How has the psychological horror genre evolved in recent times? With reference the films The Shining (1980) and The Lighthouse (2019) using social, cultural and historical contexts.

Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film The Shining and Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse (2019) are both distinctive and iconic psychological horror films. They both explore concepts of isolation and paranoia as their central characters descend into madness. From the menacing use of liminal space in The Shining, to the overwhelming atmosphere of claustrophobia and doubt in The Lighthouse, these two films were selected for comparison due to their plot similarities and the fact that they were produced in contrasting eras of filmmaking. Kubrick’s film follows a family of three as their patriarch, played by Jack Nicholson, works as a caretaker for a grandiose hotel with an ominous history, slowly losing his sanity and breaking into a murderous rage by the end of the film. In The Lighthouse has a similar plotline, following two men working as lighthouse keepers, completely cut off from the rest of the world – and it takes its toll as they begin to hallucinate, drink, and fight, ending with one man killing the other.