The Last Man on Earth	Post apocolyptic movies usually mean boring movies filmed for pennies in some desert in California, but Last Man on Earth movies are generally more interesting and less lame. They often allow the audience roll along with the protagonist though unbridled shopping scenes before the horror ride begins.
First Use	I am Legend, by Richard Matheson, was published in 1954. This well known science fiction work runs between vampire horror and philosophy as it follows the last man on earth, following world war and plague.
Adaptations	Early adaptations include The Last Man on Earth (1964)with Vincent Price and The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston, both good adaptations of the Matheson story. Homega Man provided parody in the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror VII (1996). The first part of 28 Days Later (2003) brilliantly manages this genre before jumping into an urban zombie apocolype. Matheson's book has also been cited as a key influence by George Romero for Night of the Living Dead films. In the void of original ideas, Will Smith starred in a flawed adaptation of I am Legand in 2007. Rock on, Fresh Prince. Cashing in on the remake was I am Omega (2007) starring the Chairman from the American version of Iron Chef, Mark Decastos, probably direct to video. Please don't confuse with The Last Man on Earth (1924), a comedy regarding the last man on earth among plentiful women. Sheesh.

Classically Themed Murders	What happens when a scriptwriter has actually read a book or two? You get ambitious murderers, who seperate themselves from the slashing herds by meticulous and elaborate planning or murder set-pieces. These villians fall close to the numerous flawed 'super villians' (who, in contrast, are unable to dispatch dashing protagonists precisely because of the elaborate death traps).
First Use	Vincent Price in the wonderful The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) seems to have presaged the 'wildly complex classically based murder series' motif for horror/suspense films. To exact his revenge upon the doctors who failed to save his wife, Dr. Phibes (Price at a quirky extreme) models his murders on the nine biblical plagues of Egypt. Sounds easy, but you try killing someone with locusts.
Adaptations	David Fincher's stunning Se7en (1995) takes this motif to a new level, working through the seven deadly sins. To some degree, the Phibes sequel (Dr. Phibes Rises Again, 1972) attempts to recapture this theme, but less successfully. Also of note is an episode of the TV series CSI:NY (aired originally October 11, 2006) where people are murdered according to Grecian mythological themes (hydra slaying, 100 eyes of Panoptes, etc). Pretty good for TV, actually. The independent film Feed (2005) about a madman who gradually feeds his girlfriends to death also deserves mentioning, although it merely targets gluttony.

A Book Called Necronomicon	When you need a demonic invasion to jump start a sagging horror film, just whip out an ancient book of lost incantations to get the party started. It doesn't have to be called Necronomicon specifically, but the legion will get the idea.
First Use	The Necronomicon, ('Book of Dead Names') is expressly the creation of H.P. Lovecraft. Reportedly written by the mad arab Abdul Alhazred (his childhood alter-ego), it's tangled verses include procedures for spanning the abyss that seperates us from the 'Old Ones' and the dimensions of horror that surrounds us unseen. According to Lovecraft, only five copies have survived to modern times. I have seen speculation that some actual connections to A. Crowley exist. Often overlooked as a possible influence leading towards the Necronomicon is Robert Chamber's 'The King in Yellow, written in 1895.
Adaptations	Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1982), Evil Dead II (1987), Army of Darkness (1993) certainly lead the pack. The Necronomicon (1993) is the only titular production, but is as poor a Lovecraft adaptation as you will find. Another noteworthy movie influenced by Lovecraft is 1971's Equinox, which runs like a claymation-heavy Evil Dead, but without the scariness. This film is also important because it is the debut of Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek from WKRP in Cincinnati). They don't actually call the book 'Necronomicon,' but it is utterly similar. Don't forget 1994's forgettable Necronomicon (alternately titled "H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon, Book of the Dead" on DVD) which proves again that Lovecraft is generally unadaptable to film. The Slaughter (2006) included the flesh-bound book without naming it, but references to Soggoth clinch its identity. The short horror film Of Darkness (2006) pivots about a spooky, decayed book of ancient incantations, but the book itself is not named.

