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[lordxar]

I love horror movies and can appreciate a lot of different styles and subjects from aliens to monsters to psychopaths. So when I found this video by Diego Carrera I was pretty excited to check out a lot of the older movies I'd never seen. The video can be found on both Vimeo and Youtube and the description he offers is:

"1 year = 1 film. A History of Horror is a video essay which proposes a timeline of influential and aesthetically beautiful horror movies around the world since 1895 until 2016."

Someone put the list of movies out on Letterboxd and I saw that I'd only watched like 40ish of them so I thought what the hell and started looking them up on streaming services. Up to a point these are out there on Youtube so I've linked what I could find. I've also noted which ones are on Fandor, Hulu, or Netflix and I'd point out that Fandor has a lot of the ones I linked to Youtube as well. The rest your on your own for. As I went through looking for these a few I can see a few are probably going to be tough to find I'm guessing.

Currently I'm over halfway through the list. The first 15 or so go by really quick because they range from like 45 seconds up to shy of 15 minutes. What's interesting is seeing what we'd do on a green screen they used dark shadows. So you've got beheadings, vanishing, reappearing, etc. way way the hell back in the very early days of film. The earliest ones were really stage acting that was filmed I'd imagine. There's the old stage tricks like trap doors and such. I was also kind of surprised at seeing the hand painted ones.

The only issue I really have with the list is that there isn't any context as to why a particular film was chosen. The Astronomer's Dream and A Trip to the Moon seem odd choices but maybe there wasn't anything else that year. They are good precursors for the Thing and Alien though. The Execution of Mary is really just that so it's not so much a horror as it is a historical depiction but whatever its still cool to see one of the earliest films out there. This is obviously someone's interpretation of the best choice of each year so I won't knock his taste but I would like a list of runners up for each year. He obviously did a lot of research so there should be some cool alternates to check out too.

Minor bitching aside the video is very cool and I'm glad I found it. So I thought I'd pass this along for anyone else around here who has an interest in horror film history. This has really sparked me to look at older films than I'm used to and I have found some cool films I'd have otherwise missed out on.

The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots 1895
The Haunted Castle 1896
The Merry Skeleton 1898
The Astronomer’s Dream 1898
The Devil in a Convent 1899
Sherlock Holmes Baffled 1900
The Haunted Curiosity Shop 1901
A Trip to the Moon 1902
Faust et Méphistophélès 1903
The Mistletoe Bough 1904
The Black Devil 1905
Tit-for-Tat 1906
The Red Spectre 1907
The House of Ghosts 1908 If nothing else watch this one for the dinner table scene that starts at 2:20 ish
The Sealed Room 1909
Frankenstein 1910
Dante’s Inferno 1911
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1912
The Student of Prague 1913
The Avenging Conscience: or ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ 1914
Portrait 1915
Homunculus, 1. Teil 1916
Satan’s Rhapsody 1917
Eyes of the Mummy Ma 1918
I Accuse 1919
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1920
The Phantom Carriage 1921
Nosferatu 1922
The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923
The Hands of Orlac 1924
The Phantom of the Opera 1925
Faust 1926
The Cat and the Canary 1927
The Fall of the House of Usher 1928
The Skeleton Dance 1929
The Bat Whispers 1930
Dracula 1931
Freaks 1932
King Kong 1933
The Black Cat 1934
Bride of Frankenstein 1935
The Devil-Doll 1936
Song at Midnight 1937 - Fandor
I Accuse 1938
The Hound of the Baskervilles 1939
The Ghost Breakers 1940
The Wolf Man 1941
Cat People 1942
I Walked with a Zombie 1943
The Uninvited 1944
Dead of Night 1945
The Beast with Five Fingers 1946
Secret Beyond the Door 1947
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein 1948
The Queen of Spades 1949
The Man Without A Face 1950
The Thing from Another World 1951
The White Reindeer 1952
House of Wax 1953
Godzilla 1954
Diabolique 1955 - Hulu Criterion
Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956
Night of the Demon 1957
Dracula 1958
House on Haunted Hill 1959 - Fandor and Hulu Criterion
Psycho 1960
The Innocents 1961
Carnival of Souls 1962 - Fandor and Hulu Criterion
The Birds 1963
The Masque of the Red Death 1964
Repulsion 1965
Kill Baby, Kill 1966
This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse 1967
Night of the Living Dead 1968 - Fandor
The Cremator 1969 - Hulu Criterion
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders 1970 - Hulu Criterion
A Bay of Blood 1971 - Fandor
Don’t Torture a Duckling 1972
The Exorcist 1973 - Netflix
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974
Jaws 1975
Carrie 1976 - Hulu
Suspiria 1977
Halloween 1978
Alien 1979
The Shining 1980
The Evil Dead 1981
The Thing 1982
Videodrome 1983
A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984
Re-Animator 1985 - Netflix
The Fly 1986
Hellraiser 1987 - Hulu and Netflix
They Live 1988
Tetsuo: The Iron Man 1989
Misery 1990
The Silence of the Lambs 1991
Dracula 1992
Cronos 1993 - Hulu Criterion
Cemetery Man 1994
Se7en 1995
Scream 1996
Cube 1997
Ring 1998
The Blair Witch Project 1999
Shadow of the Vampire 2000
The Others 2001
28 Days Later… 2002
A Tale of Two Sisters 2003 - Fandor
Saw 2004
The Descent 2005
The Host 2006 - Netflix
Paranormal Activity 2007
Let the Right One In 2008
The House of the Devil 2009 - Hulu
I Saw the Devil 2010
The Skin I Live In 2011
The Cabin in the Woods 2012
The Conjuring 2013
The Babadook 2014 - Netflix
It Follows 2014
The Witch 2015

