Establishment of a Genre. Hollywood Horror in the 1930s

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Communications - Movies and Television, grade: 2.1, University of Leicester, language: English, abstract: This dissertation will examine film genre and in particular the Horror genre during the 1930s. The question of what defines the genre and how it becomes defined is brought up and in answering it I will look upon the themes and the history surrounding some of the biggest pictures of the decade. Much of the studies into genre, had been previously been rather broad and even the ones that focused upon the horror genre, they too lacked the focus solely towards the Horror genre in the 1930s. This piece, analyses the horror genre of the 1930s with use of genre theory and also the thematic structure and historical information regarding the films.

The study presents that the Horror genre is defined by the era, with the 1930s and the issues surround the decade structuring and influencing the genre, from the advancements in technology to the importance of social commentary within the Horror genre. The study elaborates that particular issues and political matters found their way into the genre and helped to define and structure the genre.