Editor’s Note: There’s spoilers in this column. So… be warned.
When people think of ways to describe the horror genre in film, the first words that pop into their minds tend to be along the lines of “gore,” “sex” and/or “mindlessness.” And while some horror movies definitely play into those tropes, there is so much more to horror movies than meets the eye.
Whereas Hollywood, in general, has historically danced around the concepts and theories pertaining to sex, gender, race and identity, horror as a genre has never been afraid to tackle those themes head-on.
Consider George A. Romero’s 1968 classic “Night of the Living Dead.” In the film, the world has been overrun by zombies — the flick is credited with developing what we know today as the modern zombie — and at first glance, it seems like a relatively simple concept. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. While Romero denies considering race while casting for his film, it’s notable that Duane Jones, a Black man, plays the lead role.
To delve into spoilers a bit, Jones is as resourceful as they come, surviving the entire night and putting his life on the line to save others throughout the titular night. In a heart-wrenching moment, Jones is shot and killed the next morning by a redneck posse that “mistook” him for a zombie. The social commentary couldn’t be more clear, and it was especially poignant considering Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated just under six months prior to the film’s release.
Even the film franchises you may think are mindless often aren’t. It may be baffling to see franchises like “Friday the 13th” or “Child’s Play” get upward of 10 installments, but their lesser-known sequels often give screentime to those that deserve it. Interestingly, 2004’s “Seed of Chucky” explores issues of gender and identity, with killer doll Chucky’s child not sure whether they identify as male or female, and it actually explores how parents react differently to their child’s identity.
Another huge horror franchise, “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” was one of the first major franchises to explore homoerotic themes. 1985’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” has been dubbed a cult film for gay audiences and the lead character, a male, plays the final girl, a role that has been pretty much exclusively reserved for women.
While I do applaud both of these movies, I cannot seriously recommend them for anything other than viewing for a case study.
One of the more prolific early slasher films, 1982’s “The Slumber Party Massacre,” was one of the first films to explore the horror/comedy genre and was directed and written by two women, majorly uncommon for most other genres of film at that point. Male nudity, something that is still rare to this day, is featured in this inherently feminist film.
2009’s “Jennifer’s Body,” starring Megan Fox, is another feminist film that flies under the radar. Both “The Slumber Party Massacre” and “Jennifer’s Body” were directed by women, and both also suffered from studio interference muddying the respective directors’ visions. “Jennifer’s Body,” in particular, suffered from misleading advertising. I wouldn’t blame you for originally thinking the film was a cheap attempt to cash in on Fox’s popularity and looks. I wrote it off for that exact reason, but the film is so much more than that. “Jennifer’s Body” is not only a feminist work but it seethes with homoerotic undertones — which would otherwise be ostracized by mainstream media at the time.
Horror films haven’t been afraid to tackle themes of feminism since their origin. The movie often dubbed as the first slasher film, 1974’s “Black Christmas,” features an almost exclusively female cast and even delves into topics like abortion. 1979’s “Alien,” one of my personal favorites, features perhaps the most badass woman film has ever seen in Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley.
Horror/thriller films today have gotten more overt in their conveyance of social themes. Jordan Peele’s 2017 classic “Get Out” and his follow-up film “Us” (2019) are clear in their themes of covert racial discrimination or commentaries on class disparity. And you can’t get more mainstream than Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 best picture winner “Parasite.”
People also seemingly sleep on the amount of time and effort it takes to craft an effective horror film. Make-up effect artists who craft the gruesome kills you see in movies deserve so much more credit than they are afforded. Guys like Tom Savini are outright geniuses, while directors like Ari Aster and Robert Eggers are excellent in crafting scary settings and finding ways to characterize and villainize the environments in which their films are set.
One of my favorite examples of excellent film techniques comes in the little-known 2009 horror flick “The House of the Devil.” Sound design is an underrated component of filmmaking, and “The House of the Devil” masterfully finds a way to scare its audiences without actually showing anything scary on screen until the very end. It’s intense and a real thrill ride all the way through.
If you’re interested in learning more about critical analysis of film, the NC State English Department offers film studies courses and majors and minors in film.