Spooky OuiJa Boards	It's hard to remember a time when a OuiJa board in a horror movie was not an automatic trigger for ghostly or demonic hijinx. Pesky spirits begin spelling out their names before the plantir is even warm. This is usually the waypoint where tone changes in a horror movie, and the scares start flowing.
First Use	The first use of an actual OuiJa board that I am aware of goes to William Castle's original 13 Ghosts (1960), where it reveals spooky messages without much help. I have heard that The Uninvited (1944) includes an improvised 'talking board' made from a Scrabble set and a wine glass, which certainly counts.
Adaptations	Trendsetting demon-themed films Rosemary's Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (both the 1971 novel and the 1973 film) put this device firmly on the horror map, often with chilling effect (just ask Captain Howdy). In 1972, anthology-house Amicus delivered Tales From the Crypt, with Peter Cushing conferring with a board. I have seen a reference to an Australian film called Alison's Birthday (1979) where a Ouija causes all sorts of ancient-evil based problems. Tepid sequel Amityville 3-D (1983) and The Devil's Gift (1984) went there, too. Eventually, the Ouija would become the whole plot, as in Witchboard (1986), not to mention Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway (1993), and the much awaited Witchboard 3: The Possession (1995), and possibly an Asian horror film named Witchboard that I remember seeing in a listing in 2007. There is also a profoundly mundane Ouija scene in a low-budget release called Drive Thru (2007), which boasts a cameo by the creator of Supersize Me (2004), which was kind of the film's high point. But I digress.

The Reality-Based Horror Genre	Shaky cameras, grainy black and white footage, sometimes mixed in with crisp digital footage. It's just raw enough to convince you that you are watching a documentary or newsreel account of a horrible tragedy from a fly-on-the-wall vantage point. Before this, we had to be content with sitting though a professionally made motion picture, I guess.
First Use	Cannibal Holocaust (1978) really seems to have started it all. This mondo classic has stayed just underground enough to be missed by the mainstream world. It even originated the 'lost footage discovered' motif that was used so effectively near Burkitsville, MD by the Blair Witch bunch.
Adaptations	Another early reality-based horror experience was an HBO Tales from the Crypt episode Television Terror (1990) starring Morton Downey, Jr. The episode involved a very Downey-like talkshow host taking a film crew into a haunted house to spend the night, televised on live TV. The most memorable sequences are video-quality, somewhat shaky handheld camera sequences. This was one of the better Tales from the Crypt episodes. Certainly most notabe is the landmark Blair Witch Project (1999), which, in turn seems to have borrowed heavily from The Last Broadcast (1998). Some credit should also go to MTV's reality based innovations. Since Blair Witch (and it's sequel in 2000), half-baked knockoffs like The St. Francisville Experiment (2000) can be found - and usually avoided. 2008 brought us Cloverfield with another single point-of-view camcorder, complete with effective shakey camera reality footage. Abrams sought to take the genre further than The Blair Witch Project (1999) by limiting himself to a single camera, with 'natural' edits created by gaps in filming, rather than cutting between the two camera approach used with Blair Witch. 2006 brought an acute self-aware reality approach to Behind The Mask, in which a film crew follows an ascending 'legendary killer.' Shakey, single point of view camerawork added immediacy to Outbreak (2008) as well. The Spanish film Rec (2007) was remade as Quarantine in 2008, following a reporter and her cameraman through a building locked in with a madenning sickness.

Cheesy Ressurection for a Sequel	This is a sad testatement to the idea vacuum in scriptwriting today. Why create a new idea when there is money to be made from peddling the stuff that worked last time? When such an artistic crutch itself becomes cliche... well, I don't have a cliche to describe it.
First Use	Following the success of 1931's Frankenstein, Universal went for a sequel, and actually managed to get some mileage out of unused plot elements from the novel. However, for Bride of Frankenstein (1935), they had to ressurect the creature that presumably died in the windmill fire at the climax of the first movie. This ressurection is not as cheesy as finding the creature frozen in ice (as would happen later in 1939's Son of Frankenstein, which may qualify as the first truly cheesy ressurection, making it noteworthy here.
Adaptations	The next shamefully cheesy ressurection is the link between the first two Brazilian Coffin Joe films At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964) and This Night I Will Posess Your Corpse (1967). Coffin Joe dies badly (eyes popped out, etc) at the end of the first film, yet the second begins with a re-run of the death sequence with a "He is alive!" shot thrown in. A montage of medical recuperation gets Coffin Joe as good as new so he can go back to terrorizing his town. He even got his eye back in. Other adaptations? Wow. Don't get me started. Imagine the 1980's without this feeble device for wringing a few extra bucks from a decent movie. From junkyard dogs urinating fire onto Freddy Krueger's grave to underwater electrical shocks for Jason Voorhees, we have learned to look aside as this cheap device is used to launch any long running sequel entry. With enough money, you can always raise the dead. I dare not enumerate this sorry legion here, but hopefully this 'easy out' for writers faded with the 1980s.

