EMA Green Streaming Guide: Eco-Horror for October
It's officially spooky season, which, to many, means horror movies. While horror is a great escape from the frightening realities of our modern world, it's also the perfect medium for environmental messaging. Don't believe us? Well, there's a whole subgenre of eco-horror to change your mind.
Over the decades, EMA has recognized many of these frightening features at our annual EMA Awards. Whether the project is explicit in its green messaging or acts as an allegory, we can't overlook the impact of genre films on activism.
Documenting the history of eco-horror is a bit much for our humble blog, so we've dedicated our Green Streaming Guide for October to a few films highlighting such messaging. Oh, and make sure you watch them with the lights off for, you know, eco-friendly reasons.
The Being (1983)
Amazon Prime
There are so many "nature strikes back" films, particularly from the 80s, that eco-terror is a subgenre. Sadly, many of these films skip the "humans pushed wildlife too far" message and opt for a "bigger than usual animal is super scary" route--see "Jaws" (1975) and "Grizzly" (1976).
For director Jackie Kong, humanity's poor housekeeping regarding pollution can't go unpunished. Her first film, "The Being", tells the story of a radioactive dump site in the Midwest that spawns a dangerous creature. This 80s horror gem is a gory creature feature to many, but for those looking to dig deeper, it's the perfect allegory for pollution's effects on public health.
If you enjoy "The Being", check out 1984's "C.H.U.D."
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Vudu
Pollution is one way to piss off mother nature; another is to stick your nose where it doesn't belong. Most of us are familiar with the iconic Universal monster, Creature from the Black Lagoon. But did you know its message is as relevant as ever? As corporations vie to mine, deforest, and exploit the Amazon rainforest, it would be helpful to have a creature to frighten them all away.
According to CBR, "The Creature is a perfect monster to terrorize modern audiences because it reflects the pressing issues of environmentalism in the world. Gill-man's original film followed the monster being disturbed in its natural habitat in the Amazon by humans."
Mother! (2017)
Paramount Plus
Darren Aronofsky's 2017 film "Mother!" might be the most anxiety-inducing depiction of humans' wanton destruction of our precious Earth ever put on camera. Honestly, grab a stress ball for this one. It's no secret that the film is an allegory for the relationship between the Earth (Jennifer Lawrence), man & woman (Ed Harris & Michelle Pfeiffer), and God (Javier Bardem, of course). Fueled by lust, greed, and vanity, God stands by as humanity uses and abuses the Earth. Sound familiar?
According to MovieWeb, "Darren Aronofsky exposes humanity by bringing out characters who embody the dark side of the human condition. This darkness is the cause for mass consumption, the human inability to understand the importance of preserving ecosystems which existed long before us, and the selfishness of turning a blind eye to our bad habits which inadvertently destroy the environment."
Annihilation (2018)
Netflix
Though humans celebrate technological "advancements," under the surface, we don't like change—case in point: climate denial. While many acknowledge the magnitude of the moment and see the short window of climate action starting to close, many believe nothing is changing or that it's a familiar change that's predictable. Why? Because change is scary. Sadly, denial gets us nowhere, and we must adapt.
We live on an erratic, evolving planet full of rich biodiversity. Though we utilize science and math to connect the pieces, when possible, life on Earth is still a trillion-piece puzzle spilled in space. Director Alex Garland captures this terror of the biological unknown with his sci-fi horror film "Annihilation", starring EMA Honoree Natalie Portman. We won’t give too much away, just watch it!
Clearcut (1991)
Shudder
While we never condone violence as part of environmental activism, you can't blame actor Graham Greene's character in this movie. Greene seeks to kidnap a timber executive as a logging company threatens to clearcut an old-growth forest on indigenous land.
Is it horror? That's arguable. But the subject is undoubtedly horrific. A recent report found that nearly 2,000 environmental activists, many of them indigenous, were murdered in the past decade.
If you're looking for something less frightening yet still supports sustainability in Hollywood, visit our EMA Green Seal page for a list of TV shows and movies that have received our seal.
Written by Jay Jasinski, EMA’s Managing Director of Marketing & Campaigns.