The movie Jordan Peele called “the greatest horror” ever made
It is a difficult job the horror genre has ahead of it if it is to continue to impression The Substance made on the Academy, earning itself some nominations in the process. Horror has always tried to make an imprint on critical culture but has rarely delivered. Pop culture would suggest horror is perhaps the most beloved genre, but it has never quite received the kudos it deserves. Except, perhaps, Jordan Peele.
Arguably, there is no film in the previous few decades that had as much of an impact on mainstream and independent cinema as Peele’s Get Out, a thriller that immediately struck a chord with audiences upon its release in 2017. Ever since then, Peele has been considered an innovative, pertinent filmmaker, capable of subverting expectations and providing consistently entertaining pieces of cinema. He has now been anointed as one of the greats of the genre and a modern giant.
Following up his Oscar-winning 2017 thriller with the complex social drama Us two years later, director Jordan Peele quickly became one of the most sought after names in contemporary cinema. Acting as the executive producer of the modern series of The Twilight Zone as well as the original TV concept Lovecraft Country, Peele has also continued to innovate contemporary horror by serving as the producer for Nia DaCosta’s remake of Candyman.
With two critically and commercially successful films under his belt, Peele’s latest project Nope, is finally due to hit cinema’s later this year, with the filmmaker hoping to capture a similar sense of excitement and intrigue as his previous two efforts. Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Steven Yeun, Barbie Ferreira, Keke Palmer, Wrenn Schmidt and Donna Mills, Nope looks to be a strange alien sci-fi following a bizarre UFO hovering over an unfortunate town.
Speaking to The Independent about his unique style of horror, Peele told the publication, “All my work is pointed at this idea of humanity’s dark side”. This grim “dark side” is evident in both of the director’s first two films, with Peele adding, “We have demons sewn into our DNA. Evolution has brought us to a place where we want to be good, for the most part. But we’ll never be all good. We’ll always have this other side”.
As a lover of the terrifying genre, Peele often discusses his greatest inspirations, noting the likes of The Shining by Stanley Kubrick, The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock and Dead Again by Kenneth Branagh as being integral to his education as a filmmaker. While Peele has noted several films as among his all-time favourites, it wasn’t until one particular video in collaboration with Fear that he revealed his number one.
Putting together a “horror tournament” with Fear, Peele pitched several horror films against each other to find out the very best of all time. Included in the tournament was the likes of Halloween, Funny Games, Scream, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and more, though surprisingly it was a slasher classic that beat them all to the top spot, going with A Nightmare on Elm Street as his all-time favourite.
Calling the film “the greatest horror movie of all time,” Peele also adds, “I learned that today” as he looks back on the list of fallen genre classics that didn’t make the top spot. Watching a movie is one thing, but learning a craft is something entirely different.
Joining such slasher icons as Friday the 13th and Halloween by John Carpenter, A Nightmare on Elm Street became a cult classic when released in 1984 with the villain Freddy Krueger leaping to pop culture prevalence. Starring Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, John Saxon and Lin Shaye, the film has since spawned eight sequels, remakes and spin-offs. A man with knives for hands who enters your dreams and kills you finds defenceless sleep is, ironically, the stuff of nightmares and a dream scenario for a horror lover. The picture has since gone on to define the category and inspire a range of worthy filmmakers, including Peele.
