In a world numb to jump scares, these films burrow into the psyche, redefining what it means to be afraid today.

Modern horror has evolved far beyond the slasher tropes of yesteryear, confronting the raw nerves of contemporary existence with unflinching precision. From racial unease to familial disintegration, these pictures capture the zeitgeist of fear in the 21st century, blending psychological depth with visceral shocks.

  • The revolutionary social commentary of Jordan Peele’s Get Out, exposing systemic horrors beneath polite facades.
  • Ari Aster’s masterful dissection of grief and inheritance in Hereditary and Midsommar, where daylight proves deadlier than darkness.
  • The folk-infused dread of The VVitch and the relentless pursuit in It Follows, tapping into primal and postmodern anxieties alike.

Social Surgery: Get Out and the Sting of Subtle Racism

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut in 2017 arrived like a thunderclap amid the bland multiplex fare, transforming horror into a scalpel for societal ills. Chris Washington, a young Black photographer, accompanies his white girlfriend Rose to meet her parents in a seemingly idyllic suburb. What unfolds is a nightmare of insidious racism, where liberal platitudes mask a horrifying auction block. The film’s genius lies in its gradual escalation: the awkward hypnosis scene, the sunken place metaphor, and the tearful auction where Chris becomes commodified anew. Peele draws from real-world microaggressions, amplifying them into macro terror, forcing audiences to confront complicity in everyday interactions.

Performances anchor this dread; Daniel Kaluuya’s restrained terror as Chris builds unbearable tension, his wide eyes conveying isolation amid faux hospitality. Allison Williams subverts girl-next-door innocence as Rose, her transformation chilling in its casual cruelty. Cinematographer Toby Oliver’s use of wide shots isolates characters within opulent frames, underscoring alienation. Sound design amplifies unease too: the stirring teacup signals impending hypnosis, a motif echoing domestic normalcy turned weaponised.

Thematically, Get Out dissects post-racial myths, post-Obama era disillusionment. It nods to classics like The Stepford Wives but infuses them with Black horror lineage, from Candyman to Tales from the Hood. Production faced scepticism; Peele funded it independently before Blumhouse’s backing, turning a $4.5 million budget into $255 million gross. Censorship dodged in the UK, yet its R-rating ensured unflinching dialogue on privilege.

Legacy ripples outward: spawning Us and Nope, inspiring social horror boom with His House and Nanny. Critics hailed it; Roger Ebert’s site called it "the most provocative thriller of the year." Yet overlooked is its economic critique, where immortality via transplant mocks wealth’s quest for eternal youth.

Familial Fractures: Hereditary‘s Inherited Doom

Ari Aster’s 2018 opus plunges into grief’s abyss, where a family’s matriarch dies, unleashing supernatural unravelment. Annie Graham, a miniaturist crafting dollhouse traumas, navigates her son Peter’s possession and daughter Charlie’s eerie legacy. Aster crafts horror from domesticity: the decapitation opening sets a tone of irreversible loss, clanging beads motif haunting every frame. Toni Collette’s seismic performance as Annie elevates it; her seance scream rivals genre greats, embodying maternal rage and despair.

Mise-en-scène obsesses over confinement: tight kitchen shots mirror emotional suffocation, bird’s-eye views dwarf humans against Graham’s intricate models. Practical effects shine in the attic cult reveal, Alex Wolff’s contortions visceral without CGI excess. Soundscape by Colin Stetson layers dissonance, wind howls presaging doom. Aster studied horror obsessively, drawing from The Exorcist yet subverting expectations with slow-burn dread over spectacle.

Contextually, it mirrors opioid crises and mental health stigma; Charlie’s asthma inhaler futile against inner demons. Production taxed cast: Collette drew from personal loss, Wolff endured sleep deprivation for authenticity. Budget $10 million yielded $82 million, A24’s gamble paying dividends. Influences abound: Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby paranoia, Kubrick’s familial isolation in The Shining.

Influence permeates: sparking A24’s prestige horror wave, echoed in Relic and The Vigil. Thematic depth probes generational trauma, Paimon cult symbolising patriarchal cults devouring women. Critics praised its ambition; Variety noted Collette’s Oscar-snubbed turn as career-best.

Summer Solstice Slaughter: Midsommar‘s Bright Hell

Aster doubles down in 2019’s Midsommar, transposing horror to Swedish sunlit fields where Dani’s grief collides with a pagan commune. Florence Pugh’s raw Dani evolves from victim to avenger amid ritualistic excesses. Daylight deprives traditional shadows, forcing confrontation: floral tapestries foreshadow bear-suited finales, elder cliff dives horrify in broad noon.

Cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski’s shallow focus blurs outsiders, immersing viewers in Hårga’s customs. Folk horror revives British strains like The Wicker Man, but queers gender dynamics; women’s communal bonds contrast male disposability. Pugh’s "pain explosion" catharsis cements her stardom, vulnerability weaponised.

Production filmed in Hungary, real rituals researched for authenticity. Aster cut 3 hours for theatrical, director’s cut restores nuance. Themes tackle break-up hell, depression’s floral euphemisms. Box office $48 million from $9 million, polarising yet cult-forming.

