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Horror films are about more than the scares, says IU dean

By Claire Tips

Posted October 31, 2024

Dean Tolchinsky talks about how horror movies express deeper social themes, including mental health and racism. Horror movies also create a sense of community, because people still go out to movie theaters to see horror films. (Claire Tips, WFIU/WTIU News)

It’s Halloween, and that means horror movies are showing at theaters.

Halloween classics such as Hocus Pocus and The Blair Witch Project are playing alongside new releases like Smile 2 and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Dean David Tolchinsky of IU’s Media School says horror films go beyond scares, exploring deeper themes that reflect our society.

“There is the potential to get beyond the plot and just the kind of enjoyment of being scared, and really think about what’s this movie or TV show really about?” Tolchinsky said.

The Babadook and The Sixth Sense, Tolchinsky said, are films that explore mental health in a way that can help viewers reflect on their own challenges. He also points to Jordan Peele’s work, which uses horror to confront topics like race and racism.

“There is something that’s both powerful about horror, but also it’s entertainment,” Tolchinsky said. “You get people into the theater (and they say), ‘Oh, this is going to be a funny or scary movie,’ and then they’re actually thinking about race and very interesting and very serious social issues.”

Tolchinsky, a screenwriter himself, said he’s always been interested in horror films, growing up with a father who was a psychoanalyst and a movie buff. He and his father would discuss movies like Island of the Lost Souls and King Kong.

Now, Tolchinsky shares that same love for horror films with his son. They talk about the movies they’ve seen, trying to uncover the deeper meaning behind them.

“Why is it foregrounding mental health in this way?” Tolchinsky asks. “Why am I attracted to it? Why am I scared of it? Why does it remind me of this other thing that I’ve seen, or this thing in my own life?”