Drew Beard says supernatural horror movies continue to be popular because they satisfy a human desire to be scared, and they touch on themes like going broke, losing a home or being forced to rely on a crowd of strangers, themes that may keep people awake at night, but would translate into a pretty dull film.

“They continue to be a popular genre because they’re so flexible,” said Beard, an adjunct professor with Portland State University’s School of Theater & Film who will be talking about scary movies during two events at the Redmond and Downtown Bend public libraries (see “If you go”).

Beard, who has studied the genre for five years but has been fascinated with it since he was a child, said the first supernatural horror movie came out in the late 1890s and was nothing more than a 3-minute short where people performed a magic trick that featured the devil and a haunted castle.

“The horror movie as we know it didn’t solidify until the 1920s or 1930s,” he said, explaining that was when filmmakers were able to include the sounds of people screaming in movies played at the theater.

But even then, these movies were really nothing more than retellings of horror novels such as “Frankenstein” or “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” that had been around for decades. It wasn’t until the 1970s and 1980s — when movies such as “The Shining,” “The Exorcist” and “The Amityville Horror” came out — that we started to see what he calls the modern horror film.

With the exception of “The Shining,” Beard said these movies and others like them focus on some type of invader who comes into a person’s home, disrupts his way of life and forces him to either abandon his property or make a significant change that may not always be for the better.

He said it’s no coincidence these movies came out during an economic recession — the most popular horror movies usually do — because it’s during times the economy is bad that people are worried about losing their jobs, losing their homes or being forced to make other changes because of poverty.

“People aren’t going to make a film about foreclosure,” Beard said, explaining the demons or ghosts that appear in horror films are usually metaphors for economic ruin.

“But they will make a film about people who can’t live in their house (because it is haunted) and have to sleep in their car.”

Although “The Shining” features some paranormal spirits that haunt a family, Beard said its main conflict — when the father, played by Jack Nicholson, goes crazy after having some drinks and chases the other characters around with an ax — strikes a more personal note and prompts the question: Are we more afraid of an outside invader or of ourselves?

“Does the haunting come from the character’s alcoholism, his failure as a father or from a ghost?” Beard asked, explaining this level of depth is one of the reasons “The Shining” is his favorite horror movie of all time.

Looking at more recent movies and TV shows, Beard said it’s interesting how zombie-themed entertainment such as “The Walking Dead” seems to be popping up a lot lately and always pulls in a substantial crowd.

He said the surge in popularity of these films is likely the result of a shifting landscape where most of the interactions a person has take place through text messaging, phone calls or in a social media-fueled environment where you can literally “hide” someone if you don’t like what they have to say.

Because zombie movies, or for that matter any movie or TV show that touches on a postapocalyptic world, often feature groups of strangers who are forced to come together and fend for their survival, Beard said they run counter to this protected world of limited social interaction, and that can be a little scary for some people.

“Zombie movies are about a fear of other people,” he said. “In a time when we are more separated from others, they tap into this idea where it’s not just one person you have to watch out for but everybody else.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7816, mmclean@bendbulletin.com