THE MOVING PICTURES OF TERROR: SOCIAL ASPECTS OF YUGOSLAV HORROR GENRE (1973-1990)

Text topic: Studies

Text author: Сања Лазаревић Радак

Analysis of Yugoslav horror subgenres enables reading film contexts. This form of fantasy reveals the fears, anxieties, hopes and objectives of the society. Serving as a means of distorting the dominant values, it also figures as their criticism. Flirting with the subgenre of apocalypse, drama, slasher movie, ontological film and even comedy, horror films show the reverse side of social reality. In this sense, the Yugoslav horror indicates fear of disrupting social relations, porosity of values built during socialism, anxieties of economic meltdown, the relativity of concepts such as progress, freedom and a better future. While the narrative of some films can be read as a critique of the present, others anticipate future conflicts and point out political problems in the rise of ethnical and confessional conflicts.