"It's just boys being boys": Men, Masculinity and Class in the British 'Hoodie Horror' Cycle.

The British hoodie horror cycle is an often overlooked component of the so-called ‘British Horror Revival’ of the 21st-century. This thesis considers the cycle in detail, focusing on the representation and exploration of three key concepts: men, masculinity and class. It asks and offers answers to three key questions: where can the hoodie horror be located within the wider frameworks of horror and British cinema? How are working-class men and working-class masculinity, specifically, represented within this cycle? And finally, what can these representations reveal to the viewer about the surrounding social, political and historical contexts that have facilitated the cycle’s existence?
Chapter One will develop a chronology of cinematic context and history, in order to effectively locate the cycle amongst its predecessors and contemporaries. Chapter Two explores the utilisation of landscape and the representation of the male body within the cycle, suggesting a potential symbiotic relationship between the two and investigating the implication of ‘classed’ landscapes and bodies. Chapter Three deals with the representation, specifically, of black working-class masculinity, and posits suggestions as to how and why these narratives differ from those dedicated to a white working-classness. Finally, Chapter Four will interrogate the use of the supernatural in several hoodie horrors, questioning how far the inclusion of a supernatural element makes explicit contemporary understandings of class and masculinity.
Offering an in-depth study of the hoodie horror film in relation to its specific socio-historical context, this thesis utilises a self-aware ‘reflectionist’ approach in conjunction with a mixed methodological approach which incorporates sociological, historical and philosophical scholarship. In doing so, the thesis offers an understanding of hoodie horror as reflective and representative of contemporary perceptions of and attitudes towards class and masculinity in Britain.