Cities With Demons: The Horror Films of Detroit, and the Return of Urban Decay

I gave a lecture last month at the Libertarian Party’s annual convention. Can you guess what my topic was? If you guessed horror movies, you would be (surprisingly) correct. It went pretty well (and you can watch it here), but my time was cut short and I missed a few things, and I didn't get a chance to really talk about urban decay.  Urban decay is relevant to Libertarianism, but it's also just interesting in its own right. 

There are actually quite a few things I’ve learned in my research that would be of interest to all you indie filmmaker kiddos out there. This topic includes film incentives, and also a blank canvas for lovers of Apocalyptica. Unlike my previous horror blogs which tended to focus on horror films of one country or another, this time I’m looking at a subject so small, it could fit on the tip of a vegetable knife. It’s a city, and this city has already given something unique to the horror genre. 

Let's talk about Detroit. 

If I hadn’t been looking at horror from a political point of view, I might have missed it entirely. The dark beauty of Detroit's dying architecture is inseparable from the failed political system that created it. Sometimes, political horrors take shape in very cinematic ways. 

In fact, there are some like Guillermo del Toro that believe that horror is an inherently political genre. I’m not sure I always agree, but I’ve been checking out every horror film I can get my hands on that has a political edge to it. And boy have I discovered some gems. 

The hit man thriller Kill List is a slow-burn, British horror film to write home about, for example. Or the pretty English couple in the Scottish home invasion thriller White Settlers, who come under attack from Scottish nationalists. And of course the recent French film Frontiers (“Borders” in English), which I reviewed on this blog, featuring young people trapped in a hotel by a family of Neo-nazis in a plot not unlike The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 

Politics and horror are making interesting bedfellows these days, for sure.

These days, I believe urban decay is making a comeback in horror, thanks to desolate and weathered locales like Detroit, a city in a state that still offers incentives to filmmakers. 

I admit, my argument might be premature. A city in decay that just declared bankruptcy seems like a tough sell to film producers, even after many have already taken Michigan up on its enticing tax incentives. These tax incentives were enough to get all the Transformers movies to film in the Motor City, as well as Oz the Great and Powerful, and even the upcoming Batman vs. Superman. Those controversial incentives were recently reduced from $50 Million to $6 Million by a House-Senate agreement.

Whether or not these incentives continue (and whether or not you think they should, for that matter), we’ve already gotten a taste of what a city in decline can offer budding new film talent. 

With a cityscape already teetering on the edge of looking like every post-Apocalyptic film you’ve ever seen in your life, is it any surprise that filmmakers could have a field day with this town? There are no digital effects or extensive set dressing necessary. If you are making a horror film, or a dystopian sci-fi, or an Apocalyptic film of any variety… your set is already dressed!

Regardless of the economic incentives, Detroit has the aesthetic incentives to allow a probably-Millennial filmmaker to say something about what’s wrong with our society. In case you still have doubts, have a look at these horror films - all of which were filmed in Detroit within the last five years.

Note: Scream 4 was also technically filmed in Detroit, and while I (surprisingly) loved it, Detroit’s landscape is not featured in that film. I’m just looking at horror films where Detroit’s urban decay is visible and plays at least some role in the plot. All of these movies were filmed in Detroit.

It Follows (2015)
Directed by: David Robert Mitchell
Best Quality: Atmosphere
Cool stuff: Contains a new and totally unique movie monster, with its own rules.

Fans of horror have no doubt come across this year’s most talked about entry in the genre. And you can believe the hype: it really is that good. The fact that the creature in this film is unlike any you’ve likely ever seen will make this a memorable film. It’s like a puzzle film that (mostly) fits, when all the pieces are there.

After losing her virginity, a girl’s lover informs her that she will now be stalked by some invisible yet tangible creature which will kill her if it touches her. It turns out that he had some sort of supernatural STD, and now he’s off the hook unless it gets her. The fact that the creature is about as slow as a zombie is good, but this just makes it more creepy. 

Aside from one scene towards the end, it all worked for me. The music is intense and the thrills are there, for sure. But I kept thinking of how perfect of a metaphor this creature is for urban decay. I didn’t even realize it was filmed in Detroit when I saw it, but I should have. The film is more generally about the loss of innocence (it’s basically a coming-of-age horror story), but the connection to the existential dilemma of a city on the verge of death does not go unnoticed. She loses her virginity outside of an abandoned factory, antiques from half a century ago play pivotal roles in the plot, and in the end, the kids flee north - even past the suburbs in which they were supposed to be safe. Whether intentional or not, and much like the rest of the films on this list, Detroit’s decline is a big influence on the plot.

2. Lost River (2014)
Directed by: Ryan Gosling
Best Quality: Cinematography
Cool stuff: Underwater city; houses burning in slow motion.

