Have you ever seen a take so bad, so breathtakingly wrong, that it defies explanation? A take that inspires the ire and rage of the internet, nay, the world? Writer Elle Hunt set Film Twitter on fire with her take on horror films set in space. Her opinion? They’re not.
My argument: horror cannot be set in space
— Elle Hunt (@elle_hunt) April 6, 2021
Hunt elaborated on her take, tweeting “Yes. Horror is predicated on the fear of the other, the unfamiliar in the world as we know it – space, we already don’t know it,” despite all evidence to the contrary. Her point still doesn’t quite add up. After all, horror is a genre, and space is a setting. And few settings are as ripe for horror and fear as the dark and dangerous frontier of outer space.
Space is cold, unforgiving, and deadly to pretty much everything. Humans cannot survive in space without protective gear and an oxygen supply. And then, there is the vast unknown of space itself: we have only barely begun to scratch the surface of the worlds beyond our own.
Horror fans were quick to point out the obvious examples of space horror, most notably Ridley Scott’s iconic Alien, which set the bar for space horror and is still considered one of the greatest horror films ever made. Others pointed to films like Gravity, Event Horizon, Solaris, Pitch Black, and even the truly bananas Jason X, aka “Jason in Space”. Obligatory insert of the Jason X trailer LET THE BODIES HIT THE FLOOR:
Many people took to Twitter to express their dismay at Hunt’s take:
🎶setting and genre are two different things🎶 https://t.co/rGCvMxoMB2
— Leah Marilla Thomas (@leahmarilla) April 6, 2021
Tell me you’ve never seen Alien or Event Horizon without telling me you’ve never seen Alien or Event Horizon. pic.twitter.com/8bsYJTGajP
— Sabrina A. Martin (@Contessaprime) April 6, 2021
something something sci fi horror pic.twitter.com/BVD9kBmzub
— Josh Scherr (@joshscherr) April 6, 2021
ALIEN is a horror film.
ALIENS is an action movie.
ALIEN 3 is an art film.
ALIEN RESURRECTION is the @YogaHosers of their franchise. https://t.co/zrZTQYHgFS— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) April 6, 2021
“Horror can’t be” No. Yes it can. Any statement starting with what horror cannot be is wrong. Horror can be anything.
— Gory Cory (@gorycoryhorror) April 6, 2021
Please don’t let these people watch movies or vocalize opinions about them anymore. pic.twitter.com/VoIuky1Ba4
— Kelly Turnbull (@Coelasquid) April 6, 2021
We can confirm that #JasonX is indeed a space horror film. People get screwed and it sucks on so many levels. pic.twitter.com/Bqnh3HsuEM
— Friday The 13th: The Franchise (@F13thFranchise) April 6, 2021
I also like to set up arbitrary genre restrictions.
Romcoms cannot feature bicycles.
— Dan Whitehead (@DanWritehead) April 6, 2021
This is not an argument. Maybe next time.
— roxane gay (@rgay) April 6, 2021
The bigger issue is that Hunt’s argument completely erases all the subgenres we know and love. Science Fiction Horror is a thing. Horror Comedy is a thing. Sci-fi romcoms are a thing. Space westerns are a thing. There are infinite ways to categorize film and television, which have adapted along with these mediums. As storytelling becomes more complex and genres are stretched and reimagined, there is truly room for any sort of genre mash-up or interpretation. And the numbers don’t lie:
(image: Twitter)
At least Elle Hunt is handling her public thrashing with a sense of humor:
Somehow had forgotten that Film Twitter is the most humourless, yet most frantic Twitter
— Elle Hunt (@elle_hunt) April 6, 2021
(featured image: 20th Century Fox)
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