- Horror Exploror! -
1612
Countess Erzsébet Báthori is arrested in modern Hungry. She is confined to a tower in her home until her death in 1614. She was accused of murdering hundreds of servants and became known as the Blood Countess. Her story is the inspiration for many vampire tales.
1764
Horace Walpole's 'The Castle of Otranto' might be the first Gothic novel.
1800s
Still photography is beginning to develop.
1818
Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' is released.
1819
John Polidori's 'The Vampyre' is released.
1830s
Beginning of mass circulation of newspapers in UK and US. This is helped by easier methods of travel and increasing literacy rates.
1872
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Carmilla' is released.
1878
Eadweard Muybridge's The Horse in Motion is an important step toward moving pictures.
1888
Whitechapel murders occurred. Jack the Ripper is an early murderer who's crimes are sensationalized in newspapers (with higher circulation).
1890s
Yellow Journalism is becoming more common.​
Newspapers more sensationalized.
1893
Edison founded Black Maria, the first film studio.
1894
The Grand Guignol Theatre opened in Paris.
1895
Oldest film studio, Gaumont, founded in France.
- Gaumont -
​
The Lumière Brothers "held their first public screening or commercial exhibition of a projected motion picture to a paying Parisian public, marking what is generally accepted as the birth of cinema." - Cinema United -
1896
Second oldest film studio, Pathé, is founded in France. - Pathé -
​
What is the first 'movie theater', Vitascope Hall, is operating in New Orleans. - Cinema United -
​
First narrative film: Alice Guy Blache's La Fee aux Choux.
​​
First horror movie: Georges Méliès' La Manoir du diable.
1897
Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' is released.
1899
Sigmund Freud's 'The Interpretation of Dreams' is released.
1905
"Harry Davis and John Harris opener their first movie theater, dubbing it nickelodeon, (...)." - Cinema United -
1906
First full length film (according to Google anyway):
Story of the Kelly Gang.​
1907
"Chicago enacts first movie censorship law in America. Cities and States around the nation create local censorship boards in the following years, resulting in a variety of different rules and standards." - NCAC -
1908
'Schizophrenia' is coined by Paul Bleuler. - Britannica -
​
The Motion Picture Patents Company (aka The Trust) is founded by "ten film producers and distributors who attempted to gain complete control of the motion-picture industry in the US." - Britannica -
1909
Florence Lawrence is one of the first named movie stars.
- Women's History -
​
The Cinematograph Act passes in the UK. It "giv(es) local authorities the power to provide or withhold licenses for cinemas in their region." - BBFC -
1910s
"Willis O'Brien began to develop stop-motion creature animation..."
- Weismann, Lost in the Dark (2021) -
1911
First feature length horror movie: L'Inferno.
​
First cinematic version of Frankenstein, by J Searle Dawley.
1912
Universal Pictures, the fifth oldest studio, is founded by Carl Laemmle + co. - Universal -
​
Paramount Pictures, the sixth oldest studio, is founded by Adolph Zukor + co. - Paramount -
​
Big studios Universal and Paramount begin operating in Hollywood, California to get away from Edison and The Trust (MPPC)'s patents. - Britannica -
​
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is established. - BBFC -
1913
The BBFC has two classifications U (Universal) and A (for Adults). - BBFC -
​
"the first movie palaces began to appear (...) replacing cheaper nickelodeons." - Cinema United -
U
A
1914
World War I begins.
​
Fox Films founded by William Fox.
World War I
begins.
1915
"In Mutual Film Corp. v Industrial Commission of Ohio, the Supreme Court holds that movies are not protected by the First Amendment. The ruling allows state and local boards to continue censoring films." - NCAC - Justia -
​
"United States v Motion Picture Patents Co. was a civil antitrust prosecution [...]. [...] the defendants violated [...] the Sherman Act [...]." - Wiki -
This began the demise of the MPPC and Edison's control of the film industry.
1917
Motion Picture Patents Co. v Universal Film Manufacturing Co. is a patent case that further limited the MPPC (similar to case above). - Justia -
1918
World War II ends.
Weimar Republic begins in Germany. Post WWI they are in an economic crisis.
​
What would become Columbia Pictures is founded by the Cohn brothers and Joe Brandt in New York.
World War I
ends.
Weimar Republic
begins.
1919
United Artists founded by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and DW Griffith.
1920s
Studio System in the US film industry begins.​
- Part of this is the Star System
- Also includes Factory System.
​
Film Styles emerge: French Impressionism, German Expressionism, Soviet Montage Editing, and Realism in the US.