The Turn-Around-Reveal Finale	Nothing cranks up the tension in a film's climax like a slow approach to a mysterious character, only to have that character suddenly turn and - EEK! - reveal a shocking surprise via the turn-around reveal.
First Use	Don't Look Now, (1973) is a lesser known European-feeling horror film dealing with a father (Donald Sutherland) trying to overcome his obsession with his late daughter. The finale occurs when he finally thinks he has found her, in her red makintosh raincoat. This cut has it all - the approaching camera, hooded figure facing the wall, and a final 'turn-around' that reveals the horrible truth - a saggy midget!
Adaptations	Early adaptations include The Sentinel (1977), which rode the Rosemary's Baby satanic conspiracy wave, and possibly Dario Argento's Phenomena (1985), but most notably the very well known conclusion of The Blair Witch Project (1999), which has become one of the most parodied horror moments ever, even though it stops just before the actual turn-around. Also used without flair in the French Bloody Mallory (2002) about five minutes into the film, which was about all I could stand to watch.

Mad Scientist	They laughed at me at the academy! Well who's laughing now? Often the metaphor for don't mess with the forces of nature or God, the Mad Scientist is the cautionary symbol for people who go too far with a good thing.
First Use	The 1925 silent film The Monster, starring Lon Chaney, is the first bona-fide appearance of a power hungry mad scientist controlling a gaggle of mindless minions to do his bidding. Thomas Edison's adaptation of Frankenstein (1910) features Doctor Frankenstein going through the academy and then creating his monster - although he didn't quite strike me as 'mad.' This short film had been lost for several generations, only resurfacing to widespread viewers around 2000, as a copy was located in a private collection in the 1970s. Certainly Mary Shelley's original novel Frankenstein (1831) addressed the issue earlier than film.
Adaptations	Contributors to this genre include Dr. Cyclops (1940), the Reanimator (1985) films (as well as Lovecraft's original story), all the Frankenstein (1931) movies (including Frankenhooker (1990) and Tim Burton's Frankenweenie (1984) please), and even the forgotten Deadly Friend (1986). This motif is so well known that it is more often parodied than used these days, especially in children's cartoons.

Masked Killer	Killers are always more impressive if you don't know what they look like. This probably derives from the fact that they tend to look like everyone else. Since early film, a mysterious or macabre mask heightened the horrors by keeping the villian lurking just beyond view, the longer the better.
First Use	Lon Chaney's use of two masks in The Phantom of the Opera established this motif in 1925. The don't look at me mask is used for most of the movie, and the Masque of the Red Death makes an overwhelming color-tinted impact at the masked ball. It is hard to find a more glorious gothic image of horror.
Adaptations	Michael Meyers maintained his menace throughout the Halloween (1978) series by (largely) keeping his 'Captain Kirk' mask on. Jason Voorhees employed a constantly evolving hockey goalie mask throughout the Friday the Thirteenth (1980) franchise, and Leatherface took it to a new fleshy level in Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) brings the theme up front, although the mask is not as haunting as most. Art imitated life in The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976). Many more to come.

