If you ever find yourself thinking it seems difficult to keep up with what is “in” right now in the thriller/horror genre, it’s actually pretty simple; just follow political/social trends. If you’re wondering what’s going to be next to come in American thriller/horror films, leave it to politics to give you your answer. Because inevitably, our common themes in this genre of film, often attack the political/social agendas of that current time. To give us a clearer scope of this argument, I like to look back on several decades of horror, specifically all the way back to nearly 50 years ago. Since the 1970’s I argue that the thriller/horror genre has undergone five phases of horror eras. All of which I have coined specific names:
1) The Era of Mass Hysteria (Mid 1970’s – Mid 1980’s)
The 1970’s was all about mass hysteria in the wake of serial murders. The nightly news couldn’t make it for 10 minutes without mentioning Bundy, Manson, Gacy or any other notorious necrophiliac. Similarly, horror hits from this time through the mid 80’s mirrored such propaganda. Americans lived in fear of leaving the house, and being the next target of the local deranged mass-murderer, on a quest for innocent victims for their next murder spree.
- Deranged: Confessions of a Necrophile (1974)
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
- Halloween (1978)
- Friday the 13th (1980)
- The Shining (1980)
- Maniac (1980)
- Nightmare on Elm St. (1984)
- Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer (1986)
2) The Anti-Adolescent Era (Late 1980’s – Early 2000’s)
Then, as we transitioned through the 1980’s with the Reagan Administration, and even through the millennium with the Clinton Administration, we started to see an angst towards preserving the conservative adolescent behavior in our political/social dialogue. Government funding began to back pro-abstinence campaigns in high-school curriculum, and more of a focus shifted towards anti and/or safe-sex marketing strategies, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic emerged. Consequently, with this rise of sexually-transmitted diseases, paranoia surrounding sex and drug abuse in America rose, and so did much of the media/political agendas, which were filled with contraceptive and anti-tobacco/drug ads, all of which targeted teenagers. Thus, our horror hits of these times were filled with adolescent distress and teen slashers.
- Poltergeist (1982)
- Children of the Corn (1984)
- Child’s Play (1988)
- It (1990)
- Scream (1996)
- I Know/I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1997/1998)
- Final Destination (2000)
- Jeepers Creepers (2001)
- Joy Ride (2001)
- Wrong Turn (2003)
3) The Era of The White-Picket Demise (Early – Mid 2000’s)
Then, as the millenium hits and we progressed through the mid 2000’s with the new Bush Administration and the brink of a war, the socio-political agenda intensified regarding keeping our homeland safe and refurbishing the traditional “white-picket” American home. Without wasting any time, the Bush Administration began implementing the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) just soon after George W. Bush took office. Tensions between the U.S. and middle-east enhanced post-9/11, and American people seemed less concerned with the epidemics of the 90’s, and more interested in protecting the nation. Subsequently, the thriller/horror films at this time consistently preyed upon the family dream home, and a deterioration of the nuclear family.
- The Others (2001)
- The Grudge (2004)
- Amityville Horror (2005)
- Cold Creek Manor (2003)
- The Skeleton Key (2005)
- The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
- The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
- Silent Hill (2006)
4) The Postmodernist Era (Mid 2000’s – Mid 2010’s)
Postmodernism is a term that in its most literal sense, derives from skepticism of conformity across many different mediums. Thus, as we moved from the mid-late 2000’s through the mid 2010’s decade, we began to make drastic advancements in technology with major monopolies like Apple, Amazon, and Google becoming key players in our scientific breakthroughs. While moguls such as Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos withheld immense intellectual power, and our everyday lives seemed to be more and more centralized around their products, our skepticism towards such things also grew. As a result, a whirling social doubt of our government with incidents like the Wikileaks Scandal, rising unemployment rates, and a recession, the thriller/horror blockbusters at this time represented this exploitation of technology and government conspiracies. With unique camera angles switching to more of the “live footage” POV’s and zombie-culture films for example, it was this rising anti-technology/anti-government motif that created a provocative environment for dystopian movies in this genre.
- Pulse (2006)
- Stay Alive (2006)
- I am Legend (2007)
- Paranormal Activity (2007)
- 28 Weeks Later (2007)
- 30 Days of Night (2007)
- Cloverfield (2008)
- One Missed Call (2008)
- Quarantine (2008)
- The Fourth Kind (2009)
- The Crazies (2010)
- Contagion (2011)
- The Purge (2013)
5) The Era of Subjective Fear (Mid 2010’s – Current)
This all brings us to our current state, which we’ve been in since the mid 2010’s decade – This socio-political clusterfuck as a result of the utmost political/media doubt and uncertainty that causes us to be more and more polarized as a society. Amidst the Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and an uproar of what seem to be dated social issues – race, police brutality, and gender equality, all begin to resurface, the uncertainty of human ethics seems to keep growing. Ironically, our thriller/horror films recently have been more subjective* (see previous post) and ambiguous as the catalyst of a lot of our fear in our everyday lives in unknown, so similarly our films reflect this.
- It Follows (2014)
- The Witch (2015)
- It Comes At Night (2017)
- The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
- Get Out (2017)
- Birdbox (2018)
- Us (2019)
Final Thoughts:
With all of this being said, there are obvious examples that counter this argument, and so, this is not to say that if a film doesn’t attack socio-political norms of that time then it won’t succeed. However, I do believe that it makes it that much more challenging for a film outside of it’s typical “era” to succeed. So what does it mean for the future of the thriller/horror genre? Well, with the way we are heading socially and politically, my predictions are that this subjectivism will continue to be explored with films exuding innuendos of propagandic fear via media streams, paparazzi-fear, more social media horror, and even more mass-shooter films. What do you think is in our future for this beloved genre? Do you find my categories sufficient? If so, of the five listed, what’s your favorite thriller/horror era?