A brief Christian Perspective of Horror Films
For as long as I have remembered, I have always enjoyed movies. Growing up, I watched a lot of action/adventure films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Jackie Chan movies. But when I was very young, I think even before I was in elementary school, an irresponsible babysitter let me watch Jaws on TV.
I was never the same after that night.
I vaguely remember being very entertained watching the movie, but once the TV turned off, and I was sent to bed, anxiety flooded me. The haunting score of John Williams was sealed in my brain. When I closed my eyes I saw a great white charging at me.
That was my first experience seeing a scary movie, and it shaped me. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I started to show more interest in watching horror films. My parents didn’t approve, so naturally I’d watch what I could on TV when they weren’t around. By the time I was in high school, I had a lot more freedom, and my friends and I started to consume whatever we wanted.
From the classic slashers like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street, to the more controversial exploitation flicks like I Spit on Your Grave and The Devil’s Rejects. I was hooked.
But even then I knew as a teenager that there was something wrong with me as a professing Christian enjoying these forms of entertainment. Years later in college, as I felt the Holy Spirit renew my heart, I felt a strong conviction to disown a lot of the unhealthy entertainment I consumed. I went home for spring break one year and threw out a lot that I had collected over the years: profane music and 90% of my movie collection, which were shoot em up action and horror flicks.
Looking back on it, I believe I made the right call. Most of what I threw out was tasteless, unedifying, and a bad influence. More importantly, the reason I enjoyed those movies was wrong, finding entertainment through image bearers being shot up or butchered. However, as someone who still enjoys watching movies on occasion, I do think the horror genre can still have its place in art for the Christian.
Recently, Christianity Today started a new podcast series called Be Afraid, which explores the horror genre. It looks into the history and art of horror, how it influences audiences, and what Christians can learn from it. So far there have been two episodes of the series uploaded, and I recommend giving them a listen.
For this blog, I want to look into why the horror genre can have its benefits in arts and entertainment for Christianity.
Can anything good come from Horror?
First, I want to address just how diverse the horror genre is to give it more nuance. For many, what comes to mind when they think of horror (especially in film) is gore, nudity, and Satanic imagery. These things can be found in the horror genre, but they certainly aren’t necessary features.
Horror is a wide genre, and any genre can have its share of inappropriate excess. Suggesting gore always comes with a horror film is like suggesting sex always comes with a romance film, it just isn’t true.
Like any genre of arts and entertainment, what sells the most will be what gets the most attention. So if crass horror films filled with nudity and violence are what gets teenagers to the theaters, then that is what someone who doesn’t regularly watch horror films will align the genre with. But again, while that is understandable, it is an unfair judgment.
Many Christians cringe going through the “Christian” category at Barnes & Noble, seeing the shelves packed with Prosperity televangelists, Christian Nationalists, and New Age theologians. Those books may be what sells in the mainstream, but they don’t speak for all of Christian literature.
What can Horror offer?
Like other genres of film, horror can be an effective way to challenge audiences to examine their insecurities and fears. Vertigo is praised as a classic psychological thriller by Alfred Hitchcock, and rightfully so. But beyond being a great mystery film, it also gives a thought-provoking look at toxic masculinity. The Invitation explores uncomfortable but very real topics like trauma, grieving, and denial.
Horror has also been used in film to bring critiques of social issues. Jaws is more than a cautionary tale about swimming in the ocean. It is a critique of Capitalism and greed. Is the true villain of Jaws the fish, or the wealthy townspeople downplaying the danger of fish, allowing gullible civilians to swim on the beach in order to not lose their profits?
It Follows has often been seen as an unsubtle metaphor for STD’s, but this is actually an oversimplification. The movie is much deeper than that, examining and ultimately criticizing “hook-up culture”. The film goes against the modern notion that hooking up for sex is casual and doesn’t carry emotional baggage. On the contrary, the baggage is very real and follows you. (get it?) While I certainly wouldn’t call It Follows a Christian movie (it’s not), I would argue some of the key points the film is trying to make would be agreed by most Christians.
Last, horror can be used as cautionary warnings, which is something the Bible does often. As the Christianity Today podcast points out, the Bible is filled with horrific stories which are meant at times to disturb the audience. Sometimes this is done to warn us of the consequences of sin, or the judgment to come.
Like any genre of film, horror is certainly not for everyone, and that’s okay. It also has it’s excesses which I recommend Christians stay away from. But if you’re a fan of film, I’d encourage you to not sleep on some clever, thought-provoking movies that bring memorable scares and challenging ideas.
Thumbnail Image: “Judith Beheading Holofernes” -By Caravaggio (1598-1602)