Evolution Of Dracula

Horror as a film genre has existed since around 1900 and has captured the imagination and fear of viewers through its attack on the viewer's own fears. Nothing is off limits to the genre whether it be a fictional monster or a societal fear of the time.What qualities of this genre and of the culture it thrives in allows this genre to be ever present and popular in today's society.

Horror has had different angles for getting the scare from their audience. One of the most popular in the early stages of horror was using a simple supernatural monster. An example of this was Tod browning’s Dracula. Dracula (1931) was a much more toned down version of the character of Dracula than what modern audiences would be used to but was more than enough

Back when horror was still young as a genre their stories were often very limited in the way that they depicted the monster or actions of the films. The advancements pushed the genre where it had not gone before, “The revolution in FX technology that spawned a frightening persuasive level of verisimilitude and visceral in the depiction of futuristic worlds” (Doherty pg. 210). This realism Doherty speaks about in the quote is the fear that is in the possible reality that the monster is something that is believable. As technology progressed so did the horror genres productions. Previously impossible shots could be done using special effects and CGI. This new generation can almost create anything imaginable making the productions more elaborate. A quote by the famous futurist Alvin Toffler exemplifies the cost of technology advancements “Our technological powers increase, but the side effects and potential hazards also escalate.”. These side effects that Toffler references becomes a huge factor into the horror genre. As horror adapts to the natural fears around it the movement forward in technology has produced great advancements in production but also in potential fears and nightmares. In recent years the horror film scene has seen more and more movies depicting the scenario of horror through social media and other forms of technology. The movie Unfriended is one of many to capitalize on this new fear of the technologies around us. The use of the social media platform is being used to convey horror stories just as the portable camera was used to shoot POV shots to create the Blair Witch Project. To shift the view make it closer to home because it is something everyone uses in today's society. . By using the technologies that everyday people use today to make the nightmare ever more real for the everyday