Horror movies: Why the cliché is unfair
On Halloween, Netflix and similar platforms primarily show slasher content. Yet horror can be so much more: quiet, political, philosophical, or funny. I will show you the diversity of horror and its subgenres. What do you like best?
Halloween. First, carve a pumpkin, then off on the "trick-or-treat" tour with the kids. Even in Switzerland, you can hardly escape it anymore. For many adults (and teenagers), something that is a special part of October 31st is the horror movie.
This is no coincidence. After all, one of the forefathers of the slasher genre bears the name of this day: "Halloween". Ever since John Carpenter sent the masked Michael Myers on a hunt through Haddonfield in 1978, the algorithms of Netflix and Co. have been bringing well-known horror films to the homepage every October. However, the streaming services are only feeding old prejudices and completely ignoring the cinematic diversity that this genre offers.
The Unfair Image Problem
Slasher franchises brought horror into the mainstream, no question. But anyone talking about "horror movies" today often thinks of lots of fake blood, a villain, and stupid teenagers who, despite everything, "just want to quickly check what that noise was".
That is why the genre has a persistent image problem. Many people perceive it as cheap thrills or trash. That has always been a fallacy. Horror movies can be loud, quiet, sad, political, philosophical, funny, or even disturbing. The range is enormous.
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At the latest since Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" (with its four Oscars and a historic 16 nominations) and impressive box-office numbers, it is high time to engage with the diversity of this genre. If you break it down into its varieties, you arrive at 13 subgenres (depending on your subjective counting method).
What kind of horror fan are you? Vote below.
1. Ghost Horror and Hauntings
The classic plot of a ghost movie goes like this: A family moves into their new home, but it is not as uninhabited as they believe. Only gradually do the new residents find out what happened in these rooms in the past.
For a long time, there is little to see – a door is open that was just closed, there is creaking in the hallway at night. The horror arises from waiting for the moment when the ghost finally reveals itself. Added to this is the terrible feeling that you are no longer safe in your own home.
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The roots of this subgenre lie in the gothic literature of the 19th century, when ghost stories were read aloud at Christmas time. In cinema, "The Innocents" from 1961 is still considered a classic. Although the film almost never shows anything explicit, it is considered particularly eerie. In more recent times, films like "Poltergeist", "The Sixth Sense", or "The Conjuring" set new standards.
2. Occult Horror
In this subgenre, evil often has a name and is worshipped by a group. Sometimes a demon takes possession of a person. Or an entire village guards and maintains an occult ritual. The main protagonist gets caught up in it and loses control over their body or what happens to them. They usually realize much too late that, for example, the friendly neighbors know about it and are not as harmless as they thought.
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Occult horror is often about faith or beliefs, which blurs the lines between good and evil. And, of course, demons often have a hand in it. While the Swedish-Danish silent film "Häxan" from 1922 was a pioneer of the subgenre, today people are primarily familiar with "The Exorcist", "Rosemary’s Baby", or "The Omen". In the last ten years, occult horror has experienced a boom again, for example through "Midsommar" or "Hereditary".
3. Cosmic Horror
A thoughtful, almost philosophical branch of horror is cosmic horror. Here, humans encounter powers that are so old, large, and alien that the human mind cannot grasp them.
There is no actual villain. However, the protagonists gradually realize how small and unimportant the individual human is in the universe, and their sanity breaks under this knowledge. Instead of blood and death, the films show mysterious landscapes or beings, which are always only hinted at. What lies behind it all is never made clear in the film. That makes it all the more eerie.
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The origin of this subgenre is difficult to pinpoint. One of the pioneers is undoubtedly the author H.P. Lovecraft with his stories about ancient gods and forbidden texts. Serious films in this area include "Prince of Darkness" or "In the Mouth of Madness". Newer films can be found in the arthouse sector, such as "Annihilation" or "Color Out of Space".
4. Monster Horror
A classic. Here, something non-human hunts humans: a shark, a vampire, a werewolf. The creature is superior to its victims and is usually the actual main protagonist. The fear behind these films is ancient – the fear of being eaten. This is how "Godzilla" was created, which actually embodies the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Or "Jaws".
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The subgenre began as early as the 1920s with "Nosferatu". The 1930s are considered the first great era of the monster movie, during which Universal's evergreens like "Dracula" or "Frankenstein" were created. Later came the aforementioned "Jaws" and the "Alien" franchise.
5. Zombie Horror / Survival Horror
Another classic. In the zombie movie, the dead rise again and want to eat the living – especially their brains. Because everyone who is bitten becomes a zombie themselves, there are quickly many of them, and order collapses. Although a single zombie is slow and easy to defeat, it becomes difficult with increasing numbers.
Particularly bitter (and therefore also particularly common) is the dilemma when close relatives are already infected and the protagonist has to decide how to deal with it. A frequent subplot is the survivors who fight over supplies and power. That is why the subgenre is so well-suited for (more or less hidden) social criticism.
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The figure of the zombie originally comes from Haitian Voodoo – there, usually as a mindless servant. The undead that we know in cinema today originally comes from George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", although that is not a classic zombie film. Later came films like "28 Days Later" and the series "The Walking Dead".
6. Slasher
A masked killer, a bladed weapon, and a group of teenagers – that's the slasher. One person after another dies until the "Final Girl" remains at the end and takes down the killer.
