[Editorial] 90s Horror Attitude, Music and Friendship

The 1990s is a divisive decade for horror fans. Some say it is the worst decade for horror films, whereas others included) see it as a very influential and distinctive time for the genre, particularly teenage slashers.

The 90s saw big up-and-coming television stars from Party of Five (Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt), Dawson’s Creek (Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Sarah Michelle Geller and Seth Green), as well as actors not previously known for their horror credits such as Drew Barrymore and Courtney Cox gracing the horror screen. Music, fashion and cultural references played a big part in 90s movies shaping its style and attitude. Horror was no different. Comedy in the 90s became darker with films such as Jawbreaker, Idle Hands and Drop Dead Gorgeous. At the same time, horror added more comedic characters. For example, Scream, Urban Legend and The Rage: Carrie 2, this character was usually part of the main protagonists’ friend group. 

The dialogue in 90s horrors added a dark edge, whether it be morbid humour, sarcasm, or cynical outlook. The teens in these films didn’t seem too worried about the fates that could bestow them. Killed your best friend – strut down the school hall like any other day, popular college radio host hunted by an axe murder – just listen to those screams, house party on fire – that looks fun, and if there’s a curfew – don’t worry about it. 

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The conversations are not how we imagine teens talking to each other. One example of this is the water fountain scene in Scream when the group discuss the murders from the night before and their experiences of being questioned by the authorities. Stu describes how to gut someone, and Randy jokes about livers in the mailbox, much to Sidney’s upset and Billy’s annoyance. Principal Henry describes the teens as insensitive, which is ironic given that it’s his body the party at Stu’s rushes out to see hanging on the football field. Another example is Drop Dead Gorgeous; after being blown up in her trailer, Annette smacks Amber over the head with a beer can that’s melted to her hand when Amber is convinced she is the target and discloses she wants to quit the pageant.  When we meet Amber, she is working in a morgue and practising her tap dancing while at work, dancing around the corpses. This really sets the tone. We see this dark humour around the dismissal of death in Idle Hands when Anton fails to spot the blood everywhere after his parents are murdered. Then his friends go straight for the television, practically hoping over his dead parents to watch the new music video. Stoner humour became popular during this period due to films like Clerks. Music television is key to the 90s because of MTV and Kerrang! Teens would often discuss the latest music video, particularly if it was banned. The humour in 90s horror is usually very tongue in cheek, but often there is an even darker side. 

The Rage: Carrie 2 is an example of the mean kids at high school trope, although here, their behaviour is more criminal than simply mean. The jocks are playing a ‘game’ to sleep with and rate the girls at the high school, which results in the suicide of Rachel’s best friend. She also becomes a target for the group when she speaks out against them, and Jessie shows interest in her. This is loosely based on an incident at an American high school in the early 90s. So often, we see bullying in these films of the outcast character or one person being the primary target. In Urban Legend, when Tosh is taken away by the undertakers, two girls laugh and say, “Better check, she’s looked like that for years”. The death is believed to be a suicide without question, dismissed by the authorities due to her gothic style and prescriptions. This massively dates the film as problematic, something that can undoubtedly be changed if they go ahead with the remake.

The high school cliques are part of the layout for most 90s films. Disturbing Behaviour introduces the viewer to the seating plan of the cafeteria according to groups. The Rage has the alternative kids, the cheerleaders, and Jocks; Jawbreaker has the popular girls and those who follow them, and the teens of Drop Dead Gorgeous are divided by class status. The characters in Scream, Urban Legend and Idle Hands are in a similar position, all living in large homes and bonding over their love of movies, urban legends, parties and weed. 

Friendships and relationships between the characters are very distinctive for the 90s. The relationships in these movies are key to the plot. For example, the killers in 90s movies are often closer than the protagonist thinks. In most earlier slashers, the killer would be a random figure from that area. However, in 90s movies, it’s the boyfriend, best friend, or protagonist. Whether they know it or not is another question. Within the group are the main protagonist with a troubled past, the supportive best friend, the comedic close friend, the teacher or police officer, and the love interest. Outside the group, there is usually the alternative outcast, school cliques such as the frat bros and barely present parents.

