Why do lots of experts say 1920s German silent films started horror movies?
Research question: Why do many film historians point to the German silent films of the early 1920s as the foundation of horror cinema?
The records show that German Expressionist silent films of the early 1920s used monster characters that reflected the political situation of the post-First World War era 4. These films also gave monsters their own place and message on screen, distinct from the older centuries-long fantasy of manipulating nature 5. Carl Mayer is known as co-writer of Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920), a classic of expressionist film 1, though its screenplay is described as lacking typical expressionist features and shaped instead by neoromantic motifs 2. The verified facts do not state that historians regard these films as the foundation of horror cinema, so the question's premise is only partly addressed 45.
Sources
"Er ist besonders bekannt als Ko-Autor des Drehbuchs zum Klassiker des expressionistischen Films Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920)"Carl Mayer (Drehbuchautor)
"Obwohl der Film als der größte Klassiker des expressionistischen Films gilt, weist das Drehbuch von Mayer und Janowitz keine Hinweise auf die typischen Züge des expressionistischen Films auf und ist stattdessen von typischen Motiven der Neoromantik geprägt."Carl Mayer (Drehbuchautor)
"Robert Wiene realisierte das Drehbuch von Mayer und Janowitz als Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920)."Carl Mayer (Drehbuchautor)
"In the post-First World War climate, characters such as Cesare in Robert Wiene’s Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Paul Wegener and Carl Boese’s golem (1920), and Fritz Lang’s pseudo-Maria (1927) are all reflections of the era’s political situation."“Images of the Secret Self”: The Idea of the Non-Human in German Expressionist and Early American Horror Cinema (2021)
"Although the fantasy of manipulating nature emerged centuries ago, Germany’s Expressionist silent cinema had its own place and message for using monsters."“Images of the Secret Self”: The Idea of the Non-Human in German Expressionist and Early American Horror Cinema (2021)