 

[Nokterian]

Such a rich history of horror going all the way back in 1800's and yeah very awesome to see they used special effects tricks we use also today.

 

[Steamlord]

I've seen about 85 of them. Some of the really old Méliès-style trick films kind of blend together though so I might have forgotten a few. I wouldn't necessarily agree on every choice being the best for its respective year (I would have gone with Bluebeard over The Haunted Curiosity Shop, for instance, since I see it as the starting point for true horror films), but there are also some excellent choices. I'll have to check out the ones I haven't seen; some of them look really interesting. Thanks for compiling all those videos.

 

[Billy_Pilgrim]

I've got a day of horror writing tomorrow and I've decided to watch Repulsion based off this video to tee me up.

 

[Steamlord]

I've got a day of horror writing tomorrow and I've decided to watch Repulsion based off this video to tee me up.

Excellent choice.

 

[Clear]

Post 2010 on that movie list says all that needs to be said about the dismal state of horror currently. I guess Cabin's actually pretty solid, but its hardly a classic, and at least has a third-act that isn't either a non-event or a crashing disappointment like the titles that follow it.

 

[Lord_Balkan]

Glad to see Don't Torture A Duckling. It is on Shudder for anyone that hasn't seen it.

 

[lordxar]

I've seen about 85 of them. Some of the really old Méliès-style trick films kind of blend together though so I might have forgotten a few. I wouldn't necessarily agree on every choice being the best for its respective year (I would have gone with Bluebeard over The Haunted Curiosity Shop, for instance, since I see it as the starting point for true horror films), but there are also some excellent choices. I'll have to check out the ones I haven't seen; some of them look really interesting. Thanks for compiling all those videos.

Méliès stuff does blend together. I've noticed that he liked to reuse sets...

I've got a day of horror writing tomorrow and I've decided to watch Repulsion based off this video to tee me up.

Repulsion is fucking awesome! I just watched it for the first time a couple weeks ago. Definite classic that I should have watched a long time ago.

 

[halfbeast]

man, that Valerie and her week of wonders is some trippy shit!

 

[The Lamonster]

This was amazing, thanks for sharing.

I would have personally picked The Haunting over The Birds for 1963.

 

[lordxar]

Bluebeard from 1901. Pretty cool story. I could see this one replacing Haunted Castle.

https://youtu.be/gg_nWW-TgFg

 

[gamz]

Post 2010 on that movie list says all that needs to be said about the dismal state of horror currently. I guess Cabin's actually pretty solid, but its hardly a classic, and at least has a third-act that isn't either a non-event or a crashing disappointment like the titles that follow it.

Nah.

The Conjuring 2013
The Babadook 2014 - Netflix
It Follows 2014
The Witch 2015

All of these are great horror.

Edit: It's a far cry from the 70's and 80's horror, but it's still solid.

 

[obin_gam]

Martyrs got robbed.

 

[gamz]

Martyrs got robbed.

Let the Right One In is really fantastic. I'd say it's justified.

