Portfolio Post 2 (Week 2): Sub-Genre Research

 Home Invasion Conventions and Styles

              Amongst apocalypse, slasher, paranormal, demonic possession, and witchcraft one subgenre of horror has seemed to stand out as the most terrifying: home invasion. A concept that relies on making viewers feel unsafe in their homes utilizes realism and relatable character's to drive the audience into their own paranoia. As Stephen Rosenberg wrote, "We as humans, build up these ideas that a tiny little lock or a loud alarm system will stop some kind of evil force or person from entering our home and hurting us, and these films shut down those ideas with ease". Films such as "Strangers" deliver a terrifying story all wrapped up with the antagonist's infamous exchange with the victims:

-Why are you doing this?

-Because you were home.

        As summarized by Rosenberg the pioneer of this subgenre is Rosemary's Baby. This mildly scary movie that dances with the thriller genre takes credit as the first successful example of home invasion. An increasing stress shown by the characters and inflicted upon the audience, is the way fear is conveyed rather than historically relying on jump scares, gore, or masked monsters. Throughout the next few decades home invasion waxed and waned as a top runner in the horror genre. The genre was revived in the 90s with Wes Craven's Scream and The People Under the Stairs and has since held onto its spot as a frontrunner in the horror category. The 2000s and 2010s continued to create home invasion movies that met much success at the box office which reinforces more exploration into this cinematic genre.

Citations

Drapkin-Grossi, D. (2023, January 5). Home invasion films: Why the sub-genre is among the scariest in horror. MovieWeb. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://movieweb.com/home-invasion-movies-scary-why/

Romano, A. (2016, December 21). Horror movies reflect cultural fears. in 2016, Americans feared invasion. Vox. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://www.vox.com/culture/2016/12/21/13737476/horror-movies-2016-invasion

Rosenberg, S. (2021, April 10). "because you were home" - the history of home invasion horror. HorrorGeekLife. Retrieved January 31, 2023, from https://www.horrorgeeklife.com/2021/04/10/because-you-were-home-the-history-of-home-invasion-horror/