First they killed in the movies, now on television

The evil doll has come back to life, but its latest reinvention was not in the form of the usual film sequel, but as a television series.

(whose first season recently ended on Syfy and is available on demand) has received good reviews in its first batch of episodes and is already preparing for his return.

At the end of 2020,

had a new version, also by chapters, on Amazon Prime Video, in this case without much success: it will not have a new installment.

Last summer, Netflix scored a point with the Fear Street trilogy of films

,

aired in consecutive weeks in the style of a miniseries, each set in a different era and with references and tributes to the cinema of the genre of the nineties, seventies and supernatural in its different deliveries.

The films directed by Leigh Janiak were applauded by critics and audiences alike for their ability to combine homage and reinvention of a subgenre as trite as

the one in which a serial killer terrorizes a group of teenagers before killing them. in a cruel and twisted way.

More information

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They are not the only titles with which the

has jumped to the small screen in recent years.

In 2015, the MTV channel opted for the

brand in a series that lasted three seasons.

That same year, television powerhouse producer and creator Ryan Murphy signed

a blend of black comedy, satire and

Murphy is also behind

which in 2019 opted to honor the subgenre with

Friday the 13th

-style summer camp.

(and that now broadcasts openly on the Energy channel at dawn on Sundays).

In addition, Netflix has just released, in movie format, a new version of

and Charlize Theron is producing a series for HBO Max based on the novel

, whose plot is set in a universe where

films from the seventies and eighties were real and the women who survived those psychopaths have formed a support group.

Olivia Welch and Kiana Madeira, in the first installment of 'The street of terror'.

Television has witnessed an explosion of the genre in recent times.

"Horror is very popular and always in fashion," says journalist and film critic Desirée de Fez.

“A lot of horror is being produced for platforms, both movies and series, and they take the subgenres that have traditionally worked best to generate content quite quickly.

Even existing stories, because it's easy to adapt what has already worked and make decent material out of it without having to mess around.

the

It is a type of story that works, the idea of ​​something or someone that threatens and the increasingly sophisticated chain of deaths, more original, is something that works and is very easy to adapt.

People are looking for very different things, but when faced with a proposal like this, what you want is the nerve of the subgenre, that it scare you, that the possible murderer be moderately charismatic, like Chucky, who is a very cool character.

And from there, seek to turn it around, ”adds the journalist, author of the book

and the

and

.

A common element in most of these proposals is the look to the past.

Many are continuations, new versions or include homages to already known stories, because the

's assault on television cannot escape the omnipresent nostalgia either.

Even one of the horror bets on recent Spanish television is a new version of a classic,

“It is one of the themes of these years, our relationship with nostalgia.

There are even fictions that already incorporate this reflection, such as the latest

movie , the new

or

, to what extent the fact of being obsessed with the myths and stories that have shaped us prevents us from moving forward”, says De Fez.

So, what novelties do these proposals bring?

Most of them have tried to reverse gender roles and include greater sexual diversity in their protagonists.

had at its center a lesbian and interracial couple.

also included an interracial gay couple, and

stars a gay teenager.

Leslie Grossman, in 'American Horror Story: 1984'.

“This is a good time to, on certain genres that have been approached in a very similar way throughout history, project a more current sensibility, introduce topics connected to the present, take advantage of a very simple thing like

so that have readings more related to current affairs, things that happen in society and are on the street, as did

which gives more prominence to female characters and deactivates ideas about gender roles that break with the topics that have lasted the longest in horror films”, says De Fez.

Of the trilogy of

most critics praised its ability to take the elements of the genre and pass them through a nostalgic look.

.

The challenges of changing format

In addition to that twist in the background, the adaptation to television requires a change in the traditional form of the genre: from an hour and a half or two hours of a movie, which usually starts with some crime that quickly puts the viewer in the game, after what the murders are happening in stages, with valley periods without much action, until reaching the usual final bloodbath, a series requires a different structure.

Now there are questions such as how to keep the audience interested in the quieter moments, how many murders to include per episode (and how many characters do you need to do so), when to reveal information about the murderer, how much can the story really be dragged out... In the case from

for example, what was previously counted in less than two hours has been stretched to almost eight.

His audience has also changed slightly.

“Horror movies generate a very physical impact, it moves you, it shakes you, and that always means that it has a very wide audience.

In these proposals, perhaps there is an attempt to bring the genre closer to new generations, an interest in making the public younger, and not just series that adults want to see.

It's not that they're childishing them, but on an aesthetic level and the use of certain resources, such as technology, social networks... there is interest in these proposals reaching a younger audience”, concludes Desirée de Fez.

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