Fear of the Dark: A Look at Universal’s Horror Films during the 1930’s and their Impact on the Film Industry and American Society

Paper by Brandon Pirruccelo.

Fear has motivated human beings since the dawn of mankind. It drives us to rationalize things that we cannot explain and it aids in defining the values and beliefs of different cultures. It is a primal emotion that roots itself deep within different mythologies and faiths. Human beings are programmed to avoid these fears and live to circumvent them. It can negatively impact a culture by inducing a sense of ignorance or malcontent towards something that is not typically understood. As with humans or animals, if something confuses us or makes us uncomfortable, it is our natural response to fear it. Because of this, we will do everything we can to avoid or dishearten the offending fixation. Clearly, fear in itself is a very powerful thing that rules us and it dictates to us how to live through responsorial behavior. Harnessing fear is something that many great human powers have come to understand as a means to control the troubled masses. If used correctly, inspiring the fear of a subject could easily breed prejudice against it. It could also be used as a way to distract or draw focus away from common issues, just as it has done so when channeled through film. Film making has always been about expressing ideas and providing thought provoking entertainment. Through fictional film, grand stories can be brought dangerously close to reality and easily invoke overwhelming sensations of fear and “genres like comedy, horror, and pornography that involve the viewer’s body and sensory-affective responses in ways that may not exactly conform to classical ideals” (Hansen: 64) are exploited to induce this emotion. Reasons for such fears may vary in degree and significance from person to person, but it still intrigues mankind on a grand scale. By bringing fear into a medium that is realistic yet controlled, people are able to associate it with other emotions such as excitement or anticipation. One of the earliest examples of this ideology in Hollywood can be seen with Universal Pictures and their pioneering of the “horror” genre. Universal Pictures’ succession of Production Code challenging horror films during Hollywood’s “Golden Age” directly reflected society’s shift to a darkened mental state that longed for escape from economic turmoil and revealed a growing fear of foreign unknowns.

As the 1920’s were coming to an end and America began its decade long economic decline known as “The Great Depression”, a new era in film making also emerged. Technology was evolving very rapidly and silent films had finally given way to the dramatic introduction of synchronized audio dialogue and music. This change ushered in new styles of film and, “a mere two years after the premiere of sound in movie theaters, silent films vanished completely from American screens” (Lewis: 91). This forced some studios to rethink the effectiveness of physical comedies and the like since the introduction of sound provided new, more effective ways of acting in film. Luckily, these advancements came at a perfect time where America was in a deep state of turmoil and despair and its people were desperate for a distraction since, “At the movies they could forget their troubles for a couple of hours. Depression films, one left-wing critic maintained, were a modern form of bread and circuses, distracting Americans from their problems, reinforcing older values, and dampening political radicalism” (Hollywood and the Great Depression).

The different studios of the time answered this call with their own flavors of film. MGM, for example, released the dramatic and progressive Wizard of Oz in 1939 which heavily aided in the idea of escapism for Americans. Universal Pictures, a studio considered to be a member of the little three during Hollywood’s “golden years”, also participated in escapism beginning in the early 1930’s. This was a time were the world was very much enshrouded in ominous darkness. In 1929, the Stock Market crash spelled out the demise of many successful companies and individuals. In 1933, Adolf Hitler began his ascent to power which initiated his career of hatred and mass murder resulting in a stay in creative control in Germany, a place where stylistically dark films characteristic of the horror genre, were not as fresh as in America. Many filmmakers journeyed to America and, “found a home at Universal, a studio that consequently produced a series of landmark horror films made very much in the expressionist style” (Lewis: 130). Universal’s venture into genre based filmmaking was the beginning of a peculiar brand of cinematic vision and inventiveness that would help Americans out of their current morbid state of mind and distract them with an entirely new one.

In 1931, Universal began its conquest of the horror genre with one of its earliest and possibly most well-known horror films of all time, Dracula. The film stars Béla Lugosi, a contract actor for Universal, who was adept at portraying characters that generated a sense of fear and overall uneasiness. The film was highly stylized with the use of shadow and directed light that would enhance the dramatic effect of the count’s paralyzing gaze. The film would have been easy to relate to for any common person of the time because the way the characters respond to the threat of Count Dracula. It pits a group of seemingly normal people against a distant foe who is foreign in both social status and ethnicity. This allows the audience to feel more comfortable with the conflict as most people would be unable to identify with a member of the aristocracy such as the count, let alone a vampire, and therefore could much more easily side with the group of “good guys”. The setting, equally as estranged as the Count, creates a sense of disillusionment for the audience as they are often thrown into extraordinary locations such as Dracula’s ruined castles and the mental institution where much of the film takes place. Dracula’s presence intimidates men but captivates women as he hypnotizes them “and enters their bedrooms to penetrate their bodies with his teeth” (Lewis: 113). This encourages the audience to experience a sense of fleeting trust in the character as he manipulates those around him with his charm. His supernatural powers portray him as an unbeatable evil and his sexual suggestiveness possibly equate him with the belief in mortal sin. His character seemed to represent all of the evils of man conveniently yet subtly condensed into one supernatural creature that is overcome by a group of strong willed human beings.

