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Horror film

Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.[2]

"Horror Movie" redirects here. For the Skyhooks song, see Horror Movie (song).

Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apocalyptic events, and religious or folk beliefs.


Horror films have existed for more than a century. Early inspirations from before the development of film include folklore, religious beliefs and superstitions of different cultures, and the Gothic and horror literature of authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley. From origins in silent films and German Expressionism, horror only became a codified genre after the release of Dracula (1931). Many sub-genres emerged in subsequent decades, including body horror, comedy horror, slasher films, splatter films, supernatural horror and psychological horror. The genre has been produced worldwide, varying in content and style between regions. Horror is particularly prominent in the cinema of Japan, Korea, Italy and Thailand, among other countries.


Despite being the subject of social and legal controversy due to their subject matter, some horror films and franchises have seen major commercial success, influenced society and spawned several popular culture icons.

Aston, James; Walliss, John (2013). To See the Saw Movies. McFarland & Company, Inc.  978-0-7864-7089-1.

ISBN

Balmain, Colette (2008). Introduction to Japanese Horror Film. Edinburgh University Press.  9780748630592.

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Baumgartner, Holly Lynn; Davis, Roger (2008). Hosting the Monster. Rodopi.  978-0-7864-0988-4.

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Bettinson, Gary; Martin, Daniel (2018). "Introduction". In Bettinson, Gary; Martin, Daniel (eds.). Hong Kong Horror Cinema. . ISBN 978-1-4744-2460-8.

Edinburgh University Press

Bitel, Anton (November 2020). "Beyond North America: Three International Horror Hotspots from the Last Decade". . Vol. 30, no. 9. British Film Institute.

Sight & Sound

Bradley, Laura (17 December 2019). . Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.

"This Was the Decade Horror Got "Elevated""

Chan, Felicia (2018). "Performing (Comic) Abjection in the Hong Kong Ghost Story". In Bettinson, Gary; Martin, Daniel (eds.). Hong Kong Horror Cinema. Edinburgh University Press.  978-1-4744-2460-8.

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Chibnall, Steve; Petley, Julian (2002). British horror cinema. Routledge.  0-415-23004-7.

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Collins, Charlie (1 December 1930). "The Stage". Chicago Tribune.

Conrich, Ian (2005). "Kiwi Gothic: New Zealand's Cinema of a Perilous Paradise". Horror International (Contemporary Approaches to Film and Television). Wayne State University Press.  9780814331019.

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Craig, Pamela; Fradley, Matin (2010). American Horror Film: The Genre at the Turn of the Millennium. University Press of Mississippi.  9781604734546.

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Chung, Hye Seung (2013). "Acacia and Adoption Anxiety in Korean Horror Cinema". In Peirse, Alison; Daniel, Martin (eds.). Korean Horror Cinema. Edinburgh University Press.

Curti, Roberto (2015). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957–1969. . ISBN 978-1-4766-1989-7.

McFarland

Curti, Roberto (2017). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1970–1979. McFarland.  978-1-4766-2960-5.

ISBN

Curti, Roberto (2017). Riccardo Freda: The Life and Works of a Born Filmmaker. . ISBN 978-1476628387.

McFarland

Curti, Roberto (2019). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1980-1989. McFarland.  978-1-4766-7243-4.

ISBN

Dhusiya, Mithuraaj (February 2014). "Let the Ghost Speak: A Study of Contemporary Indian Horror Cinema". Wide Screen. 5 (1).  1757-3920.

ISSN

(12 March 2006). "Cat People (1942)". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois. Archived from the original on 28 August 2014.

Ebert, Roger

Fofi, Goffredo (September 1963). "Terreur in Italie". Midi-Minuit Fantastique. No. 7.

Fujiwara, Chris (2000) [1st pub. 1998]. . Baltimore, Maryland: McFarland. ISBN 0-8018-6561-1.

Jacques Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press.  978-1-4616-7374-3.

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Gregersdotter, Katarina; Hoglund, Johan; Hallen, Nicklas (2015). Animal Horror Cinema: Genre, History and Criticism. Palgrave Macmillan.  978-1-349-55349-5.

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Halle, Randall (2003). "Unification Horror: Queer Desire and Uncanny Visions". Light Motives: German Popular Film in Perspective. Wayne State University Press.  0-8143-3044-4.

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Hand, Richard J.; McRoy, Richard J. (2020). "Introduction". Gothic Film: An Edinburgh Companion. Edinburgh University Press.  978-1-4744-4804-8.

ISBN

, ed. (1995). The Overlook Film Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-624-0.

