20 Socially Conscious Horror Movies
By Jenn Reid
Daniel Kaluuya in Jordan Peele’s hit film “Get Out”. (Photo: Universal Pictures)
In honor of Get Out and Jordan Peele’s plan to make more socially relevant horror movies, we take a look at other scary movies with a message.
Get Out is a rare film that manages to be a box office smash, a critical success and a cultural moment all at the same time. Jordan Peele’s horror film is a look at the terror and fear that black men in America live in, even from well-meaning white liberals. He’s also pledged to make more horror films tackling socially relevant issues, with four separate ideas already.
And that’s great! Horror is a genre that lends itself to political messaging often, reflecting societal fears at the time. Get Out isn’t the first horror movie to have socially conscious leanings, and to celebrate its massive (and well deserved!) success, we’re looking at other horror movies with a message.
From ’60s classics all the way to movies (almost) as recent as Get Out, we’ll discuss what issues the movies are addressing, aside from how much they tried to make their viewers scream in terror, of course.
Warning: some gory content may lie ahead, as you may very well expect. Watch trailers at your own risk.