Religious Killer	The self-appointed hand of a vengeful god is among the most annoying nut-job killers. It often comes across as trite, but when played well, it creates a troubling obsessive purpose. A well-timed biblical rant just seems to make a murder more... intended, it seems. Nothing creates interest like the conflicted intersection of virtue and evil.
First Use	Night of the Hunter (1955) establishes the genre, with Robert Mitchum's legendary portrayal of Harry Powell, wandering preacher man and opportunistic nut-job. This is where fingertop tattoos of "love" and "hate" come from.
Adaptations	Comic strip Modesty Blaise (1963) and the subsequent novel (1965), both by Peter O'Donnell, are reported to have a tract-quoting assassin. This, in turn, reportedly inspired Quentin Tarantino in developing his character of Jules in Pulp Fiction (1994), which features a lot of "And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger" smiting talk before he kills (although this is in fact a fabricated passage). Piper Laurie is filled with the spirit as she tries to kill her daughter in Brian DePalma's Carrie (1976). Although he never kills anyone, the crazy preacher in the remake of The Blob (1988) certainly has an unhealthy agenda. Also noteworthy are the supporting cast of The Omen (1976) on both sides - priests and satanists both intent on killing somebody, and admittedly outside the horror genre is the albino assassin priest Silas in Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code, published in 2003, film released in 2006. Botched (2007) includes a pair of wierdos that generally follow a fanatic but spiritual path. Although more a thriller than a horror film, check out Frailty (2001) to follow a father's religious zeal as it degrades into murderous madness.

Gravely Serious Serial Killers	Once the slasher genre had made human killers a running gag of over-the-top repetition, something to make killers scary again. No irony, superhuman abilities or silliness. This genre runs in sharp counterpoint to every slasher film of the 1980s, the self-referential killer fluff of the 1990s, and even the over-the-top grindhouse killers of the 1970s. These films are more naturalistic, which brings an immediacy to the threat and a new level of brutality to the actions depicted.
First Use	Back when it was more about art (German expressionism at that!) than profit, Fritz Lang produced M (1931), an early talkie that launched Peter Lorrie into stardom. It involves the manhunt for a child murderer, and the only witness is a blind man. Peter Lorrie is superb in this role, creating a character that is both chilling and very human.
Adaptations	Hitchcock found the horror of this balanced theme with Frenzy (1972), following the downward spiral of a necktie killer. Most brutal in this field is Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, released in 1986, but filmed a few years earlier - it faced a serious blockade with ratings and the MPAA - which underscores how effective this genre of movie can be. Coincidentally, this film was the breakout role for Michael rooker, just as M had been for Peter Lorrie. Henry had a crappy sequel in 1998 (ingeniously titled Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Part 2). The alarming Murder Set Pieces (2004) continues the tradition, with a German accent (seems to help).

Fast Head Shaky Guy	Possbly an effect shaped by accidents with digital production, the 'fast head shaky guy' became the 'Matrix bullet-cam' visual cliche of horror films. These days, it is used more sparingly, and although it doesn't illicit the shock of that first shake, it still moves along the feeling of unrest for a film.
First Use	The often overlooked Jacob's Ladder (1990), with Tim Robbins, is the first example of this visual I know of. It involves a speed up of a freaky guy swinging his head back and forth with supernatural vigor.
Adaptations	Used to good effect in the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill and the music video Sober by Tool in 1993 (stunning). This actually winds up in a lot of music videos (mostly death metal or speed metal), as it is easy to produce. I also believe it is used in The Cell (2000). 2005's Feast used it a little on the monsters to good effect, proving that less is more with this particular element. Graphic novel-based 30 Days of Night (2007) successfully introduced an interesting variant, the 'fast head-shaky-biting vampire' motif.

Every Slasher Genre Film Ever Made	After horror audiences became too sophisticated to be frightened by mere monsters, the trend swang to naturalistic horror and lots of gore - underscoring the fact that anyone around you might be a psychopath. The psycho one-ups continued until we were awash in super-duper uber-slashers. You know the ones.
First Use	In 1963, low-budget director Herschell Gordon Lewis abandoned girlie films to create a thriller called Blood Feast. In that one sweep, he created the gore genre and the slasher motif in a crazy Egyptian character named Fuad Ramses. I spoke to Mr. Lewis in 2009, who claimed he was just "in it for the fun of making movies at the slightest excuse." Thank goodness.
Adaptations	The 1974 Canadian film Black Christmas was the first movie with a budget to develop the slasher motif, introducing just about EVERY device used in the slasher-gets-the-teenager moviesof the 1980s. Simply astonishing. Well, only every horror movie made in the 80's with a spooky guy and a bunch of teenagers. Most notable is Carptenter's Halloween (1978). The over-the-top craft of splatter-effect artist Tom Savini can be credited with turning Friday the 13th (198x) (and its first 3 sequels) into box office sensations. Once blood was turned to money, countless imitators followed.

