The History of Politics in Horror Movies

they live alien Politics in Horror Movies
John Carpenter's They Live (1988) | Universal Pictures
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I know, I know. It’s Election Day and by this point, the only thing you want is to escape from the droning existential dread of a future in which your candidate loses. I’m not here to tell you which way to vote, so at ease, soldier. I’m here to point out that, especially over the last few years, a talking point I’ve heard come up countless times is to “keep politics out of _____.” Be it professional sports, the acting industry, food labels, video games…that response seems to be an immediate go-to, as if politics have no place in our lives aside from directly in their own existence. As if the people involved with these things have no right to believe what they believe or decide what they decide. I’m very passionate about film. Extremely passionate. So, when I hear the “keep politics out of horror movies” rebuttal to a newly released horror film, I want to throw my hands in the air and scream to world, “When haven’t they been in horror?!”  Horror is politics. Politics are horror. They always have been. Maybe we just haven’t been listening.

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I don’t want to go back too far, so let’s start with some relevant horror films from the ’70s. In fact, would this even be a political horror article if I didn’t start with Mayor Larry Vaughn from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975)? I know we all like to joke about someone “being the mayor from Jaws,” and I think the reason for it is that it’s one of the most glaring examples of political corruption in film. You have an elected official that is so afraid to put his political career in danger, that the proven deaths of his constituents pale in comparison to his re-election focus. Even after Mayor Vaughn sees people killed with his own eyes, one of his first reactions is that they can “save August,” meaning that if they deal with the shark problem now, the tourists will come back and save his ass. Spoiler alert, he’s still the mayor in Jaws 2. A classic case of taking all the glory and none of the blame. Let’s also look at another founding father when it comes to political horror, George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968). At a time in America when Black people were basically only used as villains and sidekicks in film, Duane Jones took on the first major Black lead horror role. The entire film, he takes charge, showing he can lead, protect, and defend. He’s one of the only characters to get through a terrifying night of zombie attacks, only to be killed by the police upon their arrival, showing that a Black man in America can survive a zombie outbreak, but can’t survive their own country and police that would rather shoot first and ask questions later. Keep in mind that this is a message sent out 52 years ago, and is still just as relevant today. Romero had also previously done The Crazies (1973), which showed the government torch their mistakes (people) and cover up any wrongdoing, a theme that would be used over and over again in horror through the next few decades (Return of the Living Dead, The Belko Experiment, Alien Vs. Predator 2). Even Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes (1977) showed government back-turning on locals that were affected by nuclear tests.

I’m not sure if there’s a better displayer of political horror than David Cronenberg. Although The Dead Zone (1983) was written by Stephen King, Cronenberg really hammers home the importance of stopping politically-corrupt individuals from climbing into positions of ultimate power. It doesn’t get much sleazier and dangerous than Greg Stillson, a career politician that would go on to unleash nuclear attacks on the world, after interpreting a dream as a message from God. I think it’s worth mentioning how involved with political horror Stephen King has been throughout his career as well. See: The Stand, The Green Mile, The Long Walk, The Running Man, etc. etc. etc. Cronenberg would go on to focus on the dangers of consumerism in Videodrome, and the corruption of power in The Fly (1986). Let’s not forget the government trying to use telekinetic powers in Cronenberg’s Scanners (1981) and King’s Firestarter (1984).

I think the focus on top-down consumerism is better highlighted in John Carpenter’s They Live (1988), which represents how controlled we are by the rich and powerful people in charge. They control the media, which controls us, and the only way to stop it is rise up and take a stand against it. I think about this film every single time I see a political advertisement on TV…or really any advertisement. Don’t sleep on The Stuff (1985), either.

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The ’80s weren’t just about political-based horror movies, but the politics bled into the film creations themselves. Actors like Mark Patton and Anthony Perkins were blacklisted in films because of their HIV diagnoses as a result of the civil unrest created by politicians. Films like Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge were created as an insult to the LGBTQ community rather than a celebration of it (by the way, watch Scream Queen on Shudder).

In the early ’90s, with more civil unrest came more racial political horror. Candyman (1992) may look like a typical slasher on the outside, but the backstory of a Black man tortured for simply falling in love with a White woman, and the “turn the other way” mentality the police and city have on the serial murdering of Black people in lower income areas are the focuses here. Tales from the Hood shared the black perspective of police brutality, domestic abuse, corrupt politicians, and racism in the prison system.

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Political horror isn’t some 30-year-old idea that went away. Take The Purge series for example, which seemed to start as a home invasion-style film, and has evolved into the social commentary that the government hates poor people to the point of purging them out of society. Look at films like Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017), with the message that Black people are still only seen as physical specimens to be exploited, or US (2019), which expresses the metaphor that the Black community are government-oppressed underground dwellers, tethered to those with privilege. Spiral (2020) focuses on the idea that gay interracial couple doesn’t belong in the suburbs. The idea isn’t strictly American, either. Bong Joon-ho just won an Oscar for presenting the societal oppression of poor people by the rich and powerful in Parasite. Class oppression was the theme in Snowpiercer as well, where the poorer class was kept to the back of the train, where promises of trickle-down perks would fall on exhausted ears until an uprising was inevitable. One of the most recent and powerful films showing political corruption is Shudder’s La Llorona, which follows the haunting of a powerful war criminal that got away with his crimes.

I’m not saying that I agree with every film that has political commentary, but I do believe that filmmaking is an art, and like songwriting and painting, the art is subjective to the artist’s feelings and experiences. They deserve the opportunity and respect to share that art and opinion, just like we all do in our every day lives. This article isn’t to rile anyone up. It’s just to simply say that maybe politics have always been a part of the things we so desperately claim we want them gone from, and maybe these things don’t ever exist without politics. Maybe we need to take a closer look and maybe we can change them in the future by changing our politics. Like I said at the beginning of the article, I’m not going to tell you how to vote, but I’m going to tell you to vote. Vote in your local, state, and national elections. The only way we can make positive changes for everyone, is if we acknowledge that we’ve made mistakes throughout history, and work together to learn from them. Everyone should feel like they have a government that cares about them, so let’s make it happen.


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