The Cult season of American Horror Story fastens its focus on a suburban Michigan cult that grows in numbers after the 2016 presidential election. They don terrifying clown masks and wreak havoc on their town, one house at a time. The cult’s maniacal leader, Kai Anderson, seems intent upon infiltrating the corrupted American political system until he’s on top.
As an emotionally damaged cult leader with a borderline messiah complex, Kai ultimately doesn’t have what it takes to keep his organization of zealots intact. The true star of the season, Ally Mayfair-Richards, the Trump-hating lesbian with a serious case of agoraphobia, suffers endless emotional and physical torture after being targeted by the cult. She eventually turns the tides on her aggressors.
In order to unravel its story of indoctrination, toxic masculinity, and post-election anxiety, the show references many horror films that came before it. Below are 10 references to such movies made in Cult.
Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)
This cheesy B-horror classic by the Chido brothers is about an alien invasion acted out by ETs that resemble demented circus clowns. Their goal is to collect and harvest delectable humans for future sustenance.
Cult’s imagery is informed by the style of the eponymous Killer Klowns. The colorful clown masks worn by the cult members in order to tap into Ally’s agoraphobia is the most obvious nod to the movie, but both the show and the film turn suburban living in on itself. Whether it’s hungry space Bozos or crazed cult members, the presence of the murderous clowns in their respective idyllic neighborhoods shows just how unstable these “safe” communities really are after all.
Halloween (1978)
One of the most influential horror films of all time, Halloween’s imprint is all over Cult. From the Midwestern town to the masked stalkers, the show takes many queues from the tale of Michael Myers.
As with other films on this list, Halloween challenges the concept that the suburbs really are more protected and secure than their urban counterparts. With his oversized kitchen knife, Michael Myers, a suburban boy through and through, seeks to destroy his family and any traces of their false unity. In Cult, this tension is mimicked by the fraudulent marriage between Ally and Ivy, the latter of whom secretly joins the cult.
It (1990)
“We all float down here.” Cult relies on famous horror clowns like Pennywise in order to give Kai’s troupe an edge. Before Bill Skarsgard, Tim Curry brought the most dreadful clown of all time to life in a made-for-TV film adaption back in 1990.
With his red balloons and goofy but deadly one-liners, Pennywise is equal parts sideshow attraction and child-eating monster. By imbuing Cult with so much clown iconography, it’s impossible for fans of the genre to not think about It. Just like the cult preys upon the citizens of Brookfield Heights, Pennywise preys upon the citizens of Derry, Maine.
The Wicker Man (1973)
This British horror film tells the story of a Pagan cult on an isolated island called Summerisle. In order to lure an appropriate human sacrifice onto their island, the residents concoct a false story about a missing girl that brings in police officer Neil Howie. Little does this devout Christian know he’s about to become an offering for a Druid god in order to secure a good harvest for the next season.
The leader of the cult, Lord Summerisle, mirrors Kai Anderson in many ways. Both are pompous and hysterical, and both are willing to participate in murder in order to achieve their goals. While Cult doesn’t delve into Paganism directly, it was clearly influenced by The Wicker Man’s focus on fertility and the metaphorical spilling of blood.
The Sacrament (2013)
Ti West made this found-footage horror flick in response to one of the most infamous cult incidents of all time: the Jonestown massacre in 1978. Hundreds of people involved in the Peoples Temple followed Jim Jones to Guyana in the 1970s, and over 900 of them willingly drank cyanide in order to enact what Jones referred to as “revolutionary suicide.”
Cult digs into the Jonestown massacre, and the nature of Kai’s cult is clearly instructed by the type of spontaneous, violent outbursts that occur throughout The Sacrament.
Zodiac (2007)
David Fincher made this film that follows the journalists who covered the Zodiac murders that rocked the San Francisco area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The purported male who referred to himself as the Zodiac Killer was never apprehended, and he claimed in letters to have murdered as many as 37 people.
One of the plot points in Cult involves an alternate history of the Zodiac Killer. According to the show, the killings were planned by a feminist group led by Valerie Solanos, the woman who shot pop artist Andy Warhol.
The Purge: Election Year (2016)
Whether or not the references are intentional, the similarities between this film and the Cult season of American Horror Story are undeniable. This third installment of The Purge franchise combines politics and horror with the same bombastic, over-the-top style of Cult.
From the exaggerated costuming to the extreme violence, both the film and show make bleak statements about the state of the nation.
Repulsion (1965)
An early black-and-white gem by controversial director Roman Polanski, Repulsion is all about psychological horror. Like Ally in Cult, the movie’s main character, Carol, suffers from agoraphobia. In her case, the delusional fear and debilitating anxiety come from one thing: men.
Hallucinatory and invasive, Repulsion is most terrifying when the tiny London apartment Carol occupies closes in on her. In Cult, Ally’s large suburban home plays similar tricks on her. Repulsion blurs the line between what’s real and what’s not, and that boundariless state is on full display in Cult.
The Strangers (2008)
The Strangers is a home invasion horror film about a trio of masked intruders who decide to torture a family. Their motivations are never divulged, making their choices all the more horrifying.
While Cult is full of backstory and agency, the way cult members break into Ally’s home in their attempts to drive her insane imitates the way the killers in The Strangers violate the home of the family they prey upon. The masks worn by Meadow in Cult also bears a striking resemblance to the one worn by the Dollface character in The Strangers.
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
One of the best and scariest cult films to come out in recent years, Martha Marcy May Marlene explores the psychological toll entering and leaving a cult takes on someone.
In the movie, Martha flees an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains formed by a quietly evil and manipulative man named Patrick. Like Kai, Patrick knows how to implicate his followers into illegal and violent activities, ranging from sexual assault to burglary. While the movie is more focused on Martha’s rehabilitation attempts, it’s flashback scenes offer some chilling insight into how cults function.