Vampire Hookers	There has always been an element of sexuality with the modern interpretation of vampires, thanks largely to Bela Lugosi. However, it took a while to run that sexuality up the flagpole as a plot element. Vampire brothels make sense in that a constant supply of victims is assured, and they probably didn't tell their mothers where they were going.
First Use	So far, it looks like John Carradine in Vampire Hookers (1978), which bragged 'They're a close encounter of a different kind!' Reportedly much sucking of blood and stuff is included, although I have not seen the film. But hey, it's John Carradine. Come on.
Adaptations	I am still not sure if Grace Jones in Vamp (1986) qualifies. Sheridan Le Fanu's Camilla (1872) was certainly subtextually sensual, but kept well clear of unseemly acts of 'cash for love.' The brides in Stoker's Dracula (1897) were certainly a bit randy, but they weren't in it for the money. Newest on this list is A Feast of Flesh (2008), and I spoke to the some of the actresses (2/2008) who assured me that these are not vampire hookers, but courtesians. Sure, whatever. Most notably are the roughly contemporary Bordello of Blood (1996) and the epic From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) along with its sequels.

The White Lady	A melancholy female ghost, dressed all in white, has been a common theme of the supernatural. Movies didn't take long to adopt this element, whether as a traditional hitch-hiking ghost, or something more malevolent.
First Use	Historically speaking, the White Lady was first reported in Berliner Schloss in 1625, with subsequent sightings up until 1888. This castle was home of many of the kings of Prussia, and the popular theories identifying the White Lady include the guilt-ridden child-murdering countess Kunigunda of Orlamünde, a melancholy Bohemian widow named Bertha of Rosenberg, and the mournful Hungarian princess Kunigunda of Slavonia. Written in 1859, Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White is an epistolary novel, presented in the form of letters, articles and other documents (Dracula is an epistolary novel). Although more meladroma mystery than horror, it captures the enigmatic melancholy characteristic of White Ladies.
Adaptations	Most notably is Katherine Helman in the atmospheric (almost Bradbury-esque) Lady in White (1988). The Collins mystery novel was adapted as a silent film The Woman in White in 1912. The earliest horror film use may be (broadly speaking) the high-contrast brides in Dracula (1931), although these were vampires rather than ghosts. Lame treatment of the vanishing hitchhiker comes from spellbinding crapfest Resurrection Mary (2007), but this film deserves to be missed. A possible case for out-of-genre use comes with Willow (1988). Indie band The Decemberists invoked the White Lady as a young girl with Leslie Anne Levine (2002), a haunting ballad of a girl who died in a ditch shortly after giving birth.

Brain-Eating Zombies	Some horror motifs are so well established that we can't imagine that they haven't always been there. Zombies eat brains - it's obvious, right? However, even if you only go back to Romero's first zombies, it becomes clear that the undead are often flesh-eating, but have not always been on the more restricted diet of brains.
First Use	Dan O'Bannon's Return of the Living Dead (1985) put brain-eating zombies on the map. I have yet to uncover anything that describes how this specific treatment came to pass, but it quickly became a key part of the genre.
Adaptations	From books to films, brain-eating is out there. A halloween zombie episode of The Simpsons (Treehouse of Horror XIII, 2002) made ironic use of the gag (Homer was safe). Mel Brook's son Max includes much brain-eating material in his Zombie Surival Guide (2003) (if you haven't read it, do so).

