for all of your informative videos. This is one of my favorite video of you so far. I think it will be cool if you are going to cover about Asian horror, since The Ring & The grudge were the only Asian movies I saw in this vid. I know that Japan,South Korea, China and Thailand contributed a lot in horror genre from early 90's to present. There's a reason why Hollywood remake a lot of Asian horror films. Anyway, you're the best. Keep up the good work.

This is really great stuff! Thanks a lot!!!

This is really great, thank you.

I think one of the things that scared me most about Psycho is that Norman, after all of the physical and mental trauma in the death of his mother and her lover, developed dissociative identity disorder, which means he has no idea that "mother" ever kills someone until he finds the body. This means that at anytime, anywhere, we could somehow, mentally snap, and kill someone in a different personality. However, after we commit the crime, we'd forget it all and never now it. Therefore, we all may accidentally "snap," and kill or attack someone, and we'd never know it.