The Impact Of Gothic Literature On Creation Of Horror Films

Edgar Allen Poe wrote amazing writings that included Gothic Literature with all his suspense and mysterious acts. Poe made a very big impact on Gothic Literature. Poe’s writings impacted people from his writings and inspired them to write also, even to make a film from his writings. His work impacted directors to make Horror Films which later led onto Slasher Films. Horror and Slasher Films would not be what they are if it wasn’t for Gothic Literature.

“The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe is a very impactful writing towards Gothic Literature because of the mysterious acts, suspense and supernatural events. “The Tell Tale Heart” was a big jump for Gothic Literature and it impacted the Horror Genre in a big way. Without the writing, Horror would not be where it is at right now. The original Horror Films had a lot of Gothic events in them but around the 1990s, the Horror Film Industry decided that Goth would became less seen in the movies because the directors wanted the films to be more “Modernized tales of destruction. ” Now a days, Goth and Horror aren’t meant for each other and the directors just mess everything up here and there with goth and it doesn't fit in or its too little but in random places they don't belong. Since Horror films don't fit in too well with goth anymore, a new genre was made in order to have both Horror and Goth, with a mix of any other genres as well. The first main Slasher Film was Psycho in 1960, which became the father of Slasher Films.

How exactly is Goth used in Slasher films? We know that Goth and Horror films don’t always go together but in a Slasher Movie there has to be a mix in with Horror and Goth. Goth is used to make Slasher films what slasher films are. By saying that, I mean a slasher film is only right with killings, bloody cruel ones too, which adds the gothic vibe to the movie. In a regular horror film there would just be jump scares, random killings and a bunch of suspense. Goth is very needed because in a Slasher Film there’s always a group of characters and a mystery killer which obviously is masked up and in a creepy costumes to add horror. The “Final Battle” is where the masked killer and the main character of the slasher film fights to the end and only to find out who the killer was. The Gothic scenes come in when the killer tortures everyone near the main character in a very brutal way. The suspense when the killer comes and goes so fast but leaves a dead body behind. The unexpected is always expected to happen because of all the mysterious events. Slasher films are better seen with a lot of Gothic events that fit in and Horror films can only have a few Gothic events here and there, but when I mean horror films, I mean just horror, not supernatural satanic horror films. Those have the most gothic scenes. But when it comes to Horror vs Slasher Films, Slasher will always win in the best Gothic scenes.

The 1930s to 1940s had amazing horror films with a good amount of goth that fit into them. The best few were the “Monster” films. Dracula, Frankenstien and The WareWolf have horror film scenes and a good amount of mixed gothic scenes also. All of these films were made from Gothic Literature writings from the early 1800s. Then in 1960 the first slasher film to made big was released and the movie was a whole new type of genre. A madman going crazy and killing everyone near him. This movie was the beginning of Slasher Films. Other films like this one with more of a twist and more gothic events are: Halloween, Micheal Myers; Friday the 13th, Jason Vorhees; Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy Krueger; Scream; Ghostface. But none of these movies went as big as Psycho as in Slasher films. All of these films all have one similarity though. They’re all mixed up with Horror and Gothic, some too little, some just the right amount, and some just way too much that makes the movie way too “Gothic. ” In conclusion, Gothic literature that was written around the 1800s were made into Horror / Gothic films. Without these writings, Horror films wouldn’t be the same, maybe not even a thing anymore. Gothic literature basically created these horror films and if it wasn’t for gothic literature, then Horror Films and Slasher Films wouldn’t be where they are right now.