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The Most Important Postmodern Horror Movies

If there’s one thing us horror fans love, it’s a good postmodern story – one that pulls apart, makes fun of, and generally messes around with the genre’s established tropes and conventions.

With the upcoming DVD release of the brilliantly self-aware ‘Digging Up The Marrow’ – in which director Adam Green goes in search of “real” monsters – here’s a potted history of the noteworthy postmodern horror titles out there.

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Fright Night (1985)

About: The traditionally Gothic vampire goes all suburban when dashing bloodsucker Jerry (Chris Sarandon) moves next door to teenager Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale).

Postmodern Moment: Charlie gets help from Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowell), an actor in the vein of Peter Cushing and other Hammer-style stars, who’s now washed up and, as it turns out, scared of vampires.

Oh, The Horror: Postmodern or not, this always manages to scare. Check out the scene in which Jerry appears in Charlie’s bedroom… creepy as hell.

How It Changed The Genre: After ‘Fright Night’ played with the audience’s expectations of what a vampire movie was, plenty more followed and relocated the classic monster in contemporary settings, including ‘Near Dark’. The bubble burst with ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’, which went postmodern within the original Gothic setting.

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Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)

About: The star of the original ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’, Heather Langenkamp, is plagued by nightmares of none other than old razor fingers himself, Freddy Kruger.

Postmodern Moment: Heather visits Freddy’s creator (and ‘New Nightmare’ director) Wes Craven, who suggests Freddy has crossed over from the movies and into the real world.

Oh, The Horror: After years of transforming into a comedy figure, Freddy returns to his original terrifying glory, emerging as darker and more aggressive than he’s ever been.

How It Changed The Genre: While ‘New Nightmare’ didn’t received its due credit at the time, it set Wes Craven on a path to direct arguably the most significant postmodern horror in cinema history…

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Scream (1996)

About: Woodsboro virgin Sidney (Neve Campbell) becomes the target of the “Ghostface” killer… Let’s hope she knows how to survive a horror movie.

Postmodern Moment: Randy (Jamie Kennedy) telling a bunch of doomed teens the “rules” to surviving a teen slasher. “Number one, you can never have sex…”

Oh, The Horror: ‘Scream’ might be one of the smartest horror films of its era, but with Wes Craven behind the camera it’s also one of the most brilliantly suspenseful. Best of all is the opening scene, which sees the film’s biggest star, Drew Barrymore, butchered in the first five minutes.

How It Changed The Genre: Following ‘Scream’ came a seemingly endless cycle of postmodern slashers – ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’, ‘Urban Legend’, ‘Final Destination’ – which all traded on the established tropes, until that become a trope in itself. Then came ‘Scary Movie’, by which time we’d all quite rightly switched off.

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Cabin In The Woods (2012)

About: Five teens head out to an isolated cabin… Stop us if you’ve heard this one.

Postmodern Moment: The teens discover a basement filled with loads of old haunted artifacts, most of which look remarkably like they’ve been lifted from some of horror’s most famous movies.

Oh, The Horror: Once the gang realize they’re being sacrificed in an age old tradition that keeps the powers of darkness at bay, they unleash a warehouse full of monsters for one of cinema’s most brilliantly bonkers bloodbaths.

How It Changed The Genre: Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s razor-sharp script is part of the former’s ongoing mission to dissect and examine (with love, might we add) every part of popular genre fiction. Plus, every cabin in the woods from now on will need some serious tricks up its rackety old sleeves to top this one.

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Digging Up The Marrow (2014)

About: Fan favourite horror director Adam Green makes a documentary about going in search of real-life monsters.

Postmodern Moment: Casting genre legend Ray Wise (’RoboCop’, ‘Twin Peaks’) as William Dekker plays a mysterious oddball who claims he can lead Adam to a place where the monsters live.

Oh, The Horror: That would be telling, now…

How It Changed The Genre: Obviously, it’s too early to say, but ‘Digging Up The Marrow’ has already had an impact. Though kept tightly under wraps, the film has already gained a cult following on the horror festival circuit, with fans of Green’s postmodern horror style (see ‘Hatchet’), hungry to see what he’s done. Needless to say, it’ll be monstrous.

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‘Digging Up The Marrow’ is out on DVD Monday 22 June.

Picture credits: Columbia Pictures, New Line Cinema, Dimension Films, Lionsgate, ArieScope Pictures.