Postmodern horror

{{Lead too short|date=August 2024|talk=Template|Subgenre of film}}

{{Missing information|the history and the analysis of postmodern horror|date=January 2025}}

File:Girl zombie eating her victim Night of the Living Dead bw - cropped.jpg (1968), one of the earliest examples of postmodern horror film]]

Postmodern horror is a horror film related to the art and philosophy of postmodernism. Examples of this type of film include George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, John Carpenter's slasher film Halloween, and Wes Craven's Scream.

Background

Postmodern horror, which emerged in the 1960s, is defined by several key characteristics. These include the disruption of everyday life through violence, the crossing and violation of boundaries, and a critique of rationality as a reliable framework. It also rejects traditional narrative closure, instead offering open-ended or unresolved storytelling. Additionally, it creates a confined experience of fear for the audience, fostering a sense of immersion.

Examples of this include the famous "rules of surviving a horror movie" speech from Wes Craven's 1996 slasher film Scream and the self-aware characters (including the main protagonist) slowly realizing they're living the plot of one in the 1990 precursor There's Nothing Out There.[https://www.fastcompany.com/3050557/rip-wes-craven-dead-at-76-here-are-3-times-he-perfected-postmodern-horror RIP Wes Craven, Dead at 76. Here Are 3 Time He Perfected Postmodern Horror|Fast Company][https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/578488/copycat/ A Scary Hollywood Rip-Off - The Atlantic][https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2015/11/12/copycat/ Short of the Week][https://filmmakermagazine.com/96417-watch-charlie-lynes-copycat-a-short-film-about-the-proto-scream/ Watch: Charlie Lyne’s Copycat, A Short Film About the Proto-Scream|Filmmaker Magazine][https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/70971/obscure-1990-horror-movie-may-have-inspired-wes-cravens-scream The Obscure 1990 Horror Movie That May Have Inspired Wes Craven's Scream|Mental Floss]

