Yuppie Horror – Horror films that often focus on middle or upper-class families and/or individuals being plagued by an outside threat. These horrors usually reflect real-life anxieties relating to social class. 

Well, bourgeois suburban life causes many to become repressed, postponing gratification and the learning of self-control. This repression causes many to accept predetermined roles/jobs within society. Repression is done to oneself. It is a way to control oneself or hold oneself back. When a character such as Charlie in Something Wild is no longer repressed, his behaviors become dangerous, wild, and socially taboo. When someone’s actions are no longer self-repressed, It leads to a natural blowback where institutions in power will instead oppress. If an individual doesn’t stop themself, someone else will. Self-repression doesn’t really register with individuals as true problematic repression, and therefore often ignore it as such. If their repression is no longer of their own accord, they are oppressed in a way that is truly bothersome. And when you’re oppressed and aware of it, this allows you to fight back against it.   

The “terrible house” in yuppie horror symbolizes the middle-class fear of downward mobility by using high-class homes that seem beautiful on the outside, but usually come attached to some other kind of issue that makes the home less than desirable. The look of the house often visually implies some kind of dysfunctionality. For example, Charlie’s home in Something Wild presents his fear of downward mobility by displaying to us just how attached he is to his former life. Most of the items and knick knacks in his house relate to his family that isn’t around anymore. It’s as if he’s waiting for them to come back from a weekend excursion as opposed to moving on with his life. Even though Charlie is being forced to move on and sell his home, he holds on tight, almost in a kind of denial. This is because he fears the kind of downward mobility that is often perceived to be attached to a single-divorcee.

The “other” in yuppie horror is essentially anything that the middle and upper class cannot understand or accept. They are then left with one of two options: denial or assimilation. The “other” isn’t simply defined as different in terms of culture and self, but also in how it/they relate(s) to what is being repressed. The “other” is usually closely representative of that which is being repressed. This often leads to projection by the group fighting against the “other.” They end up projecting their own repressions onto the “other.” They then use this projection to discredit, disown, and annihilate if possible. This repression leaves the healthiest outcome impossible: Recognition and acceptance of other groups’ ways of living. 

In Something Wild, the characters represent different thematic lifestyles that are at odds throughout the film and in the real world. Although Charlie’s life itself is at risk, it is suggested more generally that his way of life is at risk. Charlie represents the middle-class while Ray represents the working-class. Ray is presented as an obstacle for Charlie to overcome. Charlie is forced to conquer/defeat Ray in order to have the life that he desires. Charlie must defeat Ray in a literal sense, but he also has to defeat the working-class life that he desires to avoid. This is all without mentioning the fact that Charlie could most of the time leave the situation whenever he wants. This highlights what is really at risk with his lifestyle. To avoid the working class life, he may have to do some things he won’t be proud of. The working-class life can be rough, but at least it’s undeniably honest.
The yuppie horror film is often horrific and thrilling in ways you’d expect from the horror genre, but they are truly unique in the ways they reflect true suburban anxieties. They often feel a bit more authentic and realistic in terms of horror because of their common suburban setting, leading some horrors to stick with you longer than a ghoulish brute in a mask. Though, instead of just scaring us, the best yuppie horror films ask us to question our own anxieties and mistrust of the “other.” They sometimes make us look back and regret our treatment of others. That being said, they will also sometimes confirm your suspicions, saying that there is some safety/care in initial distrust. For example, Jordan Peele’s Get Out is a subversion of this classic genre, turning the “other” character into the hero and reflecting his anxieties about white upper-class life. Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild is also unique in the sense that it is not fully a horror film. Some might more refer to it as a crime thriller or a nightmare comedy, but it regardless still holds all the elements of a yuppie horror film. Throughout the film, Jeff Daniels’ Charlie deals with the repression of his ability to break free from his working-class future and retain his middle-class lifestyle. What Charlie doesn’t realize is that if you mess with the working-class, they come back to bite.