'Your body needs to release that fear': Why people like to get scared by horror films, according to Nope director Jordan Peele

After two successful horror films — Get Out and Us — which disrupted and redefined the genre, maestro Jordan Peele is back at it with Nope, a science fiction UFO horror thriller.

Though Nope might have some scratching their heads over the story, it received critical acclaim for its acting, cinematography and direction.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgmq_8PlRY&ab_channel=UniversalPictures[/embed]

At a recent press conference for Nope, Jordan, 43, pondered the allure of horror films and why people love going to the cinemas just to get scared.

He shared: "I think that film is one of the ways that we address our fears. The thing that is trickiest about fear is it's such an unpleasant emotion that we fight it as human beings and we suppress it. I truly believe that anything that we suppress, anything that we keep down or hold down for long enough, doesn't go away. It just comes out in worse and worse ways.

"And there's something about getting together with a bunch of people and facing those fears in a safe way... Your body needs to release that fear, you can't hold on to it."

Nope sees Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer play siblings who observe unexplained phenomena on their horse ranch and go down the rabbit hole in an attempt to capture the mystery on camera. It also stars Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea and Michael Wincott.

As a comedian-turned-horror-filmmaker, Jordan isn't a stranger to switching gears and Nope takes us down a new path — sci-fi horror, a departure from his usual psychological thrillers.

However, Jordan maintains that he's always mixed sci-fi elements into his shows and his style is to marry "a little bit of sci-fi with what-ifs".

But he also admitted that "genre questions get harder and harder [to answer] as I go on with my career".

"I'm not offended by them, but they're harder and harder," he said.

Nope releases in local cinemas on Aug 18.

bryanlim@asiaone.com