The Decade in Horror: The 1930s
"We have a lot of reason to be fearful in the world," Frank Farley, Temple University
One of the common theories used to explain the horror paradox is that people watch horror movies as a way of coping with actual fears or violence. Since one source of our fears is undoubtedly the world in which we live, I thought it would be interesting to look at the popular horror movies of different decades to see how they reflect the general fears and uncertainties of the times.
The 1930s
As if the stock market crash of 1929, which helped trigger the Great Depression, was not bad enough for the United States, the Dust Bowl also occurred in the first half of the decade, resulting in severe draught, food shortages and a reduction in wages. Even though radio was the dominant form of media, audiences flocked to movies that were far removed from their everyday realities. It was in this decade that the movie going public accepted horror as a genre.
Not only were the stories of 1930s horror movies an escape, but also the locations. Movies like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy and Werewolf of London contained fantastic characters and situations, but they also took place far from the troubled United States. Most of these movies had a gothic influence and dealt more with science and adventure than the supernatural.
Take the four movies mentioned above and add Freaks, Island of Lost Souls, The Most Dangerous Game, The Old Dark House, White Zombie, King Kong, The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein, and it's undeniable that the 1930s was the golden age of the horror movie. This was also the decade in which Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi became stars and horror legends as they created iconic representations of literary and mythological monsters.
Four of my favorite horror movies of all time were released in the 1930s: Frankenstein, The Most Dangerous Game, King Kong and Bride of Frankenstein.
It should be noted that most of these movies were made during the first half of the decade. In 1935, the British Board of Film Censors introduced the "H" (Horrific) rating and was attached to "any films likely to frighten or horrify children under the age of 16 years. Subsequently, in 1936, Hollywood embraced a strict production code limiting the violence and sexuality that could be portrayed in films. These policies resulted in virtually no horror films being produced in 1937 and 1938.
Horror movies experienced a resurgence in 1939, the same year that gave us two of the most beloved movies of any genre, Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. It seemed that with the classic lines from those movies, "Tomorrow is another day" and "There's no place like home", the Great Depression was winding down and the public was becoming more hopeful. What would that mean for horror? Check back tomorrow and we'll find out…
Other 1930s milestones:
1930. Warner Brothers released the first all-talking, all-color movie, Song of the Flame.
1931. RCA Victor introduced the first long-playing phonograph record; the Empire State Building opened.
1932. Franklin D. Roosevelt elected President of the United States.
1933. Prohibition ended in the United States; in Europe, Hitler rose to power.
1937. The German dirigible Hindenburg exploded in New Jersey; Disney's Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs was released; the Golden Gate Bridge opened.
1938. Radar was invented.
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