Why Horror Films Matter

Director Jordan Peele’s (Right) vision for “Get Out” has cemented him as a revolutionary voice in modern horror and thriller films.

If there’s one genre in film that is underrated, it’s horror. Not because they don’t make money, horror films frequently turn a profit and gain fan followings, but because they are often looked down upon critically. Within the past 93 years, only five films have been nominated for Best Picture: “The Exorcist,” “Jaws,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Sixth Sense” and “Get Out.” But it’s important to recognize how influential horror films are as well as how hard they are to pull off.

Since the late 1800s, horror films have been massively popular with silent short films of Dracula and Frankenstein being made in the early 1900s. From the Universal Monsters to the present, there has never been a time where horror hasn’t been a commercial success. 

This is probably because horror showcases an important element of any time period: our fears. While 1930s and 40s horror was much more about fantasy, 1950s horror was dotted with creature features. These monsters came from the use of atomic weapons, cementing people’s fears of nuclear annihilation. The original “Godzilla” is basically a stand-in for the first atomic bombs because, to the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the bombs felt like a monster had come and mercilessly destroyed the city.

When McCarthyism engulfed America and people were black listed because they had ties to communism or were merely suspected of being communists, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was a scathing critique of McCarthyism. The alien pods represent McCarthy and his droogs, sucking the emotion out of the people in order to conform their minds to an unfeeling, hyperconservative “utopia.”

Films like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” contained political commentary disguised as a horror film. The film rejects the fundamental conservatism people like Senator Joseph McCarthy represent.

By the 1960s and 70s, America’s fight for civil rights and ongoing losses in Vietnam caused horror to shift to more realistic villains. Why should we fear giant monsters when the real monsters were people? This resulted in films like “Psycho,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Night of the Living Dead” which also carried their own forms of societal commentary. 

The 1970s also gave birth to the modern slasher in response to the growing violence of the decade, which is still the most violent decade of modern American history by far. Slasher films like “Halloween,” “Black Christmas” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” frightened people with their realism and their disturbing subtext.

Unfortunately, while every decade has its crop of great horror, the 1990s and early 2000s was easily the worst time for horror. While films like “Scream” and “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare” were fantastic at pointing out the cliches of scary films while existing in that genre, there were so many films that didn’t try. Early 2000s horror was full of sloppy editing, unwatchable shaky camerawork and horrible characterization. Slashers in particular had only four kinds of characters: the unpopular protagonist, the dumb jock bully, the sexy girl whose only purpose is to date the protagonist and one or more minority characters who are terribly stereotypical.

However, by the mid-2000s, most filmgoers grew tired of these horrible stories and a new wave of filmmakers stepped up to create a unique group of films that ranged from funny to satirical to incredibly scary. It’s hard to find where this new wave began but James Wan was one of the big leaders, making films like “Saw,” “Insidious” and “The Conjuring” series. 

Other filmmakers followed, including Ari Aster, Mike Flanagan, Robert Eggers, Jennifer Kent and John Krasinski, all delving into different genres. Aster, Eggers and Kent all became more meticulous while Krasinski and Flanagan’s work has been more commercially viable. But, since most horror films have smaller budgets, nearly every film from this group has been a box office success. 

Modern filmmakers like Mike Flanagan have been bringing a more refined horror with elements that cater to both cinephiles and average moviegoers.

In recent years, black people have also been gaining representation in horror movies like in “Candyman,” “Us” and “Doctor Sleep.” While there were black protagonists within horror in the past, most famously Ben in “Night of the Living Dead,” they were very few. Now, there’s a rise in demand for more representation which has resulted in many great films, often with people of color behind the camera like Jordan Peele and Nia DaCosta. 

Peele’s “Get Out,” one of the few horror films to attain recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is easily one of the greatest horror films of the past decade because it does what great horror is supposed to do. It tells a story that is scary on the surface, like a bizzaro version of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” but is even more terrifying when you examine its commentary. 

Underneath “Get Out’s” surface is a film about the horrors of racism and a country that keeps denying how racism affects us today. Modern horror contains more commentary than ever before as our society tries to contend with the sins of the past.

With this new wave of horror, more people are putting more time and effort into the creation of horror. Studios like Blumhouse and A24 have also made bold investments in horror filmmakers by giving creators more creative freedom. And then there’s Shudder, a streaming service focusing on horror, which has given life to many great documentaries, series and films.

Horror has also changed with the times even more than other genres. While many genres, like superhero films, have been clamoring for female representation, horror had characters like Laurie Strode, Ellen Ripley, Nancy Thompson and Sidney Prescott. While the rest of Hollywood tries to catch up, horror keeps leading the charge in creating fantastic stories with diverse characters.

But, since horror has done so much for the industry, the genre deserves more recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Along with the genres of action, science fiction and comic book films, horror deserves to be nominated in the big categories of the Oscars and be recognized. While films like “Get Out” have received accolades, including an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, much work needs to be made.

Female protagonists in the horror genre, like the “Alien” franchise’s Ellen Ripley have led a charge for female representation in Hollywood beyond the outdated damsel-in-distress archetype.