1920
Prohibition lasts in the US from 1920-1933.
​
Woman's Suffrage = 19th Amendment in the US.
​
Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is released.
1922
Soviet Union (USSR) is established - it lasts from 1922-1991.
​
Mussolini is the leader of Fascist Italy from 1922-1945.
​
"Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA), is formed, led by former Postmaster General William H. Hays." - NCAC -
​
F.W. Murnau's off-brand Dracula, Nosferatu, is released (illegally).
1923
Warner Brothers is founded by the four brothers Warner. - Link -
​
Walt Disney Company is founded. - Link -
​
Universal's The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Lon Chaney 'The Man of a Thousand Faces' is released.
1924
J Edgar Hoover is the Director of the Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - 1924-1935, which becomes the FBI in 1935. He is was the Assistant Director from 1921-1924 and the head from 1924-1971.
​
Columbia Pictures is officially formed and operating in Los Angeles.
​
Metro Goldwyn Mayer is formed from three other companies merging - founded by Sam Goldwyn and Louis B Mayer.
1925
Universal's Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney is released.
1927
"In 1927 a specific list of dos and (mostly) don'ts was published and circulated among studios, but it was largely ignored." Hicks, History of Movie Ratings (2013)
​
First all sound film released by Warner Brothers, The Jazz Singer.
​
Alfred Hitchcock's film about Jack the Ripper is released, The Lodger.
1928
What might be (according to google) the first all-talking horror movie is released (by Warner Bros), The Terror.
1929
The Great Depression begins - lasting until 1939.
​
RKO Pictures is founded.
Great Depression
begins.
1930
"MPPDA creates a code to maintain social and community values in the production of silent, synchronized and talking motion pictures, also called the Production Code or the Hays' Code." - NCAC -
​
"With the SRC, Hays created a sort of Ten (or so) commandments for moviemakers. These "thou shalt nots" we designed to eliminate a lot of the same things that today's rating system only warns us about: graphic violence, sex, nudity, foul language, drug abuse, ect." - Hicks, History of Movie Ratings (2013).
1931
Universal begins their monster movie cycle with Dracula (dir by Tod Browning, staring Bela Lugosi) then Frankenstein (dir by James Whale).
Jack Peirce designed the Monster's (Boris Karloff)'s look in Frankenstein.
​
Fritz Lang's serial killer movie, M, is released.
1932
Tod Browning's controversial film, Freaks, is released.
​
BBFC (British Board of Film Censors) introduced "a new advisory classification". H (Horrific) was added to U (Universal) and A (Adults). - Cinematagraphomania - BBFC -
U
A
H
1933
FDR is President of the US from 1933-1945. Many social programs are enacted to help curb the negative effects of the Great Depression.
​
Press-Radio Wars last from 1933-1935.
​
​Twentieth Century Pictures Inc is founded by Schneck and Zanuck. ​
​
"Camden Drive-In, the first ever drive-in movie theatre, opened in Pennsauken, New Jersey." - Cinema United -
1934
"The Catholic Legion of Decency is formed."
"Joseph I. Breen becomes head of the new Production Code Authority, which enforces the Hays' Code. Under Breen, the PCA is closely allied with the Legion of Decency. During this period any company that releases a film without it's seal of approval is subject to a fine." - NCAC -
The Production Code (aka Hays Code) lasts 34 years from 1934-1960s. It's a form of self censorship within the film industry to avoid government oversight.
1935
Fox Film and Twentieth Century Pictures merged forming 20th Century Fox.
1937
Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
​
"England put a ban on horror films." - David Konow, Reel Terror: The Scary, Bloody, Gory, Hundred Year History of Classic Horror Films (2012).
1938
Orson Welles' radio production of H.G. Wells' 'War of the Worlds'.
​
A theater in LA re-released a double bill of Dracula and Frankenstein that was incredicbly successful. - David Konow, Reel Terror: The Scary, Bloody, Gory, Hundred Year History of Classic Horror Films (2012).
1939
Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None' is released.
​
World War II begins - this is the end of the Weimar Republic.
World War II
begins.
1940s
Televisions are becoming more popular in homes in the US. This is competition for theaters.
1941
Lon Chaney Jr os in Universal's The Wolf Man.
​
Pearl Harbor is attacked - US officially joins WWII.
1945
The Atomic Age begins with the first nuclear bombs being used.
​
Bloody Friday: a Union strike occurs.
It's complicated, two unions IATSE and CSU were competing with each other. Some members got into a literal physical fight outside the Warner Brothers studio.
