Horror research: the 30's

The 1930's was the real birth of the horror genre. 1931 was the year that the two most well known horror films were released: Dracula and Frankenstein. These two films were adapted from the books which they are based. Dracula was played by a young Transylvanian man named Bela Lugosi and the part of Frankenstein's monster was played by Boris Karloff.



Karloff as the monster

 

Lugosi's version of the Count.

 Other horror films that were made in the 30's include: The mummy (1932), Freaks (1932) and King Kong (1933).



 

  We see Karloff once again in 'The Mummy'. A beauty and the beast love story of a mummified man who wants to bring his dead lover back to him.

 

Freaks is about a circus that goes around, showing off its acts, these are in fact various people who have dis-figurements or un-natural atributes to their bodies (sort of a 'Freak show') These 'Freaks' include a dwarf man, a man with no limbs, a bearded lady and many others with mental or physical disabilities. Towards the end of the film we see all the 'Freaks' cralling through the mud and chase the peolpe who had laughed at them. This film was banned from many countries because of its horrific images.

 King Kong is about a giant ape is brought to America from foreign lands who runs riot through New York City, destroying buildings, crashing planes and climbing atop the famous Empire State Building. This, like the Mummy is about a beast that falls in love with a beauty.