10 Music Videos That Could Be Horror Movies
6. Tyler, The Creator - Who Dat Boy
Who Dat Boy’s music video is favourably compared to Jordan Peele’s movies Get Out and Us. It is a story of experimentation, body horror, and race.
The video opens with tense music as Tyler experiments on something unseen at his desk. When it backfires, the explosion knocks him aside. However, the immediate cut to Tyler dancing and comedically stumbling through a sunny middle-class neighbourhood lulls viewers into believing they’re watching the visuals for just another summer jam. A misdirection worthy of any horror master.
A subtle change of perspective reveals the horror. The left side of Tyler’s lower face has been torn off in the explosion, leaving his mouth flapping away at the left corner. Tyler seeks A$AP Rocky for help, who is cast as an amateur at-home surgeon.
The body horror is extreme as Tyler, while still awake, has his face surgically removed and replaced with a white man’s. Tyler’s new pasty ginger face, in stark contrast to his own skin, is a ghastly sight. It comes away at the stitches revealing the gore below visible.
Horror, as a genre, has always excelled in exploring social issues. The video presents unique opportunities to explore race in the body horror genre. A feature-length film could appeal to the gorier aspects of the music video, and the idea of a mutilated Frankenstein character drawing from multiple races is potent.