History of Diseases in Horror film

The emerging idea of bringing infectious diseases into horror films were adapted from mainly literatures. The earliest literatures that had contributed immensely to the infectious themes in Horror fiction were portrayed visually and were found at the early age of Babylonian and Hebrew writing. In the medieval period, waves of epidemic diseases broke out, and due to the profound interest, the people already had in Victorian horror that utilizes the fear of infection and contamination; thus, the circulation of popular stories on mythological creatures often contained a component relating to some sort of contagious disease. Due to the lack of resources and technology, the development of film was not prominent until the 19^th - 20^th century. From then onward the themes relating to any sorts of infectious plague and the development of an apocalypse (zombies, parasites, mythical creatures) became a vital component that has been deeply embedded into the horror film field in modern days. Bellow we can view a brief timeline that highlights some film/literature classics that aided in the development of plague culture in horror films.

TIMELINE

4 millennia ago – Babylonian texts “Gilgamesh” and “Enuma Elish” talks about frightening demons such as “the Hydra, the Dragon, the Great Demon… etc.”
Around 2700 years ago – “The Book of Exodus” records the 10 plagues of Egypt, with four of the plagues revolving around infections such as lice, flies, livestock disease, boils, and the most powerful plague was that all the first born in Egypt will die.
Early 1800s – “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1812), “Frankenstein” by Mary W. Shelly (1818), and “The Vampyre” by John Polidori (1819) are all written literatures found in the 18^th century that marks the beginning of a newly distinguished genre known as Horror fiction
1897 – the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stocker was the most influential modern piece that sets the expectancy on the emerging monster stories, as his work successively weaves together the old myths and stories surrounding contagious disease and contemporary views on mythological creatures. The creation of Dracula highlights the mammals (bats, wolves) that the shape-shifting nature of a vampire can take form of. It emphasizes on the fact that those mammals are known to carry infectious disease which directly correlates to the connection between the appearance of diseases in horror literature.
1922 – “Nosferatu” directed by F.W. Murnau is a film adaption of the “Dracula”. In the late 1800s, the syphilis outbreak took a toll on Europe’s nation health. Thus, in the film, the main Vampire male character – Count Orlok portrayed an appearance (high bald forehead, pale complexion, pointed ears, and deformed teeth) that resembled the syphilis symptoms of frontal bossing, fatigue, rhagades… etc.
1956 – “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” produced by Walter Wanger is a film that digs deeper into the parasitism theme where an alien appears on Earth and proceeds to parasitize humans. Many viewers connected the animal and human infestation theme as an analogy to the Toxoplasma gondii disease.
1959 – “The Tingler” a horror movie by William Castle illustrates a parasitic centipede that feeds on the host’s fear and moments of terror.
1964 – “The Last Man on Earth” a post-apocalyptic fiction horror film directed by Sidney Salkow and Ubaldo B. Ragona portrays a worldwide pandemic that turns most of the humankind into vampire beings. This film brings forward the depiction of zombies as a victim of a plague.
1968 – “Night of the Living Dead” is a classic – perhaps one of the most famous zombie depictions of all time by George Romero. Due to the causes of nuclear toxins that the government was responsible for. the zombification of humans started with a deep bite from an afflicted zombie. The deep bite from an afflicted zombie, following with a painful death which results a human to transform into a zombie state begins the preeminent idea that zombification must contain a contagious infection aspect.
1994 – “The Puppet Masters” was a novel written by Robert Heinlein but was adapted into a film in 1994. This film is centered around the extraterrestrial invasion by unknown slug-shaped alien creatures that attach to a human and takes over control of their mind and action. This movie brought mass attention to the new theme parasitism that is explored in the horror fiction and films.