 

[obin_gam]

Yeah, I saw that. Don't know how to feel now

 

[MrCunningham]

I find some of the imagery in the movies that were filmed before the 1920's to be more disturbing than anything that has been filmed within the last 15 years. Dante's Inferno from 1911 is pretty incredible. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from 1920 has some incredible forced perspective matte paintings. Robert Wiene was the original Tim Burton.

 

[Steamlord]

Bluebeard from 1901. Pretty cool story. I could see this one replacing Haunted Castle.

https://youtu.be/gg_nWW-TgFg

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned this is the first horror movie in the true sense of the term, with the previous ones just being trick films that happen to feature ghosts and devils. This one actually tells a horror story and feels genuinely unnerving with that shot of the hanging women. Of course, there's always a chance I'm missing some other influential film that came before it.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

I know it's limited to 1 movie per year and the age of the Universal monster movies means there's so much to choose from that area, but I'm disappointed that Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931) isn't on the list. Fantastically directed film.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

wow, quite the list. Will try and check out as many as I have access to.

I know it's limited to 1 movie per year and the age of the Universal monster movies means there's so much to choose from that area, but I'm disappointed that Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931) isn't on the list. Fantastically directed film.

Check out Mark Gatiss' History of Horror series for the BBC. They can all be found on YT.
Deals more with classic horror from the birth of cinema up to the 70s, he interviews icons like Romero and Carpenter for the series too.

 

[Steamlord]

I know it's limited to 1 movie per year and the age of the Universal monster movies means there's so much to choose from that area, but I'm disappointed that Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931) isn't on the list. Fantastically directed film.

Definitely better than Dracula.

 

[obin_gam]

Definitely better than Dracula.

Dracula has to be one of the most overrated classic movies ever. Compared to the others at the time, it is really slow and every scene is basically
One set and one still camera. One person standing on one side and talking to a person that stands on the other side.

 

[Steamlord]

Lugosi's performance is still great though.

 

[BrokenFiction]

This is a great list regardless of some quibbles. Thanks for sharing!

 

[obin_gam]

Lugosi's performance is still great though.

That's true, him and Dwight Frye as Renfield saves the movie frmo turning into a snoozefest

 

[lordxar]

I know it's limited to 1 movie per year and the age of the Universal monster movies means there's so much to choose from that area, but I'm disappointed that Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931) isn't on the list. Fantastically directed film.

Probably because he used the earliest version I'm guessing. Those 30's monster movies like that and Dracula, Mummy, Wolfman, etc. all have a severely lacking presence in my watched list. I've probably watched them as a kid in the 80's but damn that was so long ago. Or more likely I've watched so many clips over the years in ads and documentaries that I think I've watched them...

 

[More_Badass]

Just seeing the evolution of film making and effects was fascinating in its own right.

Some of those old movies had some awesome shots. Really like that clip from Faust

 

[Steamlord]

Yeah, Faust may have its narrative issues but man it has some beautiful effects.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Faust is incredible. The middle section where Faust and the devil try to pick up ladies is a little too goofy and goes on too long, but the thing as a whole is perfect piece of German expressionist filmmaking with incredible atmosphere and some really taught visual storytelling.

 

[Ridley327]

Dracula over Frankenstein? Well, OK.

Tod Browning has always been kinda crappy as a director. He manages to get a shot or two that's interesting in his films, but they're otherwise boring to look at and he can't direct actors to save his life. He was damn lucky he got Lugosi for Dracula, since there wasn't any real instruction he needed as a result of playing him on stage for a few years prior to the film.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Isn't the spanish language version of Dracula that was filmed at nights on the same sets the english language version was being shot on during the day supposed to be way better as well?

 

[Ridley327]

Isn't the spanish language version of Dracula that was filmed at nights on the same sets the english language version was being shot on during the day supposed to be way better as well?

Significantly better, in my book. It's much more atmospheric and they actually address all the gaping plot holes that happen in Browning's take.

 

[Reeks]

Some really good films on this list. Many of the early ones I haven't seen. Recently watched Cremator. ... it's amazing!

Repulsion is fucking awesome! I just watched it for the first time a couple weeks ago. Definite classic that I should have watched a long time ago.

Definitely a favorite of mine. So tense.

 

[lordxar]

Just seeing the evolution of film making and effects was fascinating in its own right.

Some of those old movies had some awesome shots. Really like that clip from Faust

You can tell it's little cardboard houses and all but that image is still incredible. This was definitely one of the best scenes so far.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Approve of the choices, especially the last two.

 

[Steamlord]

Some really good films on this list. Many of the early ones I haven't seen. Recently watched Cremator. ... it's amazing!