The creative devices and uplifting conclusion to the film could easily act as a distraction from the actual worldly evils the audience would have been experiencing. The audience is presented with a foreign enemy, a prejudice that is easily exploited even today, and they are united as it is overcome. War time opponents and a disruption in the American workforce had already established immigrants and foreigners as enemies of the common man and victims of much prejudice. Since Dracula was from a distant land, the intention of generating an authentic sense of fear becomes obvious and successfully captivates the audience. “…in a war, of course, we tend to dehumanize the enemy. It makes it easier to kill them and easier to run the risk of being killed yourself” (Warnke: 243) and the character of Dracula does just this. He is a foreign enemy, with the physical appearance of a man, yet has characteristics that completely overshadow his physical appearance allowing both characters in the film and the audience to classify him as not human. With this powerful performance, Universal Pictures successfully drew the audience away from their domestic problems and united them in a struggle against a common enemy.

By today’s standards, Dracula would hardly be considered offensive and its suggestive themes might even be too subtle to penetrate the desensitized minds of contemporary audiences. However, the reason that horror films from Universal Pictures, like Dracula, succeeded in providing troubled American moviegoers with a sense of escape, was because they challenged the harsh censorship of the Motion Picture Production Code. The Code was birthed due to the failure of the “Don’ts and Be Carefuls” published by William Hays under the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America in 1927. While the Production Code was formalized in 1930, the era from 1930-1934 is known as the “pre-code” era in film where films blatantly challenged the Code or simply ignored it due to its lack of enforcement. Many of Universal’s most memorable horror films were released during this time period such as Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), among many others. Universal Pictures challenged the Code in such a way that was common in design in its various films, yet unique in presentation.

Dracula directed the attention of its audience towards a foreign enemy which became somewhat of a cliché in other horror films from the studio. It was very formulaic to place a protagonist, or often a group where a single main character was less identifiable, in a foreign country. For instance, Dracula takes place in England while Murders in the Rue Morgue takes place in France. While the settings are quite obviously distant to American soil, characters always seemed to demonstrate American-like qualities making them more identifiable to American audiences. While they lack the native speech of their country or any hint of an Americanized accent, the antagonist always retains these qualities. One of Bela Lugosi’s defining qualities was his accent so it is likely that this was taken into account when choosing his roles, since he was a foreigner himself. On the other hand, foreign qualities were only one aspect of what Universal was trying to convey with its horror films.

Frankenstein, also released in 1931, challenged the Code and encouraged escapism for audiences in a familiar fashion with a foreign setting and enemy; however, it revealed another underlying theme within Universal horror films that was much more subtle in Dracula than in later Universal films. Frankenstein revolved around a monster that was created by “Henry Frankenstein”, a man of science. While the film features plenty of Code challenging violence, morality is challenged when characters in the film constantly question Frankenstein’s sanity and principles as he continues to defile the dead and attempts to build a human being. The film denotes the character as somewhat anti-religious and condemns him for his out of the box thinking as he professes, “Have you never wanted to do anything that was dangerous? Where should we be if no one tried to find out what lies beyond? Have you never wanted to look beyond the clouds and the stars, or to know what causes the trees to bud? And what changes the darkness into light? But if you talk like that, people call you crazy. Well, if I could discover just one of these things, what eternity is, for example, I wouldn’t care if they did think I was crazy” (Frankenstein). Frankenstein’s former professor, Doctor Waldman, quickly dismisses this line of thinking. The fact that Waldman is a medical doctor and a professor makes this highly demoralizing. This scene is reminiscent of the Dark Ages where progressive thought was taboo and religion was an unchallenged source for answers. It becomes clear that the underlying message here would appeal to an American audience deeply rooted in religious faith and unfamiliar with scientific inquiry.

The film challenged the Code in many traditional ways as well. It opens in a grave yard scene with the grim image of a body hanging lifelessly as Frankenstein and his assistant deduce that its broken neck makes it an unusable specimen for their heretical experiments. Frankenstein’s quest to reanimate the dead required a supply of corpses for his experiments. Character alluded to suspicions of murder in order to propel this goal forward and the Production Code would have forbid unpunished murder. The monster is guilty of many counts of violence and his accidental drowning of a young girl would have been deemed highly offensive and anti-Code. Dramatizations such as this demonstrated that Universal Pictures was not afraid to be liberal with their interpretation of the code in order to provide convincing and befuddling horror films.