Notable postmodern horror films

Psycho (1960)
Spider Baby (1967){{Cite web|url=https://projectedfigures.com/2018/01/15/spider-baby-1967/|title=Spider Baby, or the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967)|date=Jan 15, 2018|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
Night of the Living Dead (1968){{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS286322874520101115|title="The Walking Dead" Recalls a 60s Horror Classic|date=Nov 22, 2010|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023|via=www.reuters.com}}
Targets (1968)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
House (1977){{Cite web|url=https://www.austinfilm.org/2018/10/heart-of-weirdness-the-story-behind-hausu/|title=Heart of Weirdness: The Story Behind HAUSU|date=Oct 22, 2018|website=Austin Film Society|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
Halloween (1978)
Dawn of the Dead (1978){{Cite web|url=https://www.filmmuseum.at/jart/prj3/filmmuseum/main.jart?rel=en&reserve-mode=active&content-id=1219068743272&schienen_id=200018|title=Filmmuseum - Program SD|website=www.filmmuseum.at}}
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978){{Cite web|url=https://movieweb.com/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-allegory/|title=Every Invasion of the Body Snatchers Movie and How Each is an Allegory For Their Time|first=Katie|last=Cusson|date=Apr 11, 2022|website=MovieWeb|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
The Brood (1979)
The Shining (1980){{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_N0DwAAQBAJ&dq=postmodern+horror+the+shining&pg=PA81|title=The Suspense of Horror and the Horror of Suspense|first=Maria|last=Anastasova|date=Oct 12, 2018|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781527519046 |accessdate=Feb 2, 2023|via=Google Books}}
The Evil Dead (1981)
The Howling (1981){{Cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/100-greatest-horror-movies-of-all-time/|title=The 100 Best Horror Movies of All Time|first=Slant|last=Staff|website=Slant Magazine |date=Oct 28, 2022|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
The Entity (1982)
The Thing (1982)
Videodrome (1983)
The Toxic Avenger (1984){{Cite web|url=https://gizmodo.com/what-will-the-citizens-of-new-jersey-mutate-into-5534364|title=What Will The Citizens Of New Jersey Mutate Into?|date=May 9, 2010|website=Gizmodo|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)[https://books.google.com/books?id=Zk_mtptGx8kC Recreational Terror - Google Books]
Re-Animator (1985)
Fright Night (1985)
Chopping Mall (1986)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Evil Dead II (1987){{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/1992804|title=Who's Laughing now? The Postmodern Splatter Film|first=Michael A.|last=Arnzen|date=Feb 2, 1994|journal=Journal of Popular Film and Television|volume=21|issue=4|pages=176–184|doi=10.1080/01956051.1994.9943985 |accessdate=Feb 2, 2023|via=www.academia.edu}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=90lCwCcQaTYC The Monstrous-feminine - Google Books (pg.73)]
Beetlejuice (1988){{Cite web|url=https://culturess.com/2018/03/30/30-year-anniversary-beetlejuice-still-ghost-with-the-most/|title=30 years later and Beetlejuice is still the ghost with the most|date=Mar 30, 2018|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
Lady in White (1988){{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S6jKVfuQG3wC&dq=night+of+the+living+dead+postmodern&pg=PA89|title=The Horror Film|first=Stephen|last=Prince|date=Feb 2, 2004|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813533636 |accessdate=Feb 2, 2023|via=Google Books}}
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)[https://theweek.com/articles/475485/new-dvd-bluray New on DVD and Blu-ray|The Week][https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/gremlins-2-the-new-batch-1990-film-review-by-jennie-kermode Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) Movie Review from Eye for Film]
Candyman (1992){{Cite journal |last=Kee |first=J. |date=Feb 2, 2015 |title=Black Masculinities and Postmodern Horror: Race, Gender, and Abjection |journal=Visual Culture & Gender |volume=10 |pages=47–56 |s2cid=194218977}}
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thenightmarebeforechristmaspgharrington_a0ab93.htm 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (PG) - The Washington Post]
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994){{Cite web|url=https://uk.yahoo.com/movies/the-most-important-postmodern-horror-movies-122023451149.html|title=The Most Important Postmodern Horror Movies|website=uk.yahoo.com|date=June 20, 2015 |accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/horror-movies-broke-rules/|title=10 Times Horror Movies Broke Their Own Rules|first=Angelo Delos|last=Trinos|date=Jun 24, 2022|website=CBR|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
From Dusk till Dawn (1996)
Scream (1996){{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/horror-fancy-clothes-1990s-cycle-prestige-monster-movies|title=Horror in fancy clothes: the 1990s cycle of prestige monster movies|website=BFI|date=December 14, 2022 |accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-10-greatest-horror-films-1980s/|title=The top 10 greatest horror films of the 1980s|date=Oct 14, 2021|website=faroutmagazine.co.uk|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/scream-and-scream-again-the-postmodern-musings-of-scream|title=Scream and Scream Again: The Postmodern Musings of "Scream"|website=MUBI|date=February 2022 |accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://collider.com/wes-craven-last-house-on-the-left-deserves-another-look/|title=Wes Craven's 'Last House on the Left' Is Not Just About Depravity and Violence|first=Raquel|last=Hollman|date=Aug 30, 2022|website=Collider|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Bride of Chucky (1998){{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2011/04/the-playlists-guide-to-horror-sequels-worth-screaming-about-119182/|title=The Playlist's Guide To Horror Sequels Worth Screaming About|first1=The Playlist|last1=Staff|date=Apr 15, 2011|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
American Psycho (2000){{Cite web|url=https://decider.com/2015/10/24/10-best-postmodern-horror-films/|title=10 Savvy Postmodern Horror Films That Helped Reinvent The Genre | Decider|date=Oct 24, 2015|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
Final Destination (2000)
Scary Movie (2000){{Cite web|url=https://wemadethisnetwork.com/2020/07/07/scary-movie-a-post-modern-horror-spoof-without-any-post-modern-wit-2000-in-film-27/|title=SCARY MOVIE: a post-modern horror spoof without any post-modern wit (2000 in Film #26)|first=A. J.|last=Black|date=Jul 7, 2020|website=We Made This|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
Party Monster (2003){{Cite journal|url=https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/kino/article/view/6284|title=Queerly Monstrous: Reading Party Monster as a Postmodern Horror Film|first=Saralyn|last=Russell|date=Jun 10, 2014|journal=Kino: The Western Undergraduate Film Studies Journal|volume=5|issue=1|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023|via=ojs.lib.uwo.ca}}
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Drag Me to Hell (2009)
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
ParaNorman (2012){{Cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/162036-paranorman-is-a-hilarious-heartfelt-horror-homage-2495824971.html|title='ParaNorman' Is a Hilarious, Heartfelt Horror Homage, PopMatters|date=Aug 13, 2012|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
Hotel Transylvania (2012){{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2012/09/hotel-transylvania-exclusive/|title=Exclusive Video: Crafting Hotel Transylvania's CGI Monster Party|first=Scott|last=Thill|magazine=Wired |accessdate=Feb 2, 2023|via=www.wired.com}}
The Final Girls (2015){{Cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2022/08/best-summer-camp-horror-movies-streaming.html|title=Summer-Camp Horror Movies to Stream From Your Bunk|first=Nathan|last=Smith|date=Aug 5, 2022|website=Vulture|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
Get Out (2017){{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/get-out-oscars_n_58b9742de4b05cf0f3ffbdd2|title='Get Out' Is The Type Of Movie The Oscars Should Pay Attention To|date=Mar 5, 2017|website=HuffPost|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
Us (2019){{Cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/jordan-peele-us-postmodernism-racism|title=Jordan Peele's 'Us' Postmodernism and Free-Floating Racism|date=Mar 29, 2019|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
Midsommar (2019){{Cite journal|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01956051.2021.1881036|title=Mapping Imperialist Movement in Postmodern Horror Film Midsommar|first=Monica|last=Wolfe|date=Oct 2, 2021|journal=Journal of Popular Film and Television|volume=49|issue=4|pages=210–222|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023|via=Taylor and Francis+NEJM|doi=10.1080/01956051.2021.1881036|s2cid=246241427 |url-access=subscription}}
Last Night in Soho (2021){{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-10-28/last-night-in-soho-edgar-wright-anya-taylor-joy-thomasin-mckenzie|title=Review: A visual and aural feast, Edgar Wright's 'Last Night in Soho' has a few wobbles|first=Katie|last=Walsh|date=Oct 28, 2021|website=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}
Nope (2022){{Cite web|url=http://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/564814/jordan-peeles-nope-fails-to-dazzle-when-the-aliens-are-revealed/|title=Jordan Peele's Nope Fails to Dazzle When the Aliens Are Revealed - WCP|first=Noah|last=Gittell|date=Jul 20, 2022|website=Washington City Paper|accessdate=Feb 2, 2023}}

Postmodern horror

Background

Notable postmodern horror films

See also

References

Further reading