Alright, this is kind of specific, but I’d really like to learn more about the cultural subtext surrounding horror/thriller/monster movies. For instance, the Godzilla franchise was, if I’m not mistaken, a response to fears about the nuclear fallout from Hiroshima/Nagasaki. Why was there such a big market for pregnancy/child horror in the 60’s/70’s? Why so many slasher films in the 80’s? All these ‘movements’ in horror were a reflection of what was on the minds of the general populace at the time they were made, and I want to read a book that really dug into that. So I’d like a book about the cultural connotations of horror movies, preferably one that spanned several decades.
It doesn’t limit itself to film alone, but Stephen King’s Danse Macabre covers exactly what you’re talking about, as well as horror literature and television.
David J. Skal’s The Monster Show covers some of this, but is really mainly about the horror films of the 1930s and 1940s, Skal’s specialty (he wrote the excellent Hollywood Gothic, about the making of Dracula, and V is for Vampire*, about books, films, and other things vampiric) He definitely talks about a lot of the societal influences that helped produce the films of the 30s, 40, and also into the 50s, 60s, and 70s. But he doesn’t answer your question about pregnancy terror and slasher films.
Actually, I see that he’s updated the book. My old copy doesn’t cover a lot of the newer stuff, but it’s possible this updated edition does.
Bill Warren’s Keep Watching the Skies! also covers the 1950s, and has been called the definitive book on the topic:
A few years ago I was discussing with someone the glut of “[fill in the blank] From Hell” movies in the late 80s/early 90s. I imagine it started with “Fatal Attraction” (the Other Woman From Hell) but then you had “Hand That Rocks The Cradle” (Nanny From Hell), “The Crush” (Lolita From Hell), “Single White Female” (Roommate From Hell), “Pacific Heights” (Tenant From Hell), “Unlawful Entry” (Cop From Hell), “The Temp” (Secretary From Hell) - there were a ton of these at the time that all followed the same basic formula. We were trying to figure out what prompted this formula and why it was so popular. Obviously some fear that even generally benign people can be dangerous. But what started the trend? Was it a reflection of some cultural event or something? Or was it just Hollywood copying the formula of one successful film and applying it over and over until audiences finally tired of it?
That has to be at least one element of it.
Look at all the space themed movies that came out shortly after Star Wars, or the fantasy themed movies that came out after LotR. Granted a lot of them were “B” movies at best bit I think that shows that a bunch of guys just got together and said “This shit is really hot right now! We just gotta throw something together and get it on the screen before it does down.”
Carol Clover’s Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film covers part of it–at least the pregnancy/horror trope.