Legacy: mainstreamed "elevated horror," influencing Men. Overlooked: queerness in floral phalluses, matriarchal reclamation.

Primal Pursuits: It Follows and The VVitch

David Robert Mitchell’s 2014 It Follows innovates sexually-transmitted curses: Jay inherits a shape-shifting entity post-hookup, walking inexorably. Retro synth score evokes 80s, yet millennial STD fears loom. Slow pacing builds paranoia; lake shots vast yet trapping. Maika Monroe’s flight captures youthful invincibility’s shatter.

Meanwhile, Robert Eggers’ 2015 The VVitch resurrects Puritan dread: Black Phillip tempts isolated family in New England woods. Anya Taylor-Joy’s Thomasin embodies adolescent awakening amid goat-daemon whispers. Authentically accented dialogue, 1630s research yields suffocating piety. Eggers’ production scouted remote Canada, practical woodland horrors authentic.

Both tap modern isolation: It Follows postmodern disconnection, The VVitch religious fundamentalism echoes. Influences: Halloween stalks, Witchfinder General zeal. It Follows $23 million from $2 million; The VVitch $40 million from $4 million. Themes probe sexuality’s perils, faith’s fanaticism.

Effects minimalism triumphs: It Follows‘ entity disguises everyday folk, heightening ubiquity; The VVitch‘s goat prosthetics unnerve sans spectacle.

Effects and Artifice: Crafting Modern Scares

Contemporary horror champions practical over digital, reclaiming tactility. Hereditary‘s headless corpse, Midsommar‘s ritual prosthetics by Spectral Motion evoke The Thing‘s legacy. Get Out shuns gore for implication, hypnosis visuals analogue glitches. It Follows relies on editing rhythm, no VFX bloat.

This counters 2000s CGI floods, echoing Carpenter, Cronenberg. Challenges: The VVitch goat suits taxed actors, but intimacy sells terror. Legacy: inspires indies prioritising craft.

Echoes in Eternity: Legacy of Modern Fear

These films birth "elevated horror," blending arthouse with genre. Post-#MeToo, #BLM, they dissect power. Remakes abound? None yet, purity preserved. Cultural: memes ("sunken place"), discourse on therapy-speak horrors.

Challenges: streaming dilutes theatrical impact, yet festivals sustain. Future? Climate dread, AI anxieties next frontiers.

Director in the Spotlight

Ari Aster, born 1986 in New York to Jewish parents, immersed in horror via Poltergeist viewings. Brown University film grad, USC master’s honed shorts like The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011), incest taboo shocking Sundance. Hereditary (2018) breakout, $82 million gross, Golden Globe nods. Midsommar (2019) followed, deepening folk themes. Beau Is Afraid (2023) surreal odyssey stars Joaquin Phoenix, explores maternal neuroses. Upcoming Eden promises more dread. Influences: Bergman, Hitchcock; style slow-burn, familial psychodramas. A24 muse, redefining horror prestige.

Actor in the Spotlight

Toni Collette, born 1972 in Sydney, Australia, theatre roots via Gods and Monsters. Breakthrough Muriel’s Wedding (1994) ABBA-fueled dramedy, Golden Globe win. The Sixth Sense (1999) Oscar-nom maternal anguish. Hereditary (2018) seismic rage, critics’ darling. Hereditary (2018), Knives Out (2019) Joni Thrombey schemer, I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020) surreal mother, Dream Horse (2020) racer, Don’t Look Up (2021) conspiracy theorist, Nightmare Alley (2021) Zeena, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (2021) drag mum, Slava’s Snowshow stage, The Staircase (2022) series, About Us (2023? pending). Emmy for The United States of Tara (2009-2011) multiples. Versatile chameleon, horror affinity shines.

Keep the Shadows Close

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Bibliography

Auster, A. (2019) Ari Aster: Conversations with Filmmakers. University Press of Mississippi.

Bradshaw, P. (2017) ‘Get Out review – Peele’s A+ horror satire is supremely controlled’, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/22/get-out-review-jordan-peele-horror (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Clark, J. (2020) Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror. Hachette UK.

Eggers, R. (2016) ‘Interview: The VVitch’, Fangoria, 350, pp. 45-52.

Jones, A. (2018) Special Effects: The History and Technique. Focal Press.

Knee, P. (2021) ‘Elevated Horror and the New Scream Queens’, Film Quarterly, 74(3), pp. 12-20.

Mitchell, D.R. (2015) ‘It Follows: Director’s Commentary Transcript’, Sight & Sound. BFI.

Peele, J. (2017) ‘Jordan Peele on Get Out’, New York Times Magazine. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/magazine/oscar-2017-jordan-peele-get-out.html (Accessed: 15 October 2023).

Phillips, W. (2019) Midsommar: Script and Notes. A24 Press Kit.

West, R. (2022) ‘Modern Folk Horror: From The VVitch to Men’, BFI Screen Online. Available at: https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/modern-folk-horror (Accessed: 15 October 2023).