There was another strike in 1946 which lead to a 25% pay increase. These events helped lead to the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.
- Hollywood Reporter - LAIST -
World War II
ends.
1946
Baby Boomers are born from 1946-1964.
1948
The House of Un-American Activities Committee [HUAC] held hearings which involve the Hollywood Ten.
1947-1952 over three-hundred people are black listed in the film industry, as part of the Reed Scare. - Britannica -
​
Paramount Decision - studios are no longer allowed to own their own movie theaters as it violates the Sherman Act. Basically they had a monopoly on making and distributing films. This decision greatly reduced studio's power. - Justia -
​
Universal makes a Horror-Comedy crossover with their big horror stars and comedy duo: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
1950s
The Cold War (between the US and USSR) lasts between 1950s-1989.
​
US is involved in the Vietnam War from 1950s-1973.
​
The Civil Rights Movements occurs in the 1950s-1960s.
​
McCarthy-ism in full swing with the Red and Lavender Scare.
​
Suburbs are on the rise! There is an increase of urbanization and White flight.
​
Marketers realize Teenagers are an untapped market to sell to.
​
Ray Harryhausen is doing great work with stop-motion and special effects.
​
The dawn of Sci-Fi horror movies.
​
Theatrical films shift from 4:3 to widescreen 1:33:1 to differentiate themselves from television (which broadcast in the square 4:3). - Scientific America -
1951
Film stock no longer in nitrate - so it's safer.
1952
DSM-I is published - the American Psychology Association's diagnostic manual.
​
"In Burstyn v. Wilson, the Supreme Court strikes down a ban on (the) film, The Miracle, which the New York Board of Regents had found "sacrilegious". For the first time, the Supreme Court holds that "motion pictures are significant medium for the communication of ideas," entitled to some First Amendment protection." - NCAC - This reversed the decisions from 1915, 37 years ago.
1954
Comics Code Authority - censorship extends to comics.
​
Joseph I Breen retired from the PCA.
​
Godzilla is released by Toho in Japan.
​
The Vampira Show (local to LA) began airing - Vampira was the first horror host.
1955
Rebel Without a Cause is released (The Wild One came out in 1953) - there is a rise in 'Teen Movies' which were often Beach Party Films in the 50's.
​
American International Pictures is founded by James Nicholson and Samuel Arkoff. It was an independent production and distribution company most well known for the work of Roger Corman "The Pope of Pop Cinema".
1957
Ed Gein is caught - he was a murderer that was the inspiration for Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Silence of the Lambs, and more.
​
Shock Theater began in October, with horror host Zacherle. It had a library of fifty-two pre-1948 horror movies (Universal). - Brad Weismann, Lost in the Dark: A World History of Horror Films (2021).
​
I was a Teenage Werewolf - this is the earliest horror movie specifically about teenagers that I can find.
​
Hammer Entertainment begins their monster cycle with The Curse of Frankenstein directed by Terence Fisher and staring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. They followed it up the next year, 1958, with the Horror of Dracula.
1958
The Blob is released - another early horror movie with teens, this one is teens vs adults.
​
Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine (proto-Fangoria) released by Forrest J Ackerman, who may have coined the term 'Sci-Fi'. - David Konow, Reel Terror: The Scary, Bloody, Gory, Hundred Year History of Classic Horror Films (2012).
​
Rod Sterling's, The Twilight Zone, begins airing - it's a horror show with a moral lesson.
​
"The Paramount Pictures Corporation has sold for $50,000,000 the television right to it's entire backlog of 750 motion pictures released before 1948." - New York Times -
1959
William Castle made House on Haunted Hill and The Tingler, both star new horror icon Vincent Price.
1960s
Second Wave Feminism! Occurs from the 1960s-1980s.
Sexual Revolution! Last into the 1970s.
​
Late 60s films started using licenced music with their typical score (ie needle drops). - Calgaryphil -
1960
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is released, it is the grandfather of the modern slasher film.
​
Between 1960-1964 Roger Corman made his Poe-Cycle, eight movies with Vincent Price based on Poe poems.
1961
The Space Race which started in 1955, sees both Russia and the US surpass escape velocity and send men out of Earth's orbit into space, albeit briefly.
1962
Cinepix is founded - it is renamed Lionsgate in 1998.
1963
President JFK is assassinated in November.
1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
​
The Addams Family and The Munsters, gothic horror-esque sitcoms begin airing on television.
1965
"the nation’s largest movie-theatre trade associations - the Theater Owners of America and the Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors - agreed to merge and form the National Association of Theatre Owners ([now] Cinema United)." - Cinema United -
​
Generation X! 1965-1980. It is marked by the extreme!
