The Horror Renaissance: Waves, Rituals, & the Aging Corpse of Cinema

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The Horror Renaissance: Waves, Rituals, & the Aging Corpse of Cinema

The last three Marvel movies couldn’t gather as many people in theaters on their opening nights as this horror did yesterday. And this is the third horror movie opening here in Germany this month. Was the success of Weapons involved in bringing such a diverse audience to a horror film, or are the two brothers just riding the wave of A24 and their previous hit Talk to Me, which turned out to be a great movie experience?

I thought the three entries would cannibalize each other and, in some way, there was one victim — Together. It was on my radar, but it went straight to my streaming list after a careful consideration of my budget. It’s expensive to go see these movies, especially after July, where another three had to be watched. Weapons is for sure the winner of the new trio, but Bring Her Back, although it’s almost impossible at this point that it will catch up to the success of Talk to Me, still managed to impress me and deliver another great horror story.

It wasn’t as scary as their first film, but it had that magic that lets you know you’re in good hands. Those two brothers are making a pretty good name for themselves in the horror genre, and it was nice to see couple after couple entering the cinema to witness this crazy ritual that was going on even before the kids arrived at their new home.

The actors were incredible, and the intensity of recent horror movies, plus the subjects they tackle, really lets you connect to them in different ways. It’s so funny to watch the kids being tormented and, at the same time, acknowledge the motivation of the villains and say, “Yeah, I can understand where this is coming from.”

In Bring Her Back, we have another tragic horror story with better pacing and a smaller scale. In Weapons, we ultimately follow 5–6 people, but here we spend most of the time in one home. There were no town hall meetings and no press, but both of these movies had incredible villain performances. We are eating well in the new age of horror, with both new and old faces making waves in the genre, keeping the aging corpse of cinema alive.

Julia Garner, Naomi Scott, Anya Taylor-Joy, Lupita Nyong’o, Cailee Spaeny, Mia Goth, Elle Fanning, Sophie Thatcher, and the new Alien Earth prodigy Sydney Chandler are becoming huge stars in this worn-out space, thanks to their acting abilities and solid direction all around. The new, fresh Hollywood is on a streak of extraordinary performances in sequels, prequels, prequels to sequels, sequels to sequels, sequels to prequels, and even some new original ideas.

After I watched Death of a Unicorn, a rare misfire by A24, I was reluctant to put Jenna Ortega here — but she’s making a splash with Wednesday, where we’re waiting for her aunt (aka Lady Gaga) to show up in September with her new song and her final role after that one movie we should not speak of anymore. Boy, I would love if Gaga joined this band of girls in the horror genre and created a staple for herself in this space. Let’s see how it goes — we don’t have to wait much longer — and we have Alien Earth, which exceeded every expectation with its rich lore, perfect performances, direction, and look to kill the time. Who would have thought that Alien and the Predator franchise would thrive under the Disney doom, but here we are.

Sinners is another great example of an incredible production that, much like Weapons, Bring Her Back, and Alien Earth, manages to overshadow its minor mistakes in pacing, script, story, and tone. 

With the exception of Nyong’o, not a lot of Black talent gets those opportunities — and here comes Sinners and Ryan Coogler, riding the Jordan Peele wave to undo that injustice. The movie was okay: too much singing and, like the other horror pictures I mentioned a second ago, too little actual horror. 

I can imagine a kid watching those movies and traumatizing themselves for years, but I’m already pretty traumatized, bulletproof even, and I need something more dynamic, with a different kind of pacing. Smile 2 was probably the last movie that really shocked me to my core, and I believe that’s the reason it performed slightly worse than the first one — it was just too scary. I rented it later, and when my friend left to finish something, I couldn’t bring myself to watch it alone. I love that movie — and Naomi Scott in it. I know, too many jump scares, but they’re part of the horror zeitgeist. Of course, there are also the creepy scares, the suspenseful build-ups, and the reality-twisting psychological manipulations, but I’d say an effective horror should have a well-balanced plateau of scares. Good production, compelling stories, and strong characters can take time to develop, but they can also save a horror movie — something we’ve been seeing a lot of lately.

Iliya Badev 

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