FROM TV TO TIKTOK: WHAT TECHNOLOGY IN HORROR FILM SHOWS ABOUT SOCIETY’S SHIFTING FEARS

Contemporary horror movies are a reflection of different fears over different eras. Since 1982, there has been an increase in films that use electronic recording technologies to better relate to the modern audience. From Poltergeist in 1982 to The Blair Witch Project in 1999 to Host in 2020, filmmakers recognize how peoples’ daily lives change with new technological innovation. In this thesis, I explore how each subgenre of technohorror reveals a particular societal fear, which, as I show, shifts over time. Horror movies act as a visual representation of our shifting anxieties, allowing us to see a connection between our own psyche and the surrounding culture