Horror is saving cinema. That is not hyperbole, it is true.
In an era of reboots, spin offs, and sequels, audiences are quickly losing interest in cinematic franchises. We have all heard of, or at least experienced, Marvel fatigue. We don’t want to see a new take on a cult classic (Who was asking for He’s All That). Ad sadly, even horror isn’t immune to this – I am so over whatever the hell they’re doing with Scream these days, and while Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice looks promising, I’m also growing a strong immune system towards nostalgia bait. And yet, while there are the tired and drawn out stories, there is also innovation, creativity, and a love of audiences that is sparking up in the horror genre.
Like I said, we have our own Marvel franchises in the horror community, but recently there has been a wave of really cool and fun cinema in that genre as well. Long gone are the days of torture porn horror from the early to mid 2000s, where the only thing audiences were guaranteed to was a gorefest filled with the most one dimensional and unlikable characters in history. Now, horror seems to want audiences to be invested and be here for a good time. We all know my love of 2024’s darling horror comedy, Lisa Frankenstein, a new take on the Shelley story that gave camp, gave horror, but also gave a shit. This was not simply a cash in on nostalgia (more of a loving tribute to the 80’s and John Waters than a simple ‘REMEMBER THIS THING YOU LIKED’) but was a real feminist spin that was meant for audiences to just watch and enjoy. Popcorn flicks have been demonized as the general public leans into the rhetoric of film bros and Oscar bait, and it’s time they made a comeback. There is nothing wrong with having fun during a movie; and even if something exists just to be camp doesn’t mean they cannot have a positive impact on your life.
Speaking of Lisa Frankenstein, Kathryn Newton is the poster girl for these new horror comedies that are really turning the genre around – Freaky and the upcoming release Abigail are films that pay homage to classics while making something new and innovative. Freaky (both a literal title and, I believe, a play on predecessor comedy Freaky Friday) is a body swap film in which a teenage girl and a serial killer switch bodies. Newton, and Vince Vaughn as the killer, give fun and authentic performances that elevate this from a simple ‘Freaky Friday but SCARY’ to something memorable and unique unto itself. The body swap does not serve the purpose, as it did in the original family comedy, of learning about life from the other’s persoective, but instead finding out what makes you strong in your own right. Watching Newton’s Millie be tormented by almost everyone and, when the body swap happens, just massacre through these assholes is a genuinely good time, and you feel happy for Millie in that once she (hopefully) gets her body back, she can start with a clean slate. I could ramble about this movie forever, and I will when I write it’s individual review, but for right now – just know it’s great.
Another classic example of ‘comedy genre but scary’ is Happy Death Day, where a girl must relive her murder over and over until she solves it. While I have already written an extensive review of Happy Death Day and it’s sequel, I don’t think I spent enough time talking about how it blends horror and Groundhog’s Day, and the unspoken horror of Groundhog’s Day which just is living the same day over and over, so well, again playing on this idea of making something new out of something old. The old saying about marriage is something borrowed, something blue, something old, something new – and save for the blue thing, all of these concepts do lead to the happy marriage of horror and comedy, giving audiences a fresh perspective to look at an old trope with new eyes.
One final contender in the marrying of genres is Totally Killer, where Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) accidentally gets transported to the 1980s, where she must stop a serial killer from killing her mom’s friends and thus stop him from killing her mom in the future. One of the main problems, however, is that her mom and company are some of the biggest bitches on earth. Back to the Future with slashers is such a fun genre that seems so obvious yet really hasn’t been done before, which makes Totally Killer this refreshing and fun, blood filled romp through the 1980s.
And if you love moms and daughters coming together, there is always Final Girls, where a young woman (Taissa Farmiga) and her friends get trapped in the B-list slasher our protagonist’s mom starred in in the 80’s. I mean, how cool is that?!
This is turning into a movie suggestion post, and I apologize, but if you want good horror, so many of these films will lead you to other amazing films you likely haven’t visited out of reluctance or just general distrust of the horror genre – but you’re so fucking wrong. And while all of these movies are deserving of a full analysis, and will get one, I would be remiss to say they aren’t saving cinema.
And some of these good movies haven’t even hit theatres yet!
Abigail, set to be released April 19, is a heist movie that takes a dark turn when the group of hackers and criminals realize the girl they are holding for ransom is a blood thirsty, ballerina, vampire, who traps them all in her home as she picks them off one by one. Lost Boys meets Mission Impossible, this is all the ingredients for a fucking good time. And that is what audiences need right now, a good time.
And who loves their audience more than my new current obsession, Late Night with the Devil. Starring David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy, Late Night with the Devil is a found footage style film that is essentially a recording of an old episode of a late night talk show in which one of the guests is a little girl that is possessed by the devil. That’s it, that’s the hook – and it got me good.
Now, while I love found footage usually because it’s some of the least gory horror out there, I’m also the first to admit it hasn’t been good since Blair Witch Project. Yet Late Night with the Devil plays with the concept and makes it good, playing into the whole Creepypasta ‘lost episode’ ideology and the whole idea of a lost episode of a long since cancelled show. I think this is a great way to lean into found footage and make something worthwhile that is reinventing the wheel in the best way. Dastmalchian is a tour de force, able to just melt into whichever new role he takes on and become that person. He carries all the charm and smarm of a 1970’s talk show host, and when shit gets too real – his fear is palpable. The use of cutaway scenes, such as the ‘We’ll Be Right Back’ is genius and allows the audience to be immersed while also asking…what the fuck am I witnessing? If you can get me to believe and care about a found footage film, you should consider yourself the definition of a professional.
While these are just a few examples of more recent films that rocked my world as a viewer, I know there are a million more out there that are worth viewing. Horror is a genre I continuously come back to, even through all the Scream sequels or the horror adjacent trash like Poor Things, because of films like this – cinema does not need to be Oscar bait to be worthwhile and valued. I think that films that prioritize fun, rich characters, subversions of audience expectations and tropes, these are the films worth celebrating.
It’s so hard to be scared of a genre I love so much, and that clearly loves me as well.