Every decade is known for its horror movie trends and tropes. The 1980s had the rise of slasher movies, the 1990s had a more self-aware and meta response to the prior movies, and the 2000s had hyper-gory “torture porn” movies. The current biggest trend is called “elevated horror”.
The term can not be attributed to a single person, but instead to the general audience and critical thoughts on the genre at the time. It arose in the mid-2010s to describe art-house style horror movies that prioritize thematic depth and psychological dread.
Some famous examples of elevated horror movies are “Hereditary” by Ari Aster, “Get Out” by Jordan Peele, or “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse” by Robert Eggers. These movies all share similar DNA and themes that led to them being more respected by many critics. They often explore themes like grief and trauma. Because of the depth being more prominent, these movies are deemed “elevated”.
The term elevated horror becomes a little complicated and problematic when you dig into it, and reveals an issue with how people have viewed horror movies historically. By the definition of what makes an elevated horror movie an elevated horror movie, elevated horror movies actually date back to the 1920s, with many citing the 1922 silent film “Haxän”.
There has indeed been a trend of horror movies that are more centered around themes of mental health struggles and grief, but those elements have always been there. The concept of elevated horror really only exists because critics decided to take horror seriously when these themes became more of the forefront of the films.
As Laura Bradley intelligently pointed out in her article on this same topic, many of the movies that fit the category of elevated horror have twin films. She used the example of “Get Out” being not too dissimilar to “Night of the Living Dead” by George Romero. Arguably “Talk To Me” by Danny and Michael Philippou isn’t more elevated than any classic possession horror movie.
None of this is to say that newer “elevated” horror movies are inferior to the classics because of their similarities. Rather, it is to argue that horror didn’t suddenly get good and deep in the 2010s
nor, was it vapid and not worth your time before then.
In some ways, horror has gotten better in recent decades. Movies, from a technical standpoint, are always improving as technology improves and more people throw their hat in the ring to show off new and innovative ideas. Things are being done in movies today that nobody would’ve thought to do or could have pulled off 40 years ago.
If being seen as “elevated” is what it took for horror as a genre of movies to finally be respected, then so be it, but if you ask just about any horror fanatic, they’ll tell you horror didn’t get deeper. Victories should be celebrated, though. For example, as of early 2026, the movie “Sinners” by Ryan Coogler is the most nominated movie in Oscar’s history with 16 total nominations. That’s no small feat and a sign that the industry is shifting to support the macabre art form of horror movies.