Since 2017, cinema critics have adopted a new term to address certain recent horror movies. “Post horror” is thus an attempt to describe the work of a new wave of directors and screenwriters who have been proposing tense and dramatic stories, though they do not resort to supernatural or magical elements to scare the audiences. In the case of titles such as “It Comes At Night”, “Run!” or “The Babadook,” even though we might face supernatural presences, which are invisible or embodied as a monster, this magical element is much more effective as a metaphor about some real and contemporary issue.
Back in the day, blood-soaked franchises were led by male murderers such as Jason, Michael Myers or Freddie Krueger. Now, on the other hand, directors such as Jordan Peele, Ari Aster and Jennifer Kent might resort to some of the classic elements of the genre to build their movies’ argument, but real issues like racism, sexism, the challenges of motherhood and family living, as well as toxic relationships or even venereal diseases. These are some of the topics addressed in titles like “Us”, “Hereditary”, “Midsommar” and “It Follows”, for instance. Peele, on his part, became one of the recent Hollywood sweethearts after using the horror genre to approach racial issues — being it through original films or remakes like “Candyman”. What’s more, his acclaimed contribution in the series “Lovecraft Country” is posed to subvert the writer’s racism through a narrative that is led by a young black man who travels in a segregated United States in the 1950s.