Hardy, Phil

Hantke, Steffan (2007). "Academic Film Criticism, the Rhetoric of Crisis, and the Current State of American Horror Cinema: Thoughts on Canonicity and Academic Anxiety". College Literature. 34 (4): 191–202. :10.1353/lit.2007.0045. S2CID 170518242.

doi

Hawkins, Joan (2000). Cutting Edge: Art-horror and the Horrrific Avant-garde. University of Minnesota Press.

Heffernan, Kevin (2004). Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953–1968. . ISBN 0822385554.

Duke University Press

Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (2014). Found Footage Horror Films. McFarland & Company, Inc.  978-0-7864-7077-8.

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Jancovich, Mark (1992). Horror. B. T. Batsford Ltd.  0-7134-6820-3.

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Jancovich, Mark (1994). American Horror From 1951 to the Present. Keele University Press.  1-85331-149-9.

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Jancovich, Mark (2000). "'A Real Shocker': Authenticity, Genre and the Struggle for Distinction". Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies. 14 (1): 23–35. :10.1080/713657675. ISSN 1030-4312. S2CID 144833572.

doi

Jancovich, Mark (2008). "Pale Shadows; Narrative Hierarchies in the Historiography of 1940s Horror". In Geraghty, Lincoln; Janovich, Mark (eds.). The Shifting Definitions of Genre: Essays on Labeling Films, Television Shows and Media. McFarland.

Jones, Steve (2013). Torture Porn: Popular Horror After Saw. Palgrave MacMillan.  978-0-230-31941-7.

ISBN

Jurgess, Todd (2022). "Videotape, Guinea Pig, and the Horror of Privacy". JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies. 61 (2). Michigan Publishing: 88–109. :10.1353/cj.2022.0017. S2CID 246436799.

doi

La Marca, Paolo (2024). "Horror Manga: Themes and Stylistics of Japanese Horror Comics". . 13 (8).

Humanities

LaCava, Stephanie (7 October 2021). . Screen Slate. Retrieved 20 January 2021.

"Julia Ducournau on Titane"

Lazaro-Reboll, Antonio (2012). Spanish Horror Film. Edinburgh University Press.  978-0-7486-3638-9.

ISBN

(2013). Mario Bava - All the Colors of the Dark. Video Watchdog. ISBN 978-0-9633756-1-2.

Lucas, Tim

(2013b). The Two Faces of Black Sabbath (booklet). Arrow Films. p. 15. FCD778.

Lucas, Tim

Mank, Gregory William (2010). Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff: The Expanded Story of a Haunting Collaboration, with a Complete Filmography of Their Films Together. McFarland.  978-0-7864-5472-3.

ISBN

Martin, Daniel (2018). "The Enduring Cult of The Bride with White Hair: Chivalry and the monstrous Other in the Hong Kong Fantasy-Horror". In Bettinson, Gary; Martin, Daniel (eds.). Hong Kong Horror Cinema. . ISBN 978-1-4744-2460-8.

Edinburgh University Press

; Newman, Kim (2018) [1st pub. 2006]. The Definitive Guide to Horror Movies. London: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-78739-139-0.

Marriott, James

Matthews, Philip (30 October 2017). . Stuff. Archived from the original on 30 November 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2021.

"What are You Afraid of? The New Horror Movie Renaissance"

Mendelson, Scott (11 September 2017). . Forbes. Retrieved 13 July 2018.

"Box Office: Stephen King's 'It' Scared Up A Monstrous $123M Weekend"

Muir, John Kenneth (2007). Horror Films of the 1980s. McFarland & Company.  978-0-7864-2821-2.

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Muir, John Kenneth (2011). Horror Films of the 1990s. McFarland & Company.  978-0-7864-4012-2.

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Muir, John Kenneth (2012). Horror Films of the 1970s. McFarland.  978-0-7864-9156-8.

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Nair, Kartik (2012). "Taste, Taboo, Trash: The Story of the Ramsay Brothers". BioScope. 3 (2): 123–145. :10.1177/097492761200300203. S2CID 144146193.

doi

Newman, Kim (2009) [1st pub. 1999]. Cat People. Palgrave Macmillan.  978-0-85170-741-9.

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Newman, Kim (2011) [1st pub. 1988]. Nightmare Movies. Bloomsbury.  978-1-4088-0503-9.

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Newman, Kim (November 2020). "Planet Terror: The Year in Horror". Sight & Sound. Vol. 30, no. 9. .

British Film Institute

Newman, Kim (January 2020c). "This Year in Horror". Sight & Sound. Vol. 30, no. 1. British Film Institute.

Newman, Kim (November 2020b). "Wide Angle: Exploring the Bigger Picture". Sight & Sound. Vol. 30, no. 9. .

British Film Institute

Nguyen, Hanh (31 December 2018). . IndieWire. Retrieved 2 March 2019.

