Weird observation regarding Horror movies

[Vodstok]

I think it was Roderick Usher (Sean Keller, where's he been?) that pointed out that Republican presidents are great for the horror genre, while Democrats suck all the fun out of the room.

I think the theory(?) is that typically Democratic presidents are less war-minded and in the past several decades, tend to be in charge during economic recovery. Without the oppressive fear of a boogeyman (Russia/Terrorists) horror slumps because horror is the reflection of our collective fears. When the economy is good (or getting better) and things are looking up, we don't have a collective, unifying fear to draw from, so we get a lot of good oscar bait, but action and horror go down.

Being the whiny tree hugger that I am, i'd prefer the horror slump to a republican in office, but the trope seems to hold true. When was the last time we had a horror movie that really resonated? Insidious wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. Saw spiraled into nonsensical torture porn and past the first and maybe the very end of the second, Paranormal Activity is just obnoxiously repetitive. Thoughts?

[Baron Von Marlon]

Reagan agrees.

http://www.impawards.com/2007/posters/tripper.jpg

[shadyJ]

I don't really subscribe to the idea that popular horror movies mirror the collective anxiety of the times in any sense greater than perhaps the most broadest strokes. However, if I did, I would not even agree that Democrat and Republican administrations have a substantial effect on the popular themes of horror. One thing I might be willing to grant is that in times or in climates of economic prosperity, maybe horror isn't taken that seriously, since there is greater economic security. As an example, if there is ever a horror movie for the Clinton years, it would be Scream, which is more interested in being clever and self-aware than truly horrific. I would say if there if there was ever a horror film for the W years, it would be the Dawn of the Dead remake, a movie with a lot more chaos and a much more threatening scenario. I wouldn't go a lot further than that, and I wouldn't know what films to pin as definitively symbolic of other presidencies. You are forced to do a lot of cherry-picking to support that idea, and you would also be forced to overlook a lot of examples that contradict that idea. Simply identifying a zeitgeist and relating it to horror is a task 'fraught with peril' in itself.