Nazi Zombies	Once everyone became used to seeing zombies shambling around and eating people, something was needed to make them even more horrible. I know... everyone hates nazis! Let's make them nazi zombies! Cool!
First Use	Surprisingly, this motif goes back to 1943's Revenge of the Zombies, produced at a time when most nazis were still among the living. It deals with an evil scientist in the Louisiana swamps, breeding an army of zombies for the Third Reich. Pretty topical, actually, since Hitler was into the occult, and would have backed such a plan.
Adaptations	Also early was Shock Waves (1977) starring Peter Cushing as a former commandant putting together a new zombie regiment on a deserted island. John Carradine also stars, which makes this a fairly respectable film, despite the plot similarities to Revenge of the Zombied (above). Untervasser nazi zombies were used well in Zombie Lake (aka Le Lac des Morts Vivants)(1981). Avoid the underwhelming (porn star) Jamie Gillis detective extravaganza Night of the Zombies (1981) This movie actually used the Z-Word several times, to my horror. Nazi zombies become a plot element in Full Moon's Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge (1991) since there was already a lot of WWII in the Puppet Master mythos. Among the newest is Død snø (2009) that emphasizes bleakness by putting its zombies in a barren winter - with skiers! The motif also figures heavily in the legendary Castle Wolfenstein computer game series. Mein lieben!

Zombie Hordes Shambling	Shuffle footed, vaguely human armadas of death - a zombie horde is part of the very lexicon of any living dead film. The apparent slowdown even seems to affect other undead (vampires, etc) when grouped in big enough numbers. Slow monsters make life easy for cinematographers, I guess.
First Use	Carnival of Souls (1962) is often cited as the film that inspired George Romero's visual approach to Night of the Living Dead (1968) (although he freely admitted to 'ripping off' Matheson in a 2007 interview) and the rest of his five-part trilogy. Although the image is used sparingly in this film, it establishes a chilling precedent. Carnival of Souls is considered a classic (see the expansive treatment by the Criterion Collection), and somewhat creepily (mostly the clown) remade by George Romero in 1998, but the remake is no match for the original. If you are not quite picky about the quality of the zombies, you may want to go back to White Zombie (1932) with Bela Lugosi.
Adaptations	Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968), Savini's remake (1990) and Romero's entire Living Dead series lead the vanguard. Also used in quite a few Italian zombie films (Lucio Fulci, et al). I also have to wonder about the Spanish Blind Dead series of films (from 1971 to 1975), since the shambling is of such high quality. Also of note is the 'Shambling Man' (Allan Trautman, more commonly known as 'Tarman') in 1985's Return of the Living Dead. He simply creates the cream of shambling zombie performances. Slither (2006) uses the shambling motif with hordes of alien-hosting meatbags to good effect - long shots of shamblers in night fieldsat night that pay direct homage to Romero. 2007's Planet Terror invoked the shambling hordes again, and explored interesting new methods of exploding them.

Speedy Zombies	For those of you in the back of the theater who couldn't help snickering at how easy it must be to elude the standard shambling zombies (see above), I now say, sit down and shut up. It used to be that if you had a car, you were as good as safe. Now, helicopters are the last resort (until the flying dead make their appearance, that is).
First Use	Although 28 Days Later (2002) really put them on the map, the wonderful Return of the Living Dead (1985) features brief shots of zombies running towards cops and paramedics. In an article at slate.msn.com entitled "Dead Run" (Josh Levin, 3/24/2004), Tim Hulsey is credited with a questionable assertion that "the obsolescence of the slow zombie signals the decline of 'mobocratic' culture in favor of a modern taste for individualism." Shrug. Some purists may argue that 28 Days Later did not include 'zombies' in the strictest sense; generally, they seem to qualify.
Adapatations	The next athletic zombies I can think of are the aerobicizing dead in the fairly miserable Return of the Living Dead Part 2 (1988). After that, the utterly pitiful House of the Dead (2003) (please avoid this smoking turd of an Uwe Boll film) and the tasty remake of Dawn of the Dead (2004) - very very well done, with some very dramatic long shots. There were some fast creatures in Resident Evil (2002). Maybe.... For balance, George Romero put some stock back into slower, shambling zombies with Land of the Dead, his 2005 cap to a 4-part zombie trilogy. The speed pack returned in 2007's 28 Weeks Later but time trials have not been conducted.

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