In 1932, Universal once again pits the audience against science with Murders in the Rue Morgue. Directed by Robert Florey, the film is a perfect example of pre-code escapist cinema. Bela Lugosi plays a mad scientist, appropriately named Dr. Mirakle, who is a foreigner to the film’s protagonist and setting. The film features a very heavy atmosphere while the violence in the film is marginally stronger and more obvious than in previous Universal horror films like Dracula. Dr. Mirakle’s abuse of women and disregard for life in the name of science seem to infer that science seeks to ignore moral boundaries. The Film revolves around a plot to combine human female DNA with ape DNA and breed some kind of hybrid creation is absolutely absurd scientifically, but even today, films like this would sacrifice accuracy for the entertainment of the ignorant masses. Sexual themes are much more blatant with belly dancers implying a sense of eroticism men see in exotic foreign women. The mistakenly suggestive scene where the ape abducts the heroine of the film and stuffs a woman’s corpse into a chimney figuratively spits directly on the ideals of the Production Code. It would be hard not to forget the troubles of the Great Depression after watching this film.

The horror genre was in its infancy in Hollywood and was an ideal specimen to test on the public during this time of despair in America. Not only did it successfully distract from issues of the time such as the woes of the Great Depression, but it built up a genre that would unite cinema fans worldwide as they cowered in the dark recesses of their theaters and were suddenly thrust forward from their seats launching a bombardment of snacks into the petrified soul in front of them. Mikel Koven states that, “ different forms of magic exist within any number of sacred-belief traditions, but for the secular world, the horror film’s population of monsters, devils, and “hook-handed” killers allowed the “suspension of disbelief” of their existence to function based on the verisimilitude of this genre to the folktale” (Koven: 181). Universal must have realized this too as its filmmakers knew that with these movies, they would be able to unite the masses through fear whether they were of different faiths or entirely secular. The studio’s wide-reaching contribution to film is undoubtedly one of the most influential in the entire entertainment industry because the horror genre is so expansive. Their production of horror films was a responsorial action that was desperately needed and delivered to the public in the nick of time. Their films will stay everlasting and serve as inspiration for filmmakers and horror enthusiasts everywhere.

Films such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and Murders in the Rue Morgue deliberately challenged the rules of the Production Code. These pre-code films all established a strong sense of fear and terror for their audience to intentionally push boundaries. This allowed them to stay America’s hunger for something novel and compelling. Dracula teased audiences with a seductive aristocrat eager to seduce young women seeking to preserve his own life force. The sensuality and romanticism of the character of Dracula paved the way for modern interpretations of the vampire mythos that have stayed true to this notion. Frankenstein heavily simplified its true source, the original novel by Mary Shelley; however, it created an archetype that is still used in cinema today. The creature revealed true human nature as it was pursued and inevitably destroyed because people feared what they could not comprehend. It teaches us that the most frightening concept is of the unknown and that it creates just the right amount of tension and motivation to create a monster driven movie. Murders in the Rue Morgue helped solidify the mad-scientist stereotype in films and combined violence and mystery. Many modern horror films borrow from this set-up to create a sub-genre of horror involving the suspense and reasoning of a mystery and the intense perplexing images of a horror film. With these ingenious plot devices, Universal Pictures was able to produce a series of successful horror movies that provided sweet release to its wide audience. Because these films challenged the Production Code and outwardly reflected society’s shift to a darkened mental state, the economic turmoil that so many Americans were suffering through was overshadowed by their fear of foreign unknowns and the unthinkable terrors of the silver screen.

Citations:

Lewis, John. American Film: A History.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008. Print.

Hansen, Miriam. “The Mass Production of the Senses: Classical Cinema as Vernacular Modernism.”
Modernism/modernity 1999: 6.2. 59-77. Project Muse. Web. 21 April 2010.

Koven, Mikel. “Folklore Studies and Popular Film and Television: A Necessary Critical Survey.”
Journal of American Folklore 2004: 116.460 176-195. Project Muse. Web. 22 April 2010.

Lederer, Susan. “Repellent Subjects: Hollywood Censorship and Surgical Images in the 1930’s.”
Literature and Medicine 1998: 17.1 91-113. Project Muse. Web. 22 April 2010.

Warnke, Paul C. “The Domestic Rationale for Foreign Enemies.” Psychoanalytic Inquiry 1986: 6
243-246. Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing. Web. 22 April 2010.

Hollywood and the Great Depression. Digital History, 22 April 2010. 22 April 2010.

Frankenstein. Dir. James Whale. Perf. Colin Clive, Edward Van Sloan. Universal Pictures, 1931. Digital.