Horror is a genre that is, at least until recently, often overlooked. There is an idea that the stories that belong to the genre are silly due to the overuse of gross special effects and unbelievable circumstances. However, horror has been a genre especially conducive to exploring and exposing real-life fears for a very long time. One of the best earlier examples is the 1956 film, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. In the fifties, Americans feared communism and its possible infiltration into the country. It is easy to see this and the other versions of the movie as allegories for their time, metaphors about 'the other' infiltrating and ending life as people know it.

Sipping a cup of tea while swirling the hot liquid with a teaspoon will never be the same after falling into the sunken place alongside Christopher (Daniel Kaluuya) in Get Out. The sunken place is only one of many metaphors Jordan Peele uses to tell an incredible story in his directorial debut, one which has been considered the greatest script of the 21st century. The movie barely came out five years ago and is already considered a horror classic. Taking a stand with a clear racial commentary in his story, Peele paved the way for more filmmakers to use the genre as a way of expressing deeply rooted real-life fears regarding racism and race relations.

Not every horror movie is a social commentary on society. Nevertheless, the amount of movies that have started using real issues and traumas to increase the fear they create is astonishing. Here is how Jordan Peele and other filmmakers have been using their scary movies with creative narratives to expose society's flaws regarding racism.

Horror Movies and Racism History

Original Candyman Tony Todd with bees all over his face
TriStar Pictures

Horror movies have gone through development in recent years regarding representation. A genre that was filled with stereotypes regarding sexuality, gender equality, and ethnicity, to name a few, is now one of the main sources of social commentary in the entertainment industry. From slasher movies where female sexuality was explicitly condemned, to stories that showcase the real-life traumas of women and the violence they face, similar changes happened concerning race and sexuality.

At first, there were very few Black actors in horror movies. Then, the 'token Black friend' was installed. The 'token Black friend' is the character who was added to the stories to be more diverse, but that in reality wasn't a part of the narrative. They were either the comic relief character or the ones who realized the danger they were facing and ended up dying - so that the white characters could understand the depth of what they were dealing with. These characters were the first to die in slasher movies and horror movies in general.

Related: Get Out: How to Write Dramatic Narratives According to Jordan Peele's Movie

The change came slowly, and it still has a long way to go. But there were already a few movies ahead of their time, like the eighties film White Dog, which tells the story of a Black man trying to unteach the racism that was trained to a dog (in the film, the doge was trained to attack Black people). Another example is the original Candyman, which was released in the nineties. Yes, the Black character was the villain. However, his origin story is a clear social commentary. He becomes the villain because of the violence he suffers once he falls in love with a white woman and gets killed for it.

Jordan Peele's Filmography

Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington in Get Out, tears streaming down his face as he stares in horror.
Universal Pictures

Jordan Peele changed the horror genre in 2017 when his first movie, Get Out, was released. The real horror of the movie, which is so well articulated in the narrative, is the racism suffered by the main character Christopher, and every character of color in the movie. Peele was extremely smart in taking the stereotypes, like the token Black character, and subverting them. The sidekick, Rod (Lil Rel Howery), is the comic relief of the movie. He also comprehends the danger Christopher faces (or at least, the danger he thought his friend was about to face: a white racist family). However, they are the ones who survive in the end, while the white characters die after a literal hunt to kill the Black characters so that they could take their bodies it's practically too clear to even be metaphor at that point in the movie.

The movie quickly became known worldwide, which allowed Peele to explore racism in more horror movies. He then released his second feature, Us, in 2019, that talks about the American Dream (or nightmare) and class consciousness from the perspective of race. His new movie, Nope, is going to be released in July this year. He is also an executive producer for the new Candyman. This Nia DaCosta film, and all Peele's works, have racism involved in the storylines but he went beyond applying it to the story.

Related: Jordan Peele's Nope: Themes to Look For

By having largely Black casts, he changed what the mainstream audience (and the major studios) was accustomed to seeing in horror movies. That way, he broke a lot of preconceived ideas of what a horror movie should look like, opening a lot of doors for people of color outside, but especially inside the entertainment industry.

Other Examples of Horror and Race

A man struggles to get up in a hellish foggy water pit with bodies around him in His House
Netflix

Get Out paved the way for a new subgenre. After its release, followed by Peele's other hit movie, more narratives that interrogate race prejudice started to appear, such as the movie His House. A movie about a family that has to flee Sudan due to war and arrives in the UK, the acclaimed film makes a commentary on cultural displacement, war trauma, and xenophobia, mixing the supernatural and real-life horrors extremely well.

Or the movie Antebellum, which was from the same producers as Get Out and Us. This movie tells the story of a Black author who is kidnapped in a book reading and is taken to a Louisiana Civil War reenactment park called Antebellum. There are many other examples of movies, and even TV series like the Emmy-dominating Lovecraft Country on HBO and Them, that explore this problem in different ways.

It is inspiring to see how a genre that used to do such a poor job at representation became the main form for minorities to be able to tell their stories. There is no certainty if these types of movies will continue to be made, but the overall success of these stories tends to continue to attract audiences and filmmakers to these types of films.