In this article, we look at how TV horror has managed to hook modern viewers. Analysing how the storytelling techniques and content have changed.

Serial Horror Can Work

TV horror has been steadily challenging its established structures for a while. Twin Peaks focused on the long-running, intersecting, surreal and often horrific mysteries and characters connected to the death of Laura Palmer. Now modern shows like American Horror Story choose a new horror genre to explore for each new season’s arc. Meanwhile, The Walking Dead, Yellowjackets, Hannibal, The Last of Us and more unfurl their horrific stories across multiple continuing seasons.

Many of these series have succeeded with viewers for two reasons. Firstly, they use their length and scope to explore a diverse array of characters and the worlds they inhabit in more expansive ways than a standard horror film allows. Plus, the expanded time spent in these characters’ worlds and company builds a sense of temporal familiarity that films can’t easily replicate. This allows moments of horror to potentially have a greater impact because of the connection built with the audience.

Secondly, these shows have successfully mapped horror beats onto long-running serialised storytelling. Those made for broadcast TV use the mini-climaxes before advert breaks to keep viewers on edge. Mainly done through character revelations, sudden shocks that leave us wanting a fuller picture or building up suspenseful situations. Steadily, though, more shows are structuring their episodes like movies, focusing more on building atmosphere and mystery throughout the entire episode. Rather than needing to heighten tension every few minutes. Meaning shows can also revel in a slow build. Both formats craft tension in their own unique ways, and both formats usually end with a finale that shocks us enough to want to continue the narrative. Each episode gradually reveals more about the characters, the story and the overall threat. With no true status quo restored until the season’s end, these shows know just what to do to keep TV audiences watching.

Scary & Engaging

It’s not just the unique style of horror storytelling that is drawing people to these shows. With the restrictions of yesteryear no longer constraining what can be shown on cable and streaming, and rising production budgets TV horror is allowed to be more adult. For example, horror shows can now deliver movie-level effects to meet the needs of the story. Adding another level of immersion and entertainment for both general watchers and horror fans.

These shows are also not afraid to tackle big issues such as addiction (The Haunting of Hill House), climate change (The Last of Us), trauma (Yellowjackets) and more. Horror has, of course, always dealt with big themes, but with restrictions no longer watering them down, these stories can be much more confrontational in how they approach the topic. Many audiences gravitate to these shows because of their ability to showcase dark themes in an honest way.

Small Screen Screams Staying

Horror has shown itself fully capable of working in the world of serialised TV. Through its focus on building engaging characters and settings, adapting the beats of horror to the needs of either broadcast and streaming formats, as well as tackling big themes with horrific effects, horror has shown itself to be a truly unstoppable genre. Time truly is no barrier to scares.

The post Prestige TV Horror: Scary Stories Going Serial appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

WARNING – Small spoiler warning in that the premise of the show is discussed which will give away major events in the first episode. Also, this is a horror programme and details of that horror will be discussed.

What’s Going On?

Yellowjackets is about a very successful high school football (soccer) team in America in the mid 90s. On their way to an important game, their plane crashes leaving them stranded in the wilderness. The show cuts between events unfolding in the 90s and the present day, meaning for several characters there are two actors playing them – a teen version and an adult version. It is made very clear at the start of the show that something truly terrible happened in the wilderness and not just the plane crash.

The 90s Characters – The Team

A quick summary of the major characters

• Jackie – team captain and classic popular girl. She is a good leader before the crash and helps them keep together despite the everyday dramas of teenage life.
• Shauna – Jackie’s best friend, the two are very close and there is a strong feeling they will always back each other up.
• Taissa – an extremely determined teenager who is confident and quite no-nonsense.
• Natalie – a bit of a goth-outsider type and known as a “burnout”.
• Van – the team’s goalkeeper and nearly didn’t make it out of the crash alive.
• Lottie – from a wealthy family and clearly has problems she is struggling to deal with.
• Laura Lee – a dull but very pleasant teenager and a committed and vocal Christian.
• Misty – not a player and instead is some manner of student volunteer who assists the coaching team.
• There are other players (and non-players) who survive the crash but these are the key members.

Present Day – The Team

The present-day side of the story focuses on four people – Shauna, Taissa, Natalie and Misty. The audience is left to draw its own conclusions about what happened to those who don’t have an adult counterpart as yet.

• Shauna has become a stay-at-home parent and seemingly abandoned all of her ambitious plans she had before the crash.
• Taissa is successful and running for political office, with a wife and child.
• Natalie has been in and out of rehab several times and a complicated relationship with Travis (another survivor not on the team).
• Misty has become a nurse and is clearly a Very Bad Person with glimpses of cruelty, manipulation and worse from her almost immediately.
• The four have had sporadic contact, seemingly with Misty being utterly cut-off and are brought together after receiving a postcard with an ominous symbol relating to their time in the wilderness.

Does It Work?

Yellowjackets is brilliant. With such a huge cast I’ve not gone into who plays who – especially as some characters are played by more than one actor – but it is one of the most flawless casts I’ve ever seen. The first scene of the show gives a glimpse into some of the horror that happened in the wilderness, not just violence and cannibalism but odd rituals, complete with elaborate costumes and masks made from animals. Despite this shocking opening the 90s scenes very slowly ramp up the tension after the initial crash. The changes in the group are fascinating – Misty who has seemingly taken any number of useful courses acts as a medical expert and crisis manager while her obsessive and manipulative behaviour is ratcheted up. Jackie’s position as leader of the team is immediately challenged and you can see smaller factions emerging. Shauna is constantly trapped between supporting Jackie and doing what she thinks is best. Taissa increasingly acts as a voice of calm reason and makes the group deal with unpalatable facts. Natalie remains an outsider but makes herself very useful.

Whereas things happen quite slowly in the 90s scenes it is quickly made apparent things are very wrong in the present. The survivors have a certain celebrity and they are constantly questioned about “what really happened”. Despite Taissa’s wealth and success, there are big problems just under the surface, Shauna is desperately unhappy and plagued by intense guilt, Natalie’s addiction problems and complicated relationship with Travis suggest she has never recovered. And Misty may well be a sociopath. When Natalie returns home to deal with these postcards the growing feeling of a conspiracy takes hold. All four of their lives are touched by death, betrayal, blackmail, mental health issues and more.

The connections between the past and present are always there. The audience learns things in different time periods that affect how they see the other time period. The realisation of something that is “missing” in the present that was seen in the 90s can hint at disaster. Things that were secret in the 90s but out in the open in the present day make you realise you missed something. One of the most interesting things about the show is that when trapped in the wilderness a lot of conflicts comes from the same teenage problems and issues in friendships that existed back home.

Watching the 90s scenes you can’t help but try and guess who is it who will push the group towards violence and horror, will Lottie’s problems overwhelm her? Will Misty’s obsessions push her over the edge? Is Laura Lee’s strong religious views a bulwark against violence, or will the extreme situation turn her faith into something uglier? Find out which teenagers will survive and how the adults survive with what they’ve done.

Also Read: Why You Should Be Watching The White Lotus

Your contribution to Big Picture Film Club will allow us to continue to produce content. No matter the amount your contributions are greatly appreciated.

The post Why You Should Be Watching Yellowjackets appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.