Were people in the '30s really scared by Universal horror movies or was it just a meme...

Were people in the '30s really scared by Universal horror movies or was it just a meme? I'm not even shitposting or being edgy, it's just that I genuinely can't put myself in their shoes, and I don't understand how they could be seen as "scary".

>i cant understand why a moving train in the early 1900s was considered to be scary
It was something new and no one understood what was going on.

Movies were new, this was new, people never experienced this in their lives before. Yes, it was scary. People easily adapt to it and change, that's it.

In 100 years people won't understand how 2 girls 1 cup could be seen as disgusting

Because it was the first time people were introduced to fiction involving monsters and things like that.

Nosferatu is terrifying when watching at 3 am alone in the dark. The 1932 Mummy has an unsettling scene at the beginning when the Mummy awakes due to there being no music and it feels different compared to how most old movies are directed.

Dracula in a cape never scared me and I have no idea how American cinema went to bland with Dracula when the German Nosferatu is superior.

Probably similar to modern slashers, they had vs parodies as well.

in 100 years we'll be doing 2 guys 1 cup just to survive the wasteland

Because movies evolve like all other things do. You're used to modern horror movies which are more refined than the movies back then.

>user thinks 1930 was 100 years ago

>You're used to modern horror movies which are more refined than the movies back then.
I'm not scared by modern horror movies neither. But at least I can understand why people do. '30s horror movies were just weird guys looking weirdly at the camera.

Like said, people back then were terrified of a movie of a train coming at them.

"People were retarded" is not a reply I consider acceptable

Well then you'll never know

Dracula is weak. They were scared by Frankenstein.

Becuase americans are as a whole dumber and less educated than the average pre ww2 German.

You're being retarded right now, so you better accept that reply. Especially because you think it has to do with their intelligence.

It's actually a bit complex. I don't think most of them were considered truly scary. There were already humorous elements in many horror movies in 1930s.
Whale's The Old Dark House is from 1932 and it already feels like a parody of the haunted house genre (except it wasn't really a genre yet).

people didnt know any different.

the world is changing constantly

just in the last century the black men who would fuck white women would get lynched constantly and white women shamed. nowadays? nobody cares except some poltards, black men fuck white girls and it's all alright in the world

that's the same with horror. it evolves. internet definitely made the horror genre very difficult to progress.

This is probably the most accurate post so far. The horror genre has always been a moneymaker done on the cheap by major studios. It was never a prestige thing.

My limited understanding of this topic, things being scary or intense before movies could really be that realistic, is that the suspension of disbelief was much stronger. Some things in these movies are scary straight-up even today but most of it wasn't even at the time. People just went into movies with a more fantastical mindset and willingness to go along for the ride. They accepted the special effects and camera limitations for what they were and played along, willing to be scared. Today that isn't the case, people budge not an inch on film. If a modern filmgoer is anything but momentarily convinced they're gonna die, they don't play along.

People had imaginations back then.

almost there buddy

>Dracula in a cape never scared me
Renfield is where it's at.
The scene where they board the empty ship and just hear his weird "hnn hnn hnn" laugh is complete spoopykino.

I wondered this too. from a modern point of view they seem so absolutely tame. So in loo of finding someone from the 1930s who hasn't seen any modern horror flicks I had my 4 year old nephew watch some old horror movies with me since all he's seen are the newer animated Disney movies and few of the modern marvel flicks. While he seemed fine while we were watching them, eager to watch the next one as soon as the previous had ended later that night he could not sleep and was absolutely terrified, apparently it was the creature from the black lagoon that scared him the most. I'm not quite sure if that supports my hypothesis or not but it was fun nonetheless.