Jordan Peele is one of the most accomplished and creative minds working in film and television today and the recent release of Nope has demonstrated that once again. Not only is he behind the feature films Get Out and Us, but he has also attached his name to revivals of The Twilight Zone and the Candyman franchise. Peele became famous for his role in the Key & Peele sketch comedy series on Comedy Central and then used his platform to transition into horror.
Peele is also responsible for resurrecting the term social thriller, a label he prefers to ascribe to Get Out. Social thrillers employ elements of suspense and horror in order to explore the various manifestations of social oppression. Peele considers Us his first true horror film, yet both of his directorial features are inspired by films that both subvert and reinforce the horror label.
The Babadook (2014)
Peele requested Us star Lupita Nyong’o watch a list of curated horror films in order to prepare for her dual roles in the feature, and The Babadook is one of them. An Australian feature that turns the suffering and anguish brought on by loss into a strange monster haunting a mother and her son, The Babadook is psychological terror meets creature feature.
While a 6-year-old boy prepares to battle an evil entity creeping around his room, his widowed mother does her best to get by without her husband, who died in a car accident. When a strange pop-up book appears in their home, depicting the tale of the Babadook, mom realizes the monster her son keeps talking about might be real.
Funny Games (1997)
Available To Stream On Mubi
Austrian director Michael Haneke is behind this film, a home invasion thriller Peele also recommended to Nyong’o. In this crazed examination of pop culture’s obsession with violence, two young men decide to torture a family on vacation for no apparent reason.
With Funny Games, Haneke aspires to make a statement about audience expectations in horror films, going so far as having one of the antagonists break the fourth wall, engaging with the viewer directly while rewinding some of the terrorism depicted on screen.
Let The Right One In (2008)
Available To Stream On Virgin TV Go
Considered one of the must-see lesser known horror movies, this Swedish vampire film’s real brilliance lies in its scrutinized portrayal of the loneliness that plagues contemporary society. In the film, an isolated young boy, a victim of bullying, becomes friends with a mysterious girl he comes to understand is a bloodsucker.
One of those understated, slow-moving films marked by scenes of graphic brutality, Let The Right One In shows how far people will go to make genuine connections, no matter how much blood is shed in the process. Peele asked Nyong’o to watch this ahead of filming Us.
Dead Again (1991)
Dead Again is a decades-spanning love story starring and directed by Kenneth Brannagh, known for his film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. As one of Kenneth Brannagh’s best movies, this is another film Peele recommended to Nyong’o. He acts alongside Emma Thompson, and they play two people who cross paths in both the 1940s and current-day Los Angeles.
In the present, Brannagh plays a detective named Mike Church who assists an amnesia sufferer played by Watson. As he attempts to investigate her past, he resorts to consulting a hypnotist who discovers both people not only knew each other in a past life but were married. It turns out, too, Brannagh’s character in the past may have murdered his wife.
A Tale Of Two Sisters (2004)
Available To Stream On Shudder
Influenced by a Korean folktale, this supernatural familial horror story involves two sisters who return home from a mental hospital after the tragic death of their mother. Once home, they discover their father has already remarried, and they have no interest in warming up to their stepmother.
Yet another film Peele told Nyong’o to watch, A Tale of Two Sisters takes a really sinister turn when one of the girls starts having vivid and terrifying nightmares, dreams that make her question what really happened to her mother. Both sisters begin to suspect their father isn’t as kind and compassionate as he pretends.
Halloween (1978)
Available To Stream On Starz
In multiple interviews, Peele has cited Halloween slasher Michael Myers as his favorite villain. With a number of things fans love about Halloween, it’s no surprise the movie also ranks highly for the artist. Also known as The Shape, Myers represents the faceless, emotionless slayer who lingers in the shadows, ready to strike.
Myers’ backstory and motivations are never explored. It’s just known that he snapped as a child, and he won’t stop until every member of his extended family is exterminated. The Halloween franchise began in 1978 with the original John Carpenter film, and it has inspired over a dozen remakes and sequels since its release.
The Fly (1986)
Peele is a big fan of this David Cronenberg remake of the science fiction classic about a scientist who takes his experiments too far. In Cronenberg’s film, Jeff Goldblum plays Seth Brundle, an ego-driven lab nerd who develops his own teleportation device.
He shows off his new technology to a cute journalist played by Geena Davis, but the tides move against Brundle after he decides to teleport himself and a common housefly ends up in the pod with him. In the weeks after the teleportation, which Brundle believes to be a success, his body starts to alter in grotesque ways. He eventually realizes his DNA has merged with the fly’s, and some intense body horror ensues.
The Stepford Wives (1972)
Peele views The Stepford Wives as a classic example of a well-made social thriller. When a family moves to a picturesque suburb in Connecticut, they believe they’ve stumbled into the ideal existence. Everything is manicured and picture-perfect.
The facade starts to crack when the wife, Joanna, questions why all the women around her so vapid and lifeless. What seems like a worst-case scenario soon becomes a reality: all the men in town have conspired with a misogynistic scientist to turn their wives into compliant, fawning androids.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Available To Stream On Virgin Go
In an interview on We Got This Covered, Peele cited Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street as an influence for Us. It wasn’t Freddy’s sharp blade-decorated hand or the deadly dreams of teens that impacted Peele; instead, it was the original film’s soundtrack.
While the Freddy Kreuger saga is both humorous and terrifying, it sits as one of Jordan Peele’s favorite movies and its eerie, recognizable soundtrack inspired him to consider the role music should play in Us. Peele chose “I Got 5 on It” by Luniz as the song that would come to define the action in Us.
Critters (1986)
Peele’s indulgent B-movie go-to turns out to be Critters, which explores what happens after a group of small alien creatures with lots of sharp teeth descend upon a farm in Kansas. The hungry creatures are in search of food, and their arrival is soon followed by a pair of bounty hunters hoping to capture the intergalactic vermin.
For a slapstick horror venture, Critters employs impressive special effects and details. Each creature has a distinct personality, and the film’s crew worked hard to make the gory scenes memorable.