Definitely a favorite of mine. So tense.

The Cremator is tragically overlooked.

 

[Calderc]

Mark Gatiss did a brilliant 3 part documentary called The History of Horror, would really recommend them if you like the genre.

 

[glow]

The Cremator is tragically overlooked.

I've never even heard of it before I read this thread. IMDb has its genre label as "comedy/crime/drama" 🤔

 

[More_Badass]

Thread finally got me to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Nosferatu, Freaks, Repulsion, Suspiria, Videodrome, Cronos are on my list too. I'm surprised Haxan didn't make it into the video though, that's another one I need to see.

Finally saw the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. While I think it dragged in some scenes and it's not shocking as it probably was 40 years ago, man, it had some really unsettling scenes.

I really liked that opening. The creaking nails-on-chalkboard camera shutter with the shots of body parts and remains really set the raw tone and atmosphere perfectly

Leatherface's debut was fantastic. I wish more horror movies did that. No build-up, no creepy music or perspective shots or obvious "time-to-reveal-the-monster" set-up. Just broad daylight, Leatherface out of nowhere, hammer to the skull, slam the door. So effective

And of course the dinner scene was just like 15 minutes of madness. Terrifying nightmare stuff, from bringing Grandpa down to him sucking the blood to them sitting around the table and Sally's chair having literal arms and bringing out the hammer.

Probably the most interesting thing about the movie was how much it happens during the day. That makes it scarier in a way. The tropes of modern horror condition you not to expect horrible stuff to go down during the day, and especially not with the suddenness of TCM's horror

 

[Steamlord]

I've never even heard of it before I read this thread. IMDb has its genre label as "comedy/crime/drama" 🤔

It's those too, but also definitely horror. One of my favorites.

 

[obin_gam]

Thread finally got me to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Nosferatu, Freaks, Repulsion, Suspiria, Videodrome, Cronos are on my list too. I'm surprised Haxan didn't make it into the video though, that's another one I need to see.

The cool thing (and what makes it so legendary) is that the movie itself is practically bloodless. Everything gruesome that happens happens like an inch off-screen.

 

[kruis]

I'd have picked The Incredible Shrinking Man for the 1957 entry. Shamefully neglected movie.

 

[lordxar]

I wondered about Haxan but it's across from Nosferatu so I get that. Have yet to see it but I'm looking forward to it.

 

[hunchback]

How could he not include The Invisible Man:1933? The way they made him disappear was pretty interesting considering when it was made.

 

[Ridley327]

I wondered about Haxan but it's across from Nosferatu so I get that. Have yet to see it but I'm looking forward to it.

You kinda need to call an audible on something like that. It's practically a coin flip.

Haxan does have the unexpected benefit for tackling mental illness the way that it does, especially since it's still not a common thing these days to try and address it in the way this film does. Oh, and it features sooooooooo much Satanic masturbation.

 

[Steamlord]

You kinda need to call an audible on something like that. It's practically a coin flip.

Haxan does have the unexpected benefit for tackling mental illness the way that it does, especially since it's still not a common thing these days to try and address it in the way this film does. Oh, and it features sooooooooo much Satanic masturbation.

 

[Lime]

Subbed for later.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

I looked for ages for something like this

 

[Fancy Clown]

Thread finally got me to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Nosferatu, Freaks, Repulsion, Suspiria, Videodrome, Cronos are on my list too. I'm surprised Haxan didn't make it into the video though, that's another one I need to see.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the best protypical slasher film I think. It's got such a grimy atmosphere, and is so no nonsense with its scares that it feels so real and has such a palpable atmosphere. Makes me wanna take a shower after watching it. Be sure to watch Herzog's 70's remake of Nosferatu after checking out the original, I think it's even better.

And the director of The Witch is doing another remake of Nosferatu, which I think he's perfect for.

Some other excellent horror movies that didn't make the cut for the video:
Eyes Without a Face (1960)

Black Sunday (1960)

The Haunting (1963)

Black Sabbath (1963)

Onibaba (1964)

Kwaidan (1964)

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Don't Look Now (1973)

Eraserhead (1977)

The Brood (1979)

Prince of Darkness (1987)

Antichrist (2009)

Under the Skin (2013)

 

[Ridley327]

The fact that the director plays Satan is so wonderful.

 

[lordxar]

Just watched Dante's Inferno from 1911. More cool effects with giants, Satan chowing down and ole headless: