Somehorrorfilms resonate particularly for milennials because of how they impacted their lives. Coined by Will Strauss and Neil Howe, the term millennial refers to those who would come into their adulthood at the turn of the millennium. While people still debate the lower end of the range, anyone born between 1981 and 1996 is considered a millennial. There were mixtapes, Nokia phones were the height of tech innovation, and Blockbuster stores were the best spots to meet cinephiles when they were growing up. Some greatmovies about millennials resonate with the entire generationand are considered cinematic classics.
Some of these movies that capture the quintessential millennial experience came out in the mid-to-late 2000s and early 2010s, also the time ofTV shows that millennials find relatable. However, the movies that define the millennials and their generation aren’t always the mostrelatable millennial movies, since they came out well into millennials' adulthood. One of the quintessential millennial cinematic experiences is catching a late-night screening of some ’80s or ’90s horror movie at too young an age. In fact, some iconic horror movies defined millennials' childhoods growing up.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street, released in 1984, explores the terror faced by a group of teenagers haunted in their dreams by Fred Krueger, a vengeful spirit. As they confront a series of mysterious deaths, Nancy Thompson uncovers the truth about Krueger’s dark past and seeks to stop him.
Wes Craven’sA Nightmare on Elm Streetintroduced the world to one of the most iconic horror movie villains, who continues to be the inspiration for Halloween costumes all over the world. Played by Robert Englund,Freddy is known forhis red and black jumper, a top hat, and his hands, which have needles for fingers. Since the movie came out in theaters in ‘84 and on VHS in ‘85, it was a VHS classic during the ’80s and the ’90s. As a result, many millennials watched the film when they were still too young for the gory practical effects.
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It features one of themost gruesome 1980s horror movie deathsthat scarred an entire generation of viewers. Amanda Wyss plays Tina, who falls asleep and has a terrifying dream of being chased by Freddy. She nearly escapes but is then caught when she finds the backdoor of her house is locked. Freddy slashes her chest open, throws and drags her around the room, takes her lifeless body up to the ceiling, and drops her on her bed in a pool of blood. It is the first murder in the film and establishes how dangerous Freddy Krueger can be.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Donnie Darko
After troubled teen Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes on a local golf course after a night of sleepwalking, he has a vision of a man in a rabbit suit telling him that the world will end in 28 days. Returning home, Donnie sees that a jet engine has fallen on his bedroom in the night, and begins to feel increasingly detached from reality. Scrambling to make sense of the bizarre and unexplainable events that have altered his life, Donnie finds himself unravelling a tangled web of disaster and fate.
Most of Gen Z were still too young to even watch TV to catchDonnie Darkoon TV, let alone in theaters. Meanwhile, millennials, who were mostly in their teens, were enthralled by the movie’s weirdness. AlongsideOctober Sky, this filmmarked Jake Gyllenhaal’s breakthroughin the industry. He plays the titular Donnie, a kid haunted by a strange rabbit-like spirit who tells him about the end of the world.
Interestingly, the same skeleton costume that became famous withDonnie Darkomade a movie appearance in an iconic ’80s movie,The Karate Kid, where Johnny wore it with his group during the costume party.
A unique time-travel movie with an immoral character at its center,Donnie Darkois acheesy dark movie that still inspires people’s inner goths. It came at a time when gothic and alt fashion was making an unexpected resurgence, and every millennial in their young adulthood or late teens was inspired by it. The moment when Donnie first appeared in his skeleton costume on Halloween day defined the gothic fashion choices and Halloween costume choices for younger millennials.
The Ring (2002)
The Ring
An American remake of the original Japanese supernatural horror film, Ring, The Ring follows a journalist who discovers she has seven days to live after watching a cursed videotape. Attending the funeral of a girl who dies under mysterious circumstances, the victim’s mother asks Seattle journalist Rachel to investigate the death. After learning about the urban legend behind the video tape the girl watched, Rachel views the tape in the hopes of finding a lead - only to find herself succumbing to the same curse.
One of thescariest supernatural horror moviesof all time is Hideo Nakata’sRingu. It caused the resurgence of Asian horror and the quality of horror films from the continent has only improved over time. Gore Verbinski, who would become famous for directing thePirates of the Caribbeantrilogy, directed the English-language remake ofRingu, titledThe Ring, in 2002. Its widespread popularity led to an entire franchise of films that continues to entertain viewers.
The plot ofThe Ringis based on an old Japanese urban legend about a cursed VHS tape. Even though the film came out after the turn of the millennium, when the popularity of VHS was dying, the movie quickly garnered a cult fandom among millennials. VHS had defined the lives of millennials, and so, the film’s premise intrigued them all. The scene when, at the end of seven days, the possessed girl —Samara climbs out of the well,crawls over to the screen on the other side and climbs out of the TV, changed the lives of millennials.
Poltergeist (1982)
Poltergeist
Poltergeist is a supernatural horror film directed by Tobe Hooper and produced by Steven Spielberg. Released in 1982, it follows the Freeling family as strange phenomena disturb their suburban home, prompting them to seek the expertise of parapsychologists to confront the malevolent forces threatening their daughter.
Since it came out in ‘82, every millennial who watchedPoltergeisthas done so at a much younger age than they should have. In their defense, the film follows a family who live in a haunted house, where the youngest daughter, who is barely five years old, is the primary victim. So, surely, if a five-year-old is involved, the movie shouldn’t, on paper, have very traumatizing scenes. However, for the most part, even if it’s not very gory,Poltergeistfeels terrifying, becausethe peril underscores every moment as the spirits wreak havocin the lives of the central family.
Poltergeistcontinues to scar millennials today because it’s ahorror movie that hits differently as a parent. That is an added trauma related to the movie, because one gory scene that nearly went too far already terrified every millennial who saw the film in their childhood. Dr. Marty looks into the mirror and halucinates that he is peeling his face off with his own hands. The perfectly executed practical effects make it too real to ever heal from the impact of seeing that at a young age.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Sixth Sense
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense is a psychological thriller about a young boy who can see and communicate with ghosts. Bruce Willis as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist who tries to help Cole, played by Haley Joel Osment, while grappling with his own personal demons. The movie features a twist ending that has become iconic in pop culture.
M. Night Shyamalan’s reputation as a master of the climactic cinematic twist started with his breakout film in ‘99,The Sixth Sense. He had worked on a couple of comedy dramas prior to it, and then made the switch to horror, a decision that would change his career forever. Bruce Willis, who will always be most famous for playing John McClane inDie Hard, one of thebest Christmas movies without Santa Claus, plays the protagonist Malcolm. He might just be Willis’ second most famous character.
The twist reveal in The Sixth Sense is so popular that many people who haven’t seen the film also know it.
After surviving a tragedy, Malcolm, who is a child therapist, meets a nine-year-old boy and decides to attempt to help him. Shyamalan’s eerie filmmaking adds a sinister tone to Malcolm’s experiences. However, no one can predict while watching the movie, thatMalcolm actually died at the very beginning of the film and has been a ghostthroughout. The moment when he realizes it is one of the quintessential millennial movie moments. The twist reveal inThe Sixth Senseis so popular that many people who haven’t seen the film also know it.
Pet Sematary (1989)
Pet Sematary
Eager to start afresh, the young doctor, Louis Creed, and his family–his wife, Rachel, their daughter, Ellie, and their two-year-old toddler, Gage–move to their new home in the small rural town of Ludlow, Maine, alarmingly close to a busy highway. However, after the inadvertent death of Rachel’s cherished tomcat in an awful accident, reluctantly, a desperate Louis will take his friendly neighbor’s advice to bury it in an ancient Micmac graveyard: a mystical burial ground imbued with alleged reanimating powers. Now, despite the terrible results and the insistent warnings from a recently deceased, tragedy-stricken Louis has no other choice but to go back to the Indian cemetery, in high hopes that, this time, things will be different. Nevertheless, can the dead truly return from the grave?
Based on Stephen King’s 1983 novel of the same name, Mary Lambert’sPet Semataryis a classic ’80s horror film that has, since its release, inspired a sequel and a remake series. It tells the story of a family who move into a new house in a rural town in Maine, close to a magical cemetery. After their pet cat dies, their neighbor Jud introduces them to the burial ground that revives the dead, albeit as undead. When their son Gage dies, his father, despite warnings about what happens when humans are put through the ritual, buries him there.
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Gage expectedly turns murderous, and claims Jud as his first victim. With patient panning, cinematography and a tense score, the scene shows Jud walking through the family’s house and up to Gage’s room. As soon as he’s there, Gage, who has stolen a scalpel, slits Jud’s achilles tendon in a shot that zooms in on his leg as seen below the bed. Jud is almost immediately rendered immobile on his feet, and if you know anymillennials who never let their feet dangle from their beds, they most likely watchedPet Semataryas a kid.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 horror film that follows three film students who venture into the Black Hills near Burkittsville, Maryland. As they document their search for the Blair Witch legend, strange and unsettling events unfold. Presented as found footage, the film is directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, and it pioneered the found footage genre in mainstream cinema.
When one thinks of iconic millennial horror movies,The Blair Witch Projectimmediately comes to mind. It is considered to be the first film of its scale that was marketed almost entirely on the internet. The film’s website and the IMDb pages of the actors for a whole year made it seem like they had gone missing. Web forums began filling up with rumors and conspiracy theories as the marketing campaign added a sense of realism to the film’s events.
It also popularized the found footage genre and inspired a franchise.
The found footage pseudo-documentary format changed the lives of millennials as many started dedicating all their time to unearthing the real mystery. It also popularized the found footage genre and inspired a franchise, starting withBook of Shadowsthe very next year, ahorror movie sequel that should never have been made. The most defining moment of the film is perhaps when the whole group starts running and Heather shrieks after noticing the witch, but the camera doesn’t pan away from her. This subversive use of viewers’ fear of the unknown captivated millennials’ imagination.
Scream (1996)
Scream
1996’s Scream follows a teenage girl who is targeted by a masked killer a year after her mother’s murder who uses horror movies as a deadly game against her and her friends.
Wes Craven permanently changed the slasher genre with his subversive horror filmScream, which plays on the relatively formulaic structure of slashers. Its self-referential writing, the brutality of its villain, and the ending reveal cemented it as a box office smash that went on to inspire a franchise which is still set to have more installments. Ghostface is a horrormovie character who helped reshape genre expectations, by having no fixed identity and making an unforgettable entrance.
Drew Barrymore was set to play Sidney Prescott, but instead chose to play Casey, so that viewers would be shocked when the person on the poster died within the first 15 minutes of the film, leaving them to guess who the heroine might actually be, which provided Neve Campbell, who played Sidney Prescott, the protagonist, her breakout role in Hollywood.
Ghostface calls an unsuspecting Caseyand decides to quiz her on horror movie trivia after showing her that he has captured her boyfriend. He threatens to kill both of them if she fails the quiz and then goes on to chase Casey through the house before killing her. Prank calls became even more popular during the ’90s with the introduction of handsets which allowed people to talk from any place in the house. So, Ghostface’s introduction taps intothat, the fear of home invasions, and the obsession with horror movie trivia, to give millennials an incredible scene they will never forget.
Saw (2004)
Saw
Saw is the first installment in the horror franchise directed by James Wan. Released in 2004, the film follows two men who awake shackled in a derelict bathroom, discovering they are part of a sadistic game orchestrated by the enigmatic Jigsaw, requiring them to follow cryptic instructions to survive.
Millennial horror cinema is characterized by an uptick in torture horror. The movies associated with this generation consistently challenged the limits of audience’s tolerance by increasing the amount of gore and introducing more inventive ways of eliciting disgust. While the rest of the franchise is perhaps bloodier and features more innovative traps,the firstSawmovie is the most impactful. Filmmakers have tried recreating its narrative structure and mimicking its level of gore for the past couple of decades.
Sawis set in a fictional bathroom where two men are chained to objects at the far ends of the room. They are given tasks to complete in exchange for their lives. The tasks are demanding, often involving self-mutilation. The disturbing premise and its use to explore people’s tendency to lead dishonest lives are classic millennial horror movie traits. However, the most iconic moment inSawisn’t one of violence. The corpse in the room gets up at the end and is revealed to be the Jigsaw killer. Introducing Jigsaw with a Shyamalan-like twist was a great creative choice!
Final Destination 2 (2003)
Final Destination 2
Final Destination 2 follows a group of strangers as they desperately try to escape an inevitable and gruesome fate after a premonition saves them from a deadly highway pileup. Seeking to cheat death, they must uncover the mysterious pattern of their survival while striving to evade a series of fatal accidents meticulously orchestrated by an unseen force.
One of the most memorable millennial horror movie experiences that defined the generation was watchingFinal Destinationand developing new irrational fears. While the fearsome circumstances introduced by the movie seemed unlikely, the fact that they mostly employ objects and situations one encounters is what makes it particularly frightening. Moreover, the film can be sobering with its exploration of the inevitability of death. Fans of the inventive horror franchise will be excited to know that it’s returning with a new movie soon.
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Elaborate fantastical lore involving Death explains the phenomena in the franchise, but their memorable practical effects make the movies and the scary moments grounded. The most traumatizing scene in the franchise is in the first sequel movie. The film opens with a scene on the highway where a log truck will cause a pileup of bodies. The logs in the truck go smashing through the windshield of a car and a series of accidents begin from there. Ask a millennial to drive behind a log truck and watch their reaction — the scene scarred an entire generation for life.
