This infographic was sent to me by Steph at Chamber of Horrors NY. I admire the people who can put things like this together. I know I’m certainly not capable of it
The Golden Age of Film and Horror
Horror films have been around for as long as film has, and this means that it had gone through the same genre changes and development – both highs and lows – and the great pinnacles that the other popular genres have also experienced. In modern times, the horror genre has garnered such a huge following and Investopedia even reports that it is one of the movie genres with the best ROI (return of investment).
While many horror films today rely on over-the-top violence, plots, monsters, and gore to horrify their viewers, the Golden Age of Film had a much more delicate balance of acting, plot, and suspense when it comes to horror films.
Here are the six films from the Golden Age of Horror that not only became classics beloved by generations, but also shaped the genre and movies we watch today, as seen in this infographic by Chamber of Horrors NY: (click on the image to open up a full-scale version in a new window on the original site.)
What did you think of it? Are you a fan of the classic horror movies on this list? I have to confess, I honestly haven’t watched many of them. In fact, I’ve actually seen *cough*one*cough* of them. Possibly Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, but that was something I would have seen at least 20 years ago, so… Yeah.
Even though it’s not listed on here, one of the things that stands out to me about the classic horror movies is something I read somewhere about The Mummy. That even though it was considered to be a scary movie, The Mummy actually is only visible on screen for something like 13 seconds? I’m happy with gore and blood and paranormal stuff, but I do think the quality isn’t as high as what you used to find.
I love all of these movies!! Wolfman is my favorite I always have to watch it on Halloween. 🙂
That’s awesome 🙂 The earliest werewolf movie I remember watching is the one with Michael J. Fox in it. (I don’t even remember the name, lol.)
I’ve seen all of these and plenty more. My son and I are huge fans of the classics. We especially love some of the silent films and black and white ones. It took a lot to make a film work back then. Lots of light and shadow and the actors motions carried the horror. I also enjoy stop motion like in Gargoyles.
I think I’ve watched all of them. I prefer the Bride of Frankenstein to Frankenstein but they are both well-worth watching (I always feel sorry for the monster. In the bride, Elsa Lanchester is just fabulous) the Night of the Living Dead is a must for anybody who loves zombies. I’m not sure I’d class it as straight horror, but ‘Cat People’, the 1942 version is great (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034587/?ref_=nv_sr_2) and again one where you imagine more than you see the transformation (beautifully shot in gorgeous black and white).
I am a huge Elsa Lancaster fan, but I prefer ‘Son of Frankenstein’ over the other two.
‘Dracula’ and ‘Frankentein’ stand the test of time, but sadly, ‘The Wolfman’ does not. Lon Chaney Jr. is not worthy to carry his dads make-up case.
{Please avoid any monster movies with ‘Abbot and Costello’….}
Miss Plumtartt and I have been watching a lot of old ‘Hammer’ films. 🙂 Classics in their own right!
Woow. This is interesting. I’ve been thinking just recently to watch all this classic horror movies. I’ve only seen Psycho but long time ago. 🙁
Psycho is one I have no real desire to watch. I can’t even articulate why but it has never appealed to me.