"'One Cut of the Dead': A Bootleg of the Japanese Zombie Comedy Mysteriously Appeared on Amazon"

O'Brien, Daniel (2003). Spooky Encounters: A Gwailo's Guide to Hong Kong Horror. Critical Vision.  1-900486-31-8.

ISBN

Odell, Colin; Le Blanc, Michelle (2007). Horror Films. . ISBN 978-1-84243-218-1.

Kamera Books

Olney, Ian (2013). Euro Horror: Classic European Horror Cinmea in Contemporary American Culture. Indiana University Press.  978-0-253-00648-6.

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Paul, William (1994). Laughing Screaming: Modern Hollywood Horror and Comedy. Columbia University Press.

Peirse, Alison; Martin, Daniel (2013). "Introduction". Korean Horror Cinema.  978-0-7486-4310-3.

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Prawer, Siegbert Solomon (1989) [1st pub. 1980]. Caligari's Children: The Film as Tale of Terror. Da Capo.  0-306-80347-X.

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Prince, Stephen (2004). The Horror Film. Rutgers University Press.  0-8135-3363-5.

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(2014). Tod Browning's Dracula. Tomahawk Press. ISBN 978-0-9566834-5-8.

Rhodes, Gary D.

Rhodes, Gary D.; Kaffenberger, Bill (2016). No Traveler Returns: The Lost Years of Bela Lugosi (Kindle ed.). BearManor Media.  978-1-59393-285-5.

ISBN

Rhodes, Gary D. (2018b). (PDF). Monstrum. 1 (1). ISSN 2561-5629. Retrieved 14 October 2022.

""Horror Film": How the Term Came to Be"

Rockoff, Adam (November–December 2003). "Yuletide Terror". . No. 36. Marrs Media Inc. ISSN 1481-1103.

Rue Morgue

Salvi, Pooja (28 October 2018). . DNA India.

"Have you ever wondered what the Ramsays are doing? We find out"

Sélavy, Virginie (November 2020). "The Psychedelic Renaissance: The Enduring Influence of 1970s Horror". Sight & Sound. Vol. 30, no. 9. British Film Institute.

Shary, Timothy (2005). Teen Movies: American Youth on Screen. Wallflower.  1 904764-49-5.

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Shelley, Peter (2012). Australian Horror Films, 1973-2010. McFarland.  978-0-7864-6167-7.

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Shipka, Danny (2011). Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960–1980. McFarland.  978-0-7864-4888-3.

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Tsang, Raymond (2018). "What Can a Neoi Gwei Teach Us? Adaptation as Reincarnation in Hong Kong Horror of the 1950s". In Bettinson, Gary; Martin, Daniel (eds.). Hong Kong Horror Cinema. Edinburgh University Press.  978-1-4744-2460-8.

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Tudor, Andrew (1991). Monsters and Mad Scientists : A Cultural History of the Horror Movie. Wiley-Blackwell.  063116992X.

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Weaver, Tom; Brunas, Michael; Brunas, John (2007) [1990]. Universal Horrors (2 ed.). McFarland & Company.  978-0-7864-2974-5.

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Werbeck, Kai-Uwe (2016). "The State vs. Buttgereit and Ittenbach: Censorship and Subversion in German No-Budget Horror Film". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. 27 (3).

West, Alexandra (2016). Films of the New French Extremity. McFarland.  9781476663487.

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West, Alexandra (2018). The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle: Final Girls and a New Hollywood Formula. McFarland & Company.  978-1-4766-7064-5.

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Willis, Andy (2018). "From Killer Snakes to Taxi Hunters: Hong Kong Horror in an Exploitation Context". In Bettinson, Gary; Martin, Daniel (eds.). Hong Kong Horror Cinema. Edinburgh University Press.  978-1-4744-2460-8.

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Wynter, Kevin (2016). "An Introduction to the Continental Horror Film". In Siddique, Sophia; Raphael, Raphael (eds.). Transnational Horror Cinema. Bodies of Excess and the Global Grotesque. . p. 44. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-58417-5. ISBN 978-1-137-58416-8.

Palgrave Macmillan

Withers, Ned Athol (18 January 2016). . Taste of Cinema. Retrieved 21 January 2021.

"The 10 Best Australian Films of The 21st Century"

Worland, Rick (2007). The Horror Film: A Brief Introduction. Blackwell Publishing.  978-1-4051-3902-1.

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Dixon, Wheeler Winston. A History of Horror. (Rutgers University Press; 2010),  978-0-8135-4796-1.

ISBN

Steffen Hantke, ed. American Horror Film: The Genre at the Turn of the Millennium (University Press of Mississippi; 2010), 253 pages.

Petridis, Sotiris (2014). "". Film International 12 (1): 76–84.

A Historical Approach to the Slasher Film

on IMDb

Horror genre