Some will agree that horror films have taken a turn for the better. No longer do we rely on the basic goblins and ghouls to spook us. Nowadays writers go farther than what we already know when it comes to making a good horror movie. Who doesn’t love a good scare, especially around this time of the year.
Let’s go back a few decades to when horror films first started to make their appearance on the big screen. A man by the name of Georges Méliès created what is known to be the first ever horror film: Le Manoir du Diable, better known as The House of the Devil. The short film was created in 1896, a time period where colorized films didn’t exist, but silent films were a big thing. The horror genre had begun.
Fast forward to 1957, Terence Fisher’s hit movie Dracula had just hit the big screen…in color at that. It was a first for the horror genre and it skyrocketed in ratings like never before. Of course, when it came to a good horror movie, the supernatural were and still are, to this day, very popular, but nothing prepared the world for the spine-tingling thrillers of the last 50 years.
Stephen’s King’s The Shining (1980) is one of the most legendary horror movies known to man. Rather than actual monsters like werewolves, vampires, zombies, and even demons, Stephen King took a person’s psychology and turned that into the monster itself. The quality of the special effects were better than ever, fake blood looked real, cut scenes had smoother transactions. The whole ordeal of movies was in their prime during the 80s.
Now, let’s bring it back to the present day. More and more, horror movies are leaving audiences awestruck by the out-of-the-ordinary, yet fascinating story lines. Movies like Get Out and Us, written and directed by Jordan Peele, use social issues like slavery and racism to entertain and, more importantly, educate.

Then there are movies like Hereditary, written and directed by Ari Aster, who took a more mental approach in his movies, having his characters deal with grief and denial and what effect it can have on the mind if it’s not properly handled.
A more real world approach has started to take place in horror movies and smaller studios are taking more risks in what they show and what they share. The genre has changed and the outlook on horror movies continues to evolve.