E29: The Rhetoric of Horror Cinema w/ Kendall Phillips

Today we have the distinct privilege of discussing horror cinema, culture, and politics with Kendall Phillips, professor in the department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University. Kendall’s work focuses on the ways popular culture intersects with discursive and affective tensions within society, with a focus on public memory, controversy, and popular cinema. Among his other work, Kendall is the author of three books on the rhetoric of horror films, the most recent of which is entitled A Place of Darkness: The Rhetoric of Horror in Early American Cinema.

Our conversation touches on the ways that horror films have historically reflected the fears of the societies that produce them, pushing at the sensitive edges of controversial and dark topics. We discuss some early iterations of the horror film genre before taking an in-depth look at the cultural themes contained in the films of George Romero, John Carpenter, and Wes Craven (all directors studied in Kendall's 2012 book, Dark Directions). Finally, we ruminate on whether we are currently experiencing a "third golden age" of horror cinema, and what kinds of contemporary cultural fears could be driving the commercial success of horror films in the past decade. 

Films Referenced in this Episode

Le Manoir du Diable [released in U.S. as The Haunted Castle] (1896)

The James Boys in Missouri (1908)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Dracula (1931)

Frankenstein (1931)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Day of the Dead (1985)

Land of the Dead (2005)

The Thing (1982)

Halloween (1978)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

The Last House on the Left (1972)

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Scream (1996)

Paranormal Activity (2007)

Insidious (2010)

The Conjuring (2013)

The Babadook (2014)

Get Out (2017)

Hereditary (2018)

Us (2019)

Midsommar (2019)

The Witch (2015)

The Lighthouse (2019)

Gwen (2018)

The Ritual (2017)

Ready or Not (2019)

Annabelle (2014)

Joker (2019)

Works Cited in this Episode

Calafell, B. M. (2016). Monstrosity, performance, and race in contemporary culture. Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers.

Phillips, K. R. (1999). A rhetoric of controversy. Western Journal of Communication, 63(4), 488-510.

Phillips, K. (2005). Projected fears: Horror films and American culture. Praeger.

Phillips, K. R. (2012). Dark Directions: Romero, Craven, Carpenter, and the Modern Horror Film. Southern Illinois University Press.

Phillips, K. R. (2018). A place of darkness: The rhetoric of horror in early American cinema. University of Texas Press.

Williams, L. (1991). Body Genres. Film Quarterly, 44(4), 2-13.

Wood, R. (1984). An introduction to the American horror film. Movies and methods, 2, 195-220.