1966
"[Jack] Valenti became the president of the MPAA..." - Hicks, History of Movie Ratings (2013).
1967
The period known as 'New Hollywood' begins - lasting until the 80s.
This period is marked by directors who went to film school who have a lot of power (auteur theory). Notable figures are: Spielberg, Lucas, de Palma, Scorsese, Coppola, Bogdanovich. [Thanks Roger Corman!]
1968
Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in April.
RFK is assassinated in June.
​
MPAA debuts their rating system: G, M, R, X
CARA - Classification and Rating Administration - filmratings -
​
George Romero's Night of the Living Dead is released.
​
An adaptation of Rosemary's Baby is released - Satanic Panic films will be very popular...
G
R
M
X
1969
Apollo 11 moon landing...
​
Tate-LaBianca murders comitted by the Manson family.
1970s
Serial killers are on the rise from the 1970s-1990s.
​
Dawn of Exploitation Films (sexploitation, blacksploitation, Bruce-sploitation, ect)
​
It becomes standard for film credits to appear at the end of the film instead of the beginning. - Link -
​
Studios closed in-house effects departments making the artists freelance. - Wiki -
​
"American cinema had been skewed in the direction of a downbeat make themes." - Mark Cousins, The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011).
Post WWII there was an extreme focus on males in cinema...
​
Late 70s: a rise in wide theatrical releases, rather than slower rollouts. A rise in multiplexes, there are less single screen theaters. Basically there are more screens and a demand for movies to show on them. - Mark Cousins, The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011).
1970
MPAA changed M rating to GP. [G, GP, R, X] - filmratings -
​
Hammer Horror released the first film in the Karnstein trilogy, The Vampire Lovers, which popularized the overt lesbian vampire film.
​
Apollo 13 mission goes wrong.
G
R
GP
X
1971
Nixon declared that "America's public enemy number one (...) is drug abuse." - Speakola - it's the sin factor!
1972
The Watergate Scandal occurs from 1972-1974...
​
MPAA changed GP to PG: [G, PG, R, X] - filmratings -
​
Blacula is released, and it made a lot of money.
​
Wes Craven (and Sean Cunningham) made a violent realistic film: Last House on the Left.
G
R
PG
X
1973
Roe vs Wade legalized abortion nationwide (overturned in 2022).
​
US left Vietnam (a war that started in the 1950s).
​
Christopher Lee stars in his last Hammer Horror vampire film: The Satanic Rites of Dracula.
​
William Friedkin adapted Peter Blatty's, The Exorcist. Thus begins exorcism movies. Dick Smith did the make up effects.
1974
Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is released.
​
Bob Clark's Black Christmas is released.
​
Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz start Troma Entertainment.
1975
Stephen Speilberg made Jaws for Universal. John Williams did the score. Thus blockbusters are born! The success of this film changed the landscape of cinema.
​
In the late 70s there is a rise in wide theatrical releases, rather than slower rollouts. A rise in multiplexes (less single screen theaters). Basically there are more screens and a higher demand for movies to show on them. - Mark Cousins, The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011).
​
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is released - early Midnight Movie.
1976
"the resurrection of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a long run of midnight showings at the Waverly Theater in Greenwich Village, helping popularize the ‘midnight movie’ craze." - Cinema United -
Brian de Palma made the first cinematic adaptation of a Stephen King novel, Carrie.
​
Richard Donner's The Omen is released.
​
Sony released Betamax. - Wiki -
1977
Dario Argento's Suspiria is released.
​
Magnetic Video (founded by Andre Blay) licenced films from major studios to print on VHS and Beta to sell for home ownership. - Museum of Lost -
​
George Atkinson opened The Video Station, possibly the first video rental store. - Museum of Lost -
1978
John Carpenter (and Debra Hill)'s Halloween is released. It is the father of the slasher subgenre.
​
Tom Savini worked on Martin and Dawn of the Dead with George Romero. Savini would become a household name special effects artist.
1979
Fangoria Magazine is first released.
​
Tobe Hooper's tv movie based on Stephen King's vampire novel, Salem's Lot, premiers.
​
Ridley Scott's Alien is released.
​
The film adaptation of The Amityville Horror is released. It begins the modern haunted horror film.
1980s
The age of Satanic Panic takes off and lasts until the 2000s, but also I would argue it never ended.
​
Roland Reagan is elected the fortieth President of the U.S. His administration started the War on Drugs, saw a raise in the prison population, defunded mental health (deinstitutionalization), and was pro-consumerism and nationalism.
