Horror is a dirty word
This post is all about the aversion the academy, critics, and the public at large have to horror films.
Have you ever noticed that sometimes, horror films manage to make their way into the public sphere? If you have, well done, because it seems as though for the majority of people this is entirely unacceptable. Every single horror film that obtains critical acclaim will no doubt be rebranded a thriller, or at the very least a something slash horror.
A Quiet Place, for example, is a Drama/Thriller
The Babadook - Drama/Horror
Get Out - Mystery/Thriller
It Follows - Horror/Thriller
Silence of the Lambs - Crime/Drama/Thriller... you get the picture. So what is wrong with just calling a spade a spade, and a horror film a straight up horror film?
The problem seems to be that by admitting a film is part or solely belongs to the horror genre, that there are negative connotations. Not only will this damage the profitability of the film by excluding some of those audiences I mentioned in my last post, Horror For Beginners, but worse, it may legitimise or normalise the genre itself if enough 'quality' films are associated with it. The cynic in me would suggest that studios aversion in particular is tied to fears about profit and target audiences, to a degree, they are right to be worried - I mean my family would never have chosen to watch Get Out, but luckily for them I bought it on Blu-Ray and gave it to them for Christmas so they had to watch it. But you know what, they actually enjoyed it, and no member of my family would ever say they like horror films. Even after watching Get Out, I suspect strongly that when faced with another horror film, they would still argue that Get Out was somehow unique, or not 'really a proper horror'. In essence admitting to enjoying horror movies is somewhat of a sin, and people are either 'in the club' or they are out. Of course horror film fanatics, and certain directors do little to help the genre and perhaps damage it further, I am not sure one can defend the necessity for The Human Centipede, for example. Even for someone like myself who would say they are a fan of the genre as a whole this type of gag inducing gorno has little to offer.
The greatest horror films have always been about more than horrifying an audience. Scratch the surface of any of the horror classics, and you quickly discover social commentary about class, oppression, race, gender, and the list goes on. To very briefly give some examples; Scream is a critique of post-modern society, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a commentary on old-fashioned values and the dangers of modernity leaving people behind. The Hills Have Eyes also comments on a difference in values between 'city' and 'country' folk. Halloween, Alien and a Nightmare on Elm Street have feminist themes, Carrie addresses the hell of pubescence and high school, most zombie films are a warning about consumerist capitalism, Rosemary's Baby speaks to the threat against women in the 60s, Psycho is rich with psychoanalytical symbolism, and who knows what the hell The Shining is about, but you get the point.
Further reading:
https://qz.com/quartzy/1302187/hereditary-is-not-elevated-horror-its-just-a-good-horror-movie/ (I had not heard the term elevated horror, now I have, and I am already annoyed by it). Key quote "No one calls Coco “elevated animation” despite the genre putting out some truly awful content. No one argues Call Me By Your Name or The Shape of Water is “elevated romance”—despite the existence of the Fifty Shades movies."
https://www.scifinow.co.uk/exclusive/the-h-word-why-is-hollywood-scared-of-calling-a-horror-movie-a-horror-movie/ Key Quote - "When is a horror movie not a horror movie? Well, maybe when it’s so good that everyone, even non-genre critics, recognises that it’s great. Then it might be an “elevated genre” movie instead."
Have you ever noticed that sometimes, horror films manage to make their way into the public sphere? If you have, well done, because it seems as though for the majority of people this is entirely unacceptable. Every single horror film that obtains critical acclaim will no doubt be rebranded a thriller, or at the very least a something slash horror.
A Quiet Place, for example, is a Drama/Thriller
The Babadook - Drama/Horror
Get Out - Mystery/Thriller
It Follows - Horror/Thriller
Silence of the Lambs - Crime/Drama/Thriller... you get the picture. So what is wrong with just calling a spade a spade, and a horror film a straight up horror film?
The problem seems to be that by admitting a film is part or solely belongs to the horror genre, that there are negative connotations. Not only will this damage the profitability of the film by excluding some of those audiences I mentioned in my last post, Horror For Beginners, but worse, it may legitimise or normalise the genre itself if enough 'quality' films are associated with it. The cynic in me would suggest that studios aversion in particular is tied to fears about profit and target audiences, to a degree, they are right to be worried - I mean my family would never have chosen to watch Get Out, but luckily for them I bought it on Blu-Ray and gave it to them for Christmas so they had to watch it. But you know what, they actually enjoyed it, and no member of my family would ever say they like horror films. Even after watching Get Out, I suspect strongly that when faced with another horror film, they would still argue that Get Out was somehow unique, or not 'really a proper horror'. In essence admitting to enjoying horror movies is somewhat of a sin, and people are either 'in the club' or they are out. Of course horror film fanatics, and certain directors do little to help the genre and perhaps damage it further, I am not sure one can defend the necessity for The Human Centipede, for example. Even for someone like myself who would say they are a fan of the genre as a whole this type of gag inducing gorno has little to offer.
The greatest horror films have always been about more than horrifying an audience. Scratch the surface of any of the horror classics, and you quickly discover social commentary about class, oppression, race, gender, and the list goes on. To very briefly give some examples; Scream is a critique of post-modern society, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a commentary on old-fashioned values and the dangers of modernity leaving people behind. The Hills Have Eyes also comments on a difference in values between 'city' and 'country' folk. Halloween, Alien and a Nightmare on Elm Street have feminist themes, Carrie addresses the hell of pubescence and high school, most zombie films are a warning about consumerist capitalism, Rosemary's Baby speaks to the threat against women in the 60s, Psycho is rich with psychoanalytical symbolism, and who knows what the hell The Shining is about, but you get the point.
Further reading:
https://qz.com/quartzy/1302187/hereditary-is-not-elevated-horror-its-just-a-good-horror-movie/ (I had not heard the term elevated horror, now I have, and I am already annoyed by it). Key quote "No one calls Coco “elevated animation” despite the genre putting out some truly awful content. No one argues Call Me By Your Name or The Shape of Water is “elevated romance”—despite the existence of the Fifty Shades movies."
https://www.scifinow.co.uk/exclusive/the-h-word-why-is-hollywood-scared-of-calling-a-horror-movie-a-horror-movie/ Key Quote - "When is a horror movie not a horror movie? Well, maybe when it’s so good that everyone, even non-genre critics, recognises that it’s great. Then it might be an “elevated genre” movie instead."
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