Download pdf
Analysis on Horror Genre Films - Taking Us as an Example
- 1 College of Communication, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, US, 02215
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Horror movies are usually regarded as “empty calories” for audiences to watch. The film industry did not pay much attention to horror genre movies. But since Get Out (2017) and Hereditary (2018) was released, horror films begin a new era. They have respect from the studios and their audiences and contain many cultural things and become more thought provoking. The paper, through a method of literature analysis, explores some deep meanings behind nowadays horror movies and how they achieve these by using cinematography, color elements and metaphors, especially in Us (2019), which is directed by Jordan Peele. In the film Us, “us vs. them” mentality is presented. Duality is also a significant idea in the film. Jordan Peele employs visual design like red clothes and gold scissors and uses low key lighting, diverse colors and a lot of props. The paper also emphasizes the political issues that are revealed in the film. The paper finds that horror movies can help people relax themselves and at the same time, reveal humanities, realistic problems and social situations.
Keywords
horror, films, Us, Jordan Peele
[1]. “How Horror Movies Have Changed since Their Beginning.” Film School And Acting School Of New York Film Academy, 21 Oct. 2015, www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/how-horror-movies-have-changed-since-their-beginning/.
[2]. Short, Jase. “The Formless Monstrosity: Recent Trends in Horror.” Red Wedge, Red Wedge, 18 Feb. 2020, http://www.redwedgemagazine.com/online-issue/recent-trends-in-horror.
[3]. “Horror Film.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/art/horror-film.
[4]. Psyarxiv.com. 2020. https://psyarxiv.com/b8tgs/.
[5]. Officialhornetnewspaper. “Us vs. Them: Unpacking Racial Biases in Film.” THE HORNET NEWSPAPER, 30 Mar. 2021, https://thehornetonline.com/2021/03/30/us-vs-them-unpacking-racial-biases-in-film/.
[6]. Welten, Amy. “‘They Are US." a Research of the Visual Portrayal of Criticism of Fear for the 'Other' and 'Us versus Them' Mentality in the Film Us (2019).” DSpace Home, 4 July. 2019, https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/383875.
[7]. Dash, Danielle. “How Jordan Peele's Us CENTRES Black Women in Horror.” Stylist, The Stylist Group, 22 Mar. 2019, www.stylist.co.uk/life/lupita-nyongo-us-film-black-women-in-horror-jordan-peele/257871.
[8]. VanDerWerff, Emily. “Jordan Peele's US - and Its Ending - Explained. Sort of.” Vox, Vox, 22 Mar. 2019, www.vox.com/culture/2019/3/22/18275141/us-spoilers-twist-ending-explained-jordan-peele-lupita-nyongo.
[9]. pasiuk, Author. “The Evolution of Horror Films: A Look a Horror Movies from the 19th to 21st Century.” Media Services News, 28 Oct. 2020, https://blogs.library.american.edu/mediaservices/2020/10/30/the-evolution-of-horror-films-a-look-a-horror-movies-from-the-19th-to-21st-century/.
[10]. Ewing, Jeff. “Exploring 'the Tethered' Of JORDAN PEELE'S New Film 'Us'.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 18 Mar. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/jeffewing/2019/03/18/exploring-the-tethered/?sh=669173392e1b#500434962e1b,2019-3-18.
[11]. Miller, Matt. “In 'Us,' the Real Meaning of the Rabbits Is Much More than Food.” Esquire, Esquire, 21 Aug. 2020, www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a26944087/jordan-peele-us-rabbit-meaning-explained-theory/.
[12]. Park, Michelle. The Aesthetics and Psychology Behind Horror Films. 2018, https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=post_honors_theses.
[13]. Coates, Tyler. “Why Hands across America Is so Vital to Jordan Peele's 'US'.” Esquire, Esquire, 2 Nov. 2021, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a26883876/hands-across-america-us-movie-explained/.
Cite this article
Lu,Y. (2023). Analysis on Horror Genre Films - Taking Us as an Example. Communications in Humanities Research,3,442-449.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
Disclaimer/Publisher's Note
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
About volume
Volume title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies (ICIHCS 2022), Part 1
© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who
publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this
series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published
version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial
publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and
during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See
Open access policy for details).