​
Counter-revolution to the more liberal 1970s.
​
The AIDS epidemic causes too many deaths while the government ignores it.
​
There is a rise in child abductions and their appearance on the news and milk cartons begins.
The Stranger Danger campaign and belief that 'strangers' are who we need to fear begins. This goes into the Cold War era Us vs Them mentality.
1980
'Michelle Remembers' is released and is considered the true start of the Satanic Panic.
Note: James Egbert's disappearance was the year before and that began the fear campaign against DnD).
​
Ted Turner launched CNN, a 24hr news channel.
​
Millennials! are born between 1980-1996.
​
Victor Miller (and Sean Cunningham)'s Friday the 13th is released and thus is the dawn of the camp slasher.
1981
Rick Backer won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Makeup for An American Werewolf in London.
​
Elvira's Movie Macabre aired from 1981-1986 (locally in LA).
​
MTV launched! ​
​
Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead is released.
1982
"The BBFC rating system is overhauled with the introduction of the PG, 15, 18, and R18 categories." - BBFC -
1984
In the War on Drugs - the Just Say No campaign begins.
​
Wes Craven's Nightmare on Elm Street is released.
​
In the UK the Video Recordings Act (VRA) is passed. This will lead into the Video Nasty era of censorship in the UK. - BBFC -
​
MPAA added a rating between PG and R: PG-13 - filmratings -
Spielberg suggested it after audience complaints regarding Temple of Doom and Gremlins.
The first movie rated PG-13 was Red Dawn.
​
Sony Corp. of America v Universal City Studios Inc. aka the Betamax case which started in 1976, and contributed to VHS winning the video wars. - Justia - Wiki -
G
R
PG
X
PG-13
1985
Music censorship boards and hearings lead to Parental Advisory and Explicit Lyric stickers. - Link -
​
Blockbuster was founded by David Cook. - Medium -
VHS/home video is becoming increasingly prevalent.
"By the end of the 1980s the target audience of Western Commercial cinema was teenage, male and hooked on MTV." - Mark Cousins, The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011).
1988
Charles Band started Full Moon Features.
​
WGA - writer's strike lasts 154 days, longest in WGA history. - WGA -
1990
"By the early 1990s, Blockbuster had thousands of stores across the United States and internationally." - Medium -
​
MPAA rating systems updates X to NC-17. - filmratings -
G
R
PG
PG-13
NC-17
1995
Wes Craven (and Kevin Williamson)'s Scream is released. It's a genre deconstruction on the slasher which added a 90's element of meta-ness which revitalized the slasher subgenre.
1999
A one of the time ad campaign lead to a huge success for the indie film, The Blair Which Project, which popularized the found footage genre.
2000s
DVDs are becoming more prevelant. This ushers in the era of PG-13 theatrical released horror movies which had 'unrated' after market/home releases on DVD.
​
"By the early 2000s it was clear that Mom n Pop video stores could not compete with Blockbuster Video. For the most part Blockbuster Video paid nothing for the new releases, and split revenue directly with the film studios." - VHS Massacre Too [2020].
​
J-horror becomes popular.
2001
9/11 - the War on Terror begins...
2003
Platinum Dune's first horror remake: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This lead to Platinum Dune's remaking a number of other horror films: . As well as, a remake resurgence.
​
"DVD rentals overtake videocassettes" for the first time. - Washington Times -
2007
WGA - write's strike. - WGA -
2008
Obama is elected the 42nd President of the U.S. He is in office from 2008-2016.
​
The Financial Crisis - housing market crash leads to a reccession.
2010s
Still in the Platinum Dunes remake era.
​
Post Avatar success there is a rise in the utilization of 3-D films.
​
Netflix truly begins making waves in the industry, despite having been around since 1997, ushering in the dawn of streaming.
2016
Damien Leone's Terrifier is released.
2017
Trump is in office - he's the 43rd President of the US, from 2017-2020.
This period sees a rise in a push for representation on screen.
2020
The great 2020 sit in due to the Covid Pandemic. Also there is an economic crisis due to a rise in inflation.
​
Disney and Twentieth Century Fox officially merged (it started in 2017).
2021
Joe Biden is in office from 2021-2024 as the 44th President.
2022
Roe v Wade is overturned making abortion not protected (becomes a state by state decision), launching a new wave of gyno and conservative horror.
2025
Donald Trump takes office again...
​
The National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) changed their name to Cinema United. - Cinema United -
*All information comes from my own knowledge and double checking dates on Wikipedia,
unless I have a link for a different source.