From Frankenstein to The Ring: how horror helps us process the terrors of technology

Thomas Hobbs

Whether it’s the Cold War-era paranoia that fuels 1951’s 'The Thing from Another World' or the mindless consumerism at the heart of 1978’s 'Dawn of the Dead', horror movies tend to reflect the societal fears of their day, providing us with monsters that mirror the issues we all grapple with once the lights go out.

One consistent theme throughout horror history has been the dark side of technology and the idea the rise of the machines might result in something evil that we’re unable to switch off from. This technological horror must be confronted if the characters, and even the viewers themselves, are able to re-discover their humanity.

To celebrate Halloween, the good folks at VERO have allowed me to write about ten of my favorite techno-horrors. In these movies, scientists use waves of electricity to restart hearts that have stopped beating, computer screens observe their users like vultures stalking prey, and television sets become portals to hell. Aside from the general creepiness, each film shows how our concerns around technology have evolved over the years, with the existential threat that sits at their core every bit as terrifying as a psychopath in a hockey mask.

Frankenstein (1931)

– dir. James Whale, 1931

Mankind has long been fascinated with the idea of conquering death and director James Whale’s legendary adaptation of Mary Shelley’s 1818 horror novel shows what might happen if technology finds a solution. But the film, which is punctuated by a flurry of vengeful thunderstorms, gives off the impression something beyond the clouds is angry at Dr. Harry Frankenstein’s attempts to play God.

Boris Karloff’s multi-faceted Monster lumbers around in pain, unable to process his emotions and fused together by two massive iron bolts in his neck. His creator boasts: “Now I know what it feels like to be God!” It’s easy to imagine Dr. Frankenstein’s modern equivalents in Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg or Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, with each also creating technological monsters that have spiralled out of control.

Coming out at a time when American culture entered its so-called ‘Machine Age’ and technocrats hoped scientific advances could provide the tools to rejuvenate society following the Great Depression, Frankenstein explores the risk of relying on technology to breathe new life into our world. With automation and artificial intelligence growing more sophisticated by the day, this 90-year-old film is filled with bold sequences (one eerily shows Dr. Frankenstein, a fire burning in his eyes, screaming “release the electrodes!!!” during surgery) that play out like warnings.

2001: A Space Odyssey

– dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1968

Stanley Kubrick’s magnum opus isn’t necessarily remembered as a horror movie, but artificial intelligence antagonist HAL 9000 will send a chill down your spine akin to any Hollywood bogeyman. Terrifyingly calm, HAL 9000 (excellently voiced by Douglas Rain) has no issues sending astronauts to oblivion should they disobey orders.

HAL 9000 was programmed by wealthy white men to efficiently manage a spaceship, with many of the subsequent decisions a clear extension of its masters’ capitalist ideals such as protecting the mission at all costs or prioritizing logic over emotion. And this landmark sci-fi suggests the AI character’s mannerisms could be in sync with its human creators, something apparent when it reverts to a child-like state and sings a nostalgic nursery rhyme while facing death.

It’s too easy to read HAL 9000 as an evil machine that goes rogue, but horror in '2001: A Space Odyssey' can also be found in exploring the character’s origins. If Philip K. Dick was right and artificial intelligence does one day develop a dark mind of its own, then we don’t need to look far to understand the triggers.

Videodrome

– dir. David Cronenberg, 1983

In this cult classic, James Woods plays the slimy Max Renn, an opportunistic television producer who realises the power in offering viewers unlimited access to graphic scenes of torture and sex. He convinces himself and colleagues that “it’s all a matter of economics. To survive, we must give people something they can’t get anywhere else!” The ethically questionable Renn gradually loses his mind, even trying to insert a videotape in a vagina-like womb that opens up in his chest. He’s unable to distinguish between the real world and the escapist echo chamber of nihilistic horrors he has created.

In newsreels, Dr. Brian Oblivion, a sort of talking head conspiracy theorist for the analogue age, argues the television screen has “become the retina of the mind’s eye”. He also warns that the increasing immersion found in technology will mean that “soon, all of us will have special names.” Oblivion’s prescient speeches could just as easily be referencing social media.

Although 'Videodrome' clearly taps into fears of square-eyed addiction, which were ever-present in the decade of VHS and Betamax, the idea that something dark could be accessed if you tune into the right frequency, or that technology might even distort identity, directly echoes our current age of deep fakes and dark web browsers. Director David Cronenberg’s 'Videodrome' memorably explores the skin-crawling body horror that comes when human life becomes ubiquitous with technology.

From Beyond

– dir. Stuart Gordan, 1986

Crazed scientist Dr. Edward Pretorius (Ted Sorel) creates The Resonator, a computer device that stimulates our brain’s phallic-like pineal gland so we can see things that would otherwise be invisible. But using technology to augment reality and simulate subconscious desires doesn’t exactly work out too well for the good doctor, transporting him to a nightmarish dimension filled with bone crunching monsters, sexual deviancy, and an obsession with severing eyeballs. Yeah, it’s like a really f****d up version of Pokemon Go.

This severely underrated H.P. Lovecraft adaptation has over-the-top special effects, dark gags, and a commitment to the gross that might appear dated when compared with today’s line-up of super serious cerebral horrors. However, its central idea that using technology to heighten reality could muddy the waters (and turn us all into addicts) is hyper-relevant, and there’s a lot of fun to be had.

