[Vodstok]

I think it was Roderick Usher (Sean Keller, where's he been?) that pointed out that Republican presidents are great for the horror genre, while Democrats suck all the fun out of the room.

I think the theory(?) is that typically Democratic presidents are less war-minded and in the past several decades, tend to be in charge during economic recovery. Without the oppressive fear of a boogeyman (Russia/Terrorists) horror slumps because horror is the reflection of our collective fears. When the economy is good (or getting better) and things are looking up, we don't have a collective, unifying fear to draw from, so we get a lot of good oscar bait, but action and horror go down.

Being the whiny tree hugger that I am, i'd prefer the horror slump to a republican in office, but the trope seems to hold true. When was the last time we had a horror movie that really resonated? Insidious wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. Saw spiraled into nonsensical torture porn and past the first and maybe the very end of the second, Paranormal Activity is just obnoxiously repetitive. Thoughts?