Lost River is a very strangely told sort of modern fairy tale about a single mother that goes to desperate lengths to keep her home, and her son who strips abandoned homes for copper to pay for car parts. His girlfriend lives next door, who tells him about a city at the bottom of the reservoir. Back in the old days, they decided to chase everyone from their homes and flood the city by building a dam. Eminent domain abuse has never been so creepy!

The film uses dream logic, which I love. Don’t watch it if you’re looking for a straightforward story, though. In fact, I tend to agree with many of the critics that although Gosling has a very promising career ahead of him as a director, he’s not quite there yet. The film is very uneven, and it leaves too many unanswered questions. But it is definitely beautiful, that’s for sure. There isn’t a shot in the film that isn’t interesting in one way or another. And filming in Detroit definitely works in the film’s favor. The son walks around whole neighborhoods that are totally abandoned in search for copper, which is just a tad creepy, and maybe even a little sad. A town underwater is the perfect metaphor for a city drowning in debt due to failed public policy, and there is no greater feeling of relief than when our characters realize that leaving is the only option. 

3. Only Lovers Left Alive (2014)
Directed by: Jim Jarmusch
Best Quality: (tie) Music and Acting
Cool stuff: best portrayal of vampirism as being akin to taking opiates!

This film is much easier to follow than Jarmusch’s much stranger Dead Man, but it is still a version of the vampire you’ve probably never seen. These vampires are a dying breed, which means they spend two hours waxing poetic about a bygone age. They are Romantic (with a capital 'R'), through and through. One of them even makes a joke about feeding off of Mary Wollstonecraft. These vampires are so disgusted with human beings for their resistance to see reason and for their tendency to destroy every potential bright future with arrogance and greed. They even refer to us humans as zombies.

It’s pretty clear that the vampire love story is just window dressing for Jarmusch. He really means to ask questions about the nature of human existence, and whether civilization is ready to let itself fall into disrepair any further, and maybe even death. But for these characters, the urban decay is not a menacing presence, but a subject of great sympathy and melancholy. They often go on drives and visit the ruins of a once great city like they are visiting the grave of a loved one. And one of those graves happens to be, quite ironically, a movie theater.

4. The Vanishing on 7th St. (2010)
Directed by: Brad Anderson
Best Quality: Visual FX
Cool stuff: shots of abandoned downtown Detroit were obtained without actually closing down any streets

This supernatural thriller features a city overcome by invisible beings that literally move about in shadows and suck the life out of people in rapture-like fashion. Once again, the already-Apocalyptic setting pays off big in a story where only a handful of people are left walking around a city after all of the lights have gone out. The days are also getting shorter and shorter for some unknown and probably-arbitrary reason, upping the stakes. (Fun fact: it is estimated that about 50% of the public lights in REAL Detroit don’t actually work either!)

This film had a lot of potential to be downright awesome, but it’s not hard to see why it might have flopped at the box office (it actually made more money in South Korea than the US, for some reason). The film suffers from many structural flaws. Many of the roles are miscast (because John Leguizamo as the dorky young projectionist and Hayden Christensen as the selfish survivalist just does not strike me as believable in the least). Also, there is the languid pacing and insipid dialogue. Still, the FX are pretty amazing. Mostly, there is just too much wasted on such a compelling premise like this one. I’m ok not knowing what the creatures are or where they came from, because an explanation would probably diminish the existential horror of it all. But at least make it fun. Existential dread seems to be a common theme on this list, and the ending (which I won’t spoil) further re-enforces this, as well as makes a statement about the future world our children will inherit. 

5. Secrets in the Walls (2011)
Directed by: (who knows?)
Best Quality: it’s unknown to anybody
Cool Stuff: Literally none.

This film is a by-the-numbers, made-for-TV haunted house story that aired on Lifetime, and I’m extremely reluctant to even include it. That should tell you all you need to know. The yawn-fest stars Jeri Ryan, features the “magical negro” cliche, and is not scary at all. Still, I’m adding it to this list because it makes an attempt to incorporate some of Detroit’s history into the plot (however heavy-handed). The house in question was built a century ago before the incorporation of the township of the very real Ferndale, Michigan (an outlier of Detroit Metro), but the story of the haunting only goes back to the 50’s. 

The house is interesting to look at, but the story tells us nothing about why we should care about this particular haunting. Usually there’s a point: Indian burial ground, slavery, etc. In this one, it’s a husband who beats his wife. So in other words, the story makes a half-assed attempt to incorporate the local history of its chosen location (a location based likely on economic incentive and little else, probably), but then it goes no where. Perhaps this is why thoughtful meditations on urban decay are best left to indie filmmakers. (Note: this is the most pretentious thing you’ll ever read on my blog, I promise you). 

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Motown will appear again in my next music-related blog, so stay tuned!