Strange Days

– dir. Kathryn Bigelow, 1995

In 'Strange Days', rough diamond Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) sells SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) to wealthy customers on the black market, with this device letting you temporarily step into someone else’s shoes.

It means users can commit banks robberies and have sex with attractive rock stars without ever leaving the comfort of their own homes; this process is tellingly framed as being just as addictive as any chemical substance. Yet when a twisted murderer starts filming SQUID experiences that let users re-live him raping and slaughtering helpless women, the technology’s possibilities turn sadistic.

Dismissed as a muddled action film when it was first released, Kathryn Bigelow’s ambitious film has proven itself with age. And in a world where graphic execution videos are a mere Google click away, 'Strange Days' displays a horror we can all relate to, reckoning with the idea that technology’s voyeuristic obsession with reliving dark memories could erase the very moral fabric of our society. Memories are meant to fade, but what happens when the technology that powers our world prevents that from happening... and turns human suffering into a thrill? At the very least, 'Strange Days' will make you think twice before putting a VR headset on.

Ringu

– dir. Hideo Nakata, 1998

Following an intrepid reporter examining a myth that there’s a mysterious videotape circulating which condemns all its watchers to death, 'Ringu' explores the terrors of the Information Age, suggesting viral content can spread just as aggressively as any form of cancer.

'Ringu' taps into an evil that lurks just beneath the things we typically enjoy from a place of security (like sitting down to watch something in our living room), subsequently destroying any notion of a comfort zone and creating a consistently unsettling atmosphere. It plays around with the idea that the movies you consume at home also have the power to devour your soul, an unsettling reality that makes going down a YouTube rabbit hole feel unwise.

The film grapples with the fears of the new millennium, where the masses suddenly became convinced a technological curse would move from home-to-home and disrupt society. Given the viral panic the Momo Challenge and Slender Man have created over recent years, Ringu’s concept feels more tangible today than when it was first released. If you want someone to understand the potential horrors of viral information then just make them watch this.

Pulse

– dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2001

What happens when the spirit world runs out of room? Well, in this creepy 2001 J-horror, the tortured souls of our dead end up trapped inside the internet, destined to haunt us forever from behind our desktop screens.

Exploring the idea that the internet creates immortality, and this might prevent our dead from truly resting in peace, 'Pulse' was one of the first horror movies to convincingly use the always-online world as a backdrop for a haunting. Without it, the final film on our list probably wouldn’t exist.

One terrified character, unaware the internet is the answer to their own question, ponders: “Maybe they’ll invent a drug that prevents death and we will live forever?” The film ultimately suggests an obsession with technology can create an isolation that mirrors death itself. Stare into the faceless void of the internet if you must, but don’t be surprised if you’re terrified by what ends up looking back at you.

Ingrid Goes West

– dir. Matt Spicer, 2017

Although marketed as a satirical black comedy, 'Ingrid Goes West' is really a horror film about how the social currency of Instagram Influencer culture has the potential to turn somebody into a monster.

Actress Aubrey Plaza is fascinating in the lead role, her nuanced performance showing the internet’s potential to toxify our society’s most vulnerable as they spiral out of control in pursuit of social currency and performative friendships.

There might not be any bloody murders, but seeing Ingrid constantly stab slices out of her own psyche, as she attempts to fit in with Avocado toast eaters, is a horrifying ordeal, with this film clearly intended as a warning around the internet’s ability to tamper with our mental health. The idea of internet-famous people turning their trauma into brand endorsement deals is rarely explored, but 'Ingrid Goes West'’s conclusion does so boldly, meaning the film will stay with you long after the credits roll.

Cam

– dir. Daniel Goldhaber, 2018

Following cam girl Alice Ackerman (Madeline Brewer) as she does everything from faking death to spanking herself to move up the live XXX rankings, Cam grapples with how the world wide web fails to humanize sex workers. Alice boasts that she never fakes an orgasm, practically using it as her calling card. But when a creepy user with the same face and voice as Alice suddenly emerges, her aversion to faking it is turned on its axis.

Like a smuttier 'Black Swan', 'Cam' is a film about dual identities and how technology warps our sexual expectations. 'Cam' also poses a philosophical question around online identity. It deals with the horrors of surveillance culture and the endless cycles of online performance, which we submit to even though the internet offers us little protection.

Host

– dir. Rob Savage, 2020

Released at the height of COVID, the brisk 'Host' (it’s less than an hour long) has a simple concept: a bunch of bored friends reunite over a Zoom call, where they conduct a virtual seance. You can probably guess what happens next.

Channelling a backdrop of social distancing and the invisible terror of coronavirus itself, 'Host' is a film about waiting for your turn to be infected. It taps into the fears of the 2020s in a way people can easily relate to, which makes the fates of its characters agonising despite their inevitability.

'Host' suggests the programmatic nature of the internet is a ripe pathway for something twisted to emerge and embed itself in our homes. It questions whether the technological changes in the way we now communicate might end up creating more bad than good. It’s a full circle moment for horror: while demons once stalked our nightmares, they’re now waiting for us down a fibre optic cable.