The horror arises from tension-filled chase scenes and the question of who will be next. Very important here: the famous jumpscare. Open the mirrored cabinet, take something out, close the mirrored cabinet, behind you stands Ghostface/Jason/Michael Myers, you name it. AAAAAAHHHH, I'm running upstairs to the room now, the thin particle board door will surely stop him. And how many gunshots and knife stabs does this guy actually survive? Not to forget: No sex, no drugs, and never say "I'll be right back", because then you are guaranteed not to be right back.
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Even if films like "Black Christmas" or "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" came before, the slasher celebrated its final breakthrough with John Carpenter's "Halloween" in 1978. Many of the subsequent films, all of which became franchises, were based on this: "Friday the 13th" with Jason Voorhees, "A Nightmare on Elm Street" with Freddy Krueger, "Scream" with the Ghostface Killer, and so on.
7. Backwood Horror
In this subgenre, city dwellers often leave civilization and end up in an area that lives by its own laws. For example, a group of young people who want to spend a weekend in the woods. Civilization is hours away, and the locals do not want to let the strangers leave. There is usually no apparent motive – you also look in vain for supernatural elements. The victims then have to defend themselves alone against the eerie villagers.
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This subgenre clichés the distrust of city dwellers towards the hinterland and its inhabitants. A pioneer film in this genre is "Deliverance", in which four men on a canoe trip are killed by "hillbillies". Later came, for example, "The Hills Have Eyes".
8. Body Horror / Science Horror
This subgenre is usually about the protagonist's body. It mutates or decays due to a disease or a failed experiment by a scientist with a god complex. The horror elements often consist of disgust. These films become eerie primarily because they show us how little control we have over our bodies.
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There are also films that address the social pressure of beauty ideals – or simply aging. The father of science horror is, of course, "Frankenstein". Later came the first adaptation of "The Fly", which shows the metamorphosis from human to insect. More recent examples are "The Substance", in which a television presenter "injects herself young", "Relic", or "Clayface", which is currently in theaters.
9. Psychological Horror
In psychological horror, the threat comes from one's own head. Delusion or an old trauma bring the protagonist to the brink of madness. The audience sees the world through their eyes and at some point no longer knows what is true and what the protagonist is imagining. There are hardly any shock effects; instead, a sense of oppression builds up that lasts even after the credits roll.
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Often it is also not clear whether anything supernatural has actually happened or not. An absolute classic in this segment is Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining", followed later by Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan". However, psychological horror started much earlier – with Roman Polanski's "Repulsion" from 1965. Another film from the subgenre that is, in my opinion, too little noticed is "Room 1408" from 2007 with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson.
10. Splatter / Gore / Torture Porn
While many horror films create an oppressive atmosphere with hints, noises, and music, this subgenre takes a completely different path: Explicitness. Blood flows in streams, entrails spill out of open stomachs.
The effects are often the main reason for the popularity of this subgenre. The horror is entirely physical. Everything is extremely brutal, painful, and bloody. Nevertheless, there are splatter films that take the whole thing to the absurd and do not take themselves seriously – for example, Peter Jackson's "Braindead" or the Norwegian "Dead Snow".
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It is different with gore or torture porn – a term that only emerged in 2006. There, torture is the focus, and the victims are completely at the mercy of their tormentors. This sub-sub-category experienced a great wave of success after the turn of the millennium with films like "Saw", "Hostel", "Final Destination", or "The Human Centipede".
11. Found Footage / Mockumentary
Found-footage films pretend to consist of recordings that the protagonists made themselves of themselves or their surroundings. The camera shakes, and often a scene breaks off in the middle of a sentence. This makes the film look like "footage", i.e., more like actual filmed material and not like a script.
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You only see the one angle that the camera is currently capturing, and the darkness next to it is scary. The cheap and uncomplicated production enjoyed great popularity around the turn of the millennium. "The Blair Witch Project" from 1999 or "Paranormal Activity" and "[Rec]" from 2007 were box-office hits.
"Cannibal Holocaust" from 1980 is considered a pioneer film. The Italian director Ruggero Deodato had to – because the film was so convincing for the standards of the time – even prove in court that the actors in the film were still alive.
12. Socially Critical Horror
Socially critical horror uses the genre to talk about social issues. Such as racism or grief. The monster stands figuratively for something else. These films usually take a lot of time and build their tension slowly. They often play out in families or relationships where something is wrong. This genre had a political side early on. "Night of the Living Dead" from 1968 was understood by many as a commentary on American racism, "The Stepford Wives" from 1975 as a critique of the image of women at the time.
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Well-known recent examples of this subgenre are "Get Out" or "Sinners".
13. Horror Comedy
The horror comedy wants to make its audience scream and laugh. Some poke fun at horror clichés, others tell a ghost story with black humor. The humor often arises from excessive exaggeration and intentionally stupid characters who do not understand their own predicament.
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The fact that both fit together is due to timing. Fright and punchline both work through the principle of surprise. The origin is Roman Polanski's "The Fearless Vampire Killers" from 1967. In 1975, the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" came to theaters and became an absolute cult classic. In the 1980s, "An American Werewolf in London" joined in – and from the 2000s onwards, of course, the "Scary Movie" franchise. Honorable Mention: "Zombieland" (2009) with a real star-studded cast (Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Bill Murray, Amber Heard) and "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Thanks to user "stoei2faktoi2" for the good input.
This is my subjective, incomplete, debatable categorization of horror subgenres. Which type of horror movie do you like best? Vote and write your favorite movies in the comments.
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I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.
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