Making The Case For the First ‘Star Wars’ Horror Film
Image Source: YouTube
“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” The concept of fear has always had an essential place in the Star Wars galaxy. Fear is what led Luke to find his friends and fight his father in The Empire Strikes Back. Fear is what caused Anakin to submit to the will of Emperor Palpatine in the hope of saving Padmé in Revenge of the Sith. Fear is what motivated Rey to try and lead Kylo Ren back to the light in The Last Jedi. Fear is the first step towards the dark side and the selfish, terrifying actions such a journey entails.
So, with all this in mind, one can’t help but wonder why Star Wars has only taken limited ventures into the field of horror.
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From Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber to the IDW Tales from Vader’s Castle series, Star Wars horror stories have been primarily focused within novels and comics. This has proven to be an effective medium for Star Wars horror since grisly themes and visuals in such a family-oriented franchise are more easily conveyable in printed form. Though in recent years, the galaxy far, far away has also been dabbling in the genre with animation.
The Clone Wars episode “Brain Invaders” has an Alien-esque story in which clone troopers on a Republic ship are possessed by Geonosian brain worms and a pair of young Jedi Padawans onboard must stop the worms before they can reach the rest of the galaxy. The episode of Rebels titled “Path of the Jedi” has the main character Ezra Bridger experience a terrifying vision of his closest friends being slaughtered by an Inquisitor. Last years’ special LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales also had fun with horror tropes in a child-friendly manner. While these are certainly nice to see, I’m still curious if we’ll ever get a full-on Star Wars horror movie.
Image Source: starwars.com
As recent series such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor delve into darker, more mature subjects and ideas, Star Wars seems to be getting more and more comfortable with exploring the more disturbing sides of the galaxy. Elements of the universe like the dark side, the Nightsisters, Mortis, and Exegol have been used in various media to explore horror-based story concepts.
Among these are the state of madness Darth Maul experiences after being stranded on Lotho Minor with only his thoughts for over a decade, the zombie-like resurrected Nightsisters used by Talzin against the droid army, the mind-altering vision of the future Anakin receives from the Mortis Gods, and the classic mad scientist aesthetics seen with the Sith Eternal on Exegol. Any one of these could be a strong basis for a Star Wars horror film, like a psychological thriller about a Sith losing their mind to the dark side or a retro creature feature about a crew of Resistance pilots who crash land on Exegol and must survive the menagerie of horrific beings that remain there.
Image Source: Wookieepedia
Star Wars as a franchise has always transcended genres and told a variety of stories with a wide spectrum of tones and themes. With horror movies seeing a gigantic comeback over the last decade and a large number of talented filmmakers entering the medium, now feels like a better time than any for us to get a Star Wars horror film.
Whoever Lucasfilm gets to write and direct such a film and whatever the film ends up being about, I certainly hope that in the Star Wars galaxy, everyone can hear you scream.
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