White Terror: The Horror Film from Obama to Trump

Meeuf (journalism and mass media, Univ. of Idaho; Rebellious Bodies: Stardom, Citizenship and the New Body Politics) studies the ability of the horror film to reflect the current political climate in this fascinating homage to U.S. horror films from 2008 to 2016, which grossed at least one million dollars. Meeuf asserts that after Obama’s election, the horror genre returned to its traditional norms and focused on the anxieties of white people, who feared losing their social power now that the country was being led by a Black man. Meeuf focuses on 147 films, dividing them into five main categories—the haunted house, home invasion, horrific child, horrific technology, and nostalgic horror remake. He names the irrational fears that filmmakers tapped into: the stability of the white family home, the authority of white men, failures of white motherhood, and fears of the developing and exploitative surveillance culture. Ironically, with the rise of Trump, films pivoted to more nuanced explorations of race and ethnicity.