10 horror movies that inspired Jordan Peele
Following in the footsteps of the horror filmmakers and maestros who paved the way for the genre, comedic actor turned director Jordan Peele has provided his own vision and artistry to horror. The director’s 2017 debut, Get Out, a psychological examination of racial tensions in America starring rising star Daniel Kalyuua was one of the strongest seen in film and received immense acclaim and analytical readings. Peele’s execution of subject matter, visual design and contextual layout made for one of horror’s most compelling and insightful social commentary contributions.
The director followed suit with Us, a 2019 thriller starring Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex as a family terrorised by doppelgangers. The film examines society’s mistreatment and disposal of one another, as well as touching on classism and the human fear of the ‘other’. Us may not have met its predecessor’s success, but its terrifying concept and unsettling visuals tap into a shared fear of something that looks like us but isn’t us.
Peele’s third feature is Nope, a sci-fi thriller starring Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Brandon Perea, and Keith David. The director’s junior film combines traditional sci-fi codes with an inspection of contemporary society’s obsession with having every moment on film. This is presented in the siblings attempting to capture visual evidence of an unidentified flying object that abducts town residents.
One theme that connects Peele’s three films is social examination presented and dissected through horror concepts and imagery. Offering a peek behind the curtain, Indiewire shared the ten horror classics that inspired this use of the genre for such a brilliant director, including slashers, monster flicks and suspenseful sci-fi movies.
10 horror movies that inspired Jordan Peele:
Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)
John Carpenter proved his artistry as a horror master with this 1978 slasher about a killer called Michael Myers, who escapes from his psychiatric ward on Halloween, planning to continue the killing spree he began 15 years ago. Halloween stars Jamie Lee Curtis in her breakout role and Donald Pleasence, with P. J. Soles and Nancy Loomis.
Michael Myers is one of horror’s most menacing and iconic faces, serving as the prototype slasher who alters from a fractured psyche devoid of reasoning and a supernatural entity depending on instalment. “He’s not even evil; he’s just curious,” Peele shared about the character. “You know you can’t talk him out of whatever he wants to do. He always does that thing where he’d stab somebody and turn his head – which is the international symbol for ‘fascinating’.”
Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1973)
This American classic is the blueprint of the summer blockbuster and is a brilliant execution of suspense, visual shock and entertainment. Steven Spielberg’s brutally realistic horror focuses on a beachside town who are terrorised by a great white shark that’s partaking in a gruesome series of attacks and murders.
Peele holds Spielberg’s shark attack masterpiece in high regard, stating it is “debatably the greatest film of any genre”. The Get Out director also emphasises Jaws’ commitment to giving audiences a thrilling viewing experience they can all enjoy as one, carried out through attentive visuals and editing. “The most beautiful revelation, he said, “was the audience’s imagination is far more powerful than what you show them.”
Nightmare on Elm Street (Wes Craven, 1984)
This fun and energetic supernatural slasher tells the chilling legend of Freddy Krueger, a scorned serial killer who tortures and murders his victims in their sleep through dreams. Wes Craven’s unique Nightmare on Elm Street stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and Johnny Depp in his film debut.
This quintessential 1980s horror showcases some eccentric and surreal chase and killing sequences, with blood pouring onto the screen and horrific manipulations of the body. The idea of a killer who gets you in your dreams, leaving you to become sleep-deprived out of an urge to survive, is brilliantly original and terrifying, emphasised by Peele, who shares that Craven’s classic “kept (him) awake for a decade of (his) life.”
Under the Skin (Jonathon Glazer, 2013)
Scarlett Johansson is an extraterrestrial being who disguises itself as a gorgeous and seductive woman to entrap unsuspecting victims into an alternate dimension that degrades them into pieces of meat. Jonathan Glazer’s surrealistic artwork also features Adam Pearson and a cast of unknown actors without experience.
Glazer’s film gives a heightened and visceral experience that intertwines a melancholic undertone with a landscape that borders reality and illusion. Imagery, editing and events refuse to align with traditional cinematic storytelling. Instead, everything feels like an off-dream you had years ago but still cannot shake off. “Under the Skin, for me, is a special film,” Peele explained. “It has one of those aesthetics that, as a filmmaker, you watch, and you’re like ‘, how did Jonathan Glazer even do that?’ Everything looks so specific; the photography is beautiful, and that movie has a perfect score.”
Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
Roman Polanski adapts Ira Levin’s 1967 novel of the same name in this masterpiece starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans and Ralph Bellamy. The film tells the spine-chilling tale of a woman who is drugged and assaulted by the devil, thanks to a secret satanic cult that her husband is part of so that they can recruit the offspring as the Antichrist.
In an analysis that seems ironic given the director’s lack of morality towards girls, Rosemary’s Baby examines womanhood with its concepts of the hysterical stereotype and the absence of agency over a woman’s own autonomy against a religious ‘Satanic Panic’ backdrop. This feeds into Peele’s masterpiece, Get Out, which examines race and culture vultures through psychological elements. “Rosemary uses her instincts as a new mother to protect herself and her child,” the director outlines. “On a subtle level, her personality and point of view are helping her out. And it’s the same with Chris. His blackness is what allows him to perceive that something sinister is going on.”
Critters (Stephen Herek, 1986)
Stephen Herek’s fever dream of a horror film follows a race of tiny, furry aliens from an asteroid prison that escapes after hijacking a transport ship. After landing in a small farming town on Earth, they plan to make a meal out of the locals. The sci-fi comedy stars Dee Wallace, M. Emmet Walsh, Billy ‘Green’ Bush and Scott Grimes.
Peele has earned credit in horror filmmaking by his contributions supporting the argument that the genre is an opportunity to present intelligent and reflectional stories that dissect real issues. However, he still enjoys watching the occasional guilty pleasure horror that’s too dumb to be scared by. “In retrospect, [it’s] fairly bad,” he shared. “But it gave me a wrong sort of feeling. Those little things were so mischievous and so…evil. They had those evil-ass faces.”
The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
This psychological and supernatural horror occurs at the haunted Overlook Hotel, where an author, played by Jack Nicholson, has moved in with his wife and child, Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd. The evil forces plaguing the hotel’s halls soon tear apart the family.
The Shining recruits suspense and visual terror to unsettle and terrify its audience. Peele traces his love for the film to its “subtlety, an attention to almost a subconscious level of perception of something creepy going on. It’s just unsettling, and I don’t think anyone’s really done a horror movie that well since.” He has also stated that the image of Shelley Duval running away from the snow-covered Overlook Hotel with a knife in her hand is his “favourite horror movie shot of all time.”
C.H.U.D (Douglas Cheek, 1984)
This sci-fi horror film focuses on a New York City police officer teaming up with a homeless shelter manager to track down an ongoing list of missing people. They are horrified to discover that missing people have been killed by humanoid monsters that live in the sewers. C.H.U.D, which stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, stars John Heard, Daniel Stern, and Christopher Curry.
This film beat initial negative reviews to land cult classic status and has been referenced in other media, including The Simpsons, The Flash and Futurama. Hanna Cheek, daughter of C.H.U.D director Douglas Cheek, recalled Peele’s enthusiasm for the film when he visited the family. “At my house, we had a manhole cover from the set, and I remember Jordan being really excited,” she shared. “He was definitely clear that it was in his arsenal of favourites.”
Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
Tomas Alfredson’s take on the vampire trope is a ghostly and sinister one that somehow manages to splinter an innocent childhood love in there. It stars Kåre Hedebrant as a lonely 12-year-old who befriends a vampire who appears his age, played by Lina Leandersson.
Alfredson’s film blends blood and tension with an emotional and intelligent narrative, horrifying audiences with brutal kills before softening the tone with a budding and innocent relationship. Peele takes both visuals and subject matter into account when explaining his love for Let The Right One In, calling it “one of the most beautiful horror movies of all time.”
Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto as a space crew who uncover a vicious and deadly extraterrestrial.
Alien is a testimony to how suspense and masterful direction that conceals and reveals the monster at the right moments makes for a chilling and triumphant horror. The Us director spoke with the horror YouTube channel Fear: The Home of Horror and shared his belief that the 1979 classic is potentially the best-designed movie ever made, with Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street coming behind as a close second.