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Adults are useless in 90s horrors. In the 80s, we saw this in Nightmare on Elm Street, where the parents of the street are part of why Freddy exists. The director Wes Craven continues this in Scream. Although Sidney’s Dad is caring, he is mostly absent, and Billy blames Sid’s Mum for his behaviour. No parents are around in Urban Legend as they are at college. However, the authority figures present are mostly dismissive of the students' reports. In Idle Hands, we only see Anton’s parents briefly. Other than that, there are the utterly useless police officers and the priestess hunting the demonic hand. In The Rage, the foster parents are present, but the dad is harsh on Rachel and while the mother is timidly caring her real mother is locked away in an institution.

However, when we see them together, particularly in the deleted scene, Rachel and her real mother communicate quite well, and it is clear that Rachel often visits her mum. The primary source of care comes from the counsellor, Sue Snell, who survived the prom destroyed by Carrie, but it could be argued she oversteps her boundaries trying to protect Rachel. In Disturbing Behaviour, the parents sign them up for the programme thinking it will better their students; however, it brainwashes them. The only supportive adult is the janitor, who comes to their aid. The parents are very present in Drop Dead Gorgeous. They are competitive and creepy, dictate the teen’s choices, and are murderous.

The friendship groups in 90s movies have similar tastes in movies and music, often popular rock and horror during this period. Posters are everywhere! Sidney has Creed on her wall, which we revisit in Scream 3 and Idle Hands, which has some Jane’s Addiction and L7. In The Rage, Rachel is surprised to hear Jessie also likes Garbage, and her wall is covered in posters. What teenage girl's wall wasn’t? The soundtracks all had a very similar sound, rock bands with punky vocals who seem to only live in this era, such as Imperial Teen - ‘Yoo Hoo’ or Hot Sauce Johnson – ‘Lost Picasso’, along with Letters To Cleo, Veruca Salt, Rob Zombie, Republica and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Some soundtracks would often add older elements, Connie Francis and Billie Holiday being favourites, and who can forget Michelle Mancini singing Bonnie Taylor – ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ in that opening scene of Urban Legend. The song choices are also very deliberately matched with what is happening in the scene.

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For example, Michelle singing “turn around” while she should be turning around, and in Jawbreakers, ‘Bad Word for a Good Thing’ by The Friggs brings us into the school and this group of girls who have accidentally killed their best friend and are still showcasing queen bee. Music was also used as a little wink to fans of certain actors; for example, when Damon (played by Joshua Jackson) is starting his car to take Natalie for a drive, Paula Coe’s – ‘I don’t wanna wait’, which was used as the Dawson’s Creek soundtrack plays before he quickly turns it off embarrassed. The use of this music is also a nice wink to Kevin Williamson, who wrote Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Teaching Mrs Tingle, as well as Dawson’s Creek. Urban Legend was certainly inspired by Williamson’s characters and meta-horror formats.

Music set the attitude in 90s horror, and bands were keen to appear not only on the soundtrack but also as cameos. For example, the Donnas playing the prom and Manson as the stranger in Jawbreaker, The Offspring being murdered and a blink and your miss it cameo from Tom Delonge as the drive-through employee in Idle Hands. These films were like music videos themselves.

90s horror films are made by horror fans. They reference themselves but also reference other horrors, whether it is a tongue-in-cheek cameo of Wes Craven as Freddy the Janitor or mentions of other horror films. (There are YouTube videos listing every horror film that Scream mentions, which are entertaining to watch). Then also, scenes clearly inspired by other horrors, see Jawbreaker and Carrie, and Idle Hands and Evil Dead. Even non-horror 90s movies get a reference, for example, the Mother’s Boys poster in the video store in Scream, a nice nod to Halloween star Jamie Lee Curtis where Scream even took characters' names from, as well as Molly in Idle Hands dressed as Juliet from the 90s version of Romeo and Juliet.

The 90s attitude is very distinctive in horror, within its clothes, the characters, the setting, and the music. All these things make the 90s horror genre what it is. In summary, high school can be cut-throat, don’t trust your friends, and the adults can’t help you. So just relax, listen to some music, and watch some horror.

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