Is Batman Horror?
A ramble about some of the spookier Batman media
Batman is horror-adjacent. Absolutely it is. The gothic setting, the twisted and sometimes literally monstrous villains, and the sometimes pretty disturbing moments of violence give it an honorary place in the genre.
I will admit, I haven’t read the comics, or even seen all the films, but even so I’m a big fan of The Bat. In this post I’ll explore (briefly) some of the various films, television shows and games that the Dark Knight stars in. Hopefully this’ll mostly end up an opinion piece rather than a dozen recaps. Also, I will largely be skipping the non-spooky ones. We can’t stray too far from horror chat, lads.
Finally, as ever, spoilers ahead.
Starting strong with Gotham (2014). This show became something of a joke after a few seasons, if you ask me, but it had some great ideas along the way! It’s set in the Gotham of Bruce Wayne’s teenhood (and yes, he’s in the show, a lot). Thankfully we don’t spend all our time with Bruce, who is really quite annoying, and most of the show focuses on future GCPD Commissioner James Gordon. Now I have a lot of opinions on this show, but we’ll skip the rant and focus on what’s good and spooky about it.
The Riddler is fucking awesome. He starts off weird, but very quickly becomes a sinister and violent lunatic. Pretty early into his villain arc he dismembers somebody and puts their hand in a vending machine. Gnarly.
The Penguin is great. Vicious and manipulative, he rises through the ranks of Gotham’s criminals, going from a snivelling wimp to an elegant and sadistic aristocrat. It’s a standout take on the character and the performance is fantastic. He also feeds a woman her own kids (they’re assholes so it’s fine).
There are serial killers. A whole host of ‘em. And they are wacky.
A woman spoons out her eyeball. What the fuck.
Gotham City, as ever, looks grotty and grim. It feels seedy and deprived.
The Mafia play a big role early on, and they are super intimidating.
The show has some genuinely creepy moments and characters, and has a healthy dose of violence injected in when things get too police-procedural.
Next, the Tim Burton films. This is Gotham at its most gothic, with amazing architecture and chemicals seeping into the air from grimy industrial sites. I ain’t rewatched them in a while, but I remember the villains best. The Penguin is creepy and disgusting. The Joker is disturbing and maniacal. There are some killer performances, and everything is shrouded in layers of fog and dirt and blood. Really strong stuff.
The Nolan films aren’t particularly strong on the horror front, apart from Batman Begins (2005). Scarecrow’s nightmare gas creates some banger horror visuals, and go beyond the realm of edgy fun that the films mostly remain in. For a little while people are killing one another in the streets, and chaos reigns supreme. Intense.
My personal favourite is The Animated Series from the nineties. It is SERIOUSLY spooky. Clayface is a standout as a villain with a mega freaky backstory - he is a body horror marvel, no doubt about it. This show has people getting disfigured, gassed, stalked and turned into monsters. There is an air of fear in the city streets, and Batman glowers omnipresently down on the criminals who walk them. Just look at these screenshots and tell me it’s not Horror.
A film that followed this series is The Mask of the Phantasm (1993). Not especially spooky, but look at this. Like, come on, that’s a slasher setting. People get murdered throughout this film, one of them literally in a graveyard. Case closed.
Next we’re onto Batman Beyond - where we follow future Batman, Terry McGinnis. In the 2000 film Return of the Joker there’s some truly fucked up stuff going on. We venture into the past, before Terry takes up the mantle, and discover that Tim Drake, the third Robin, spent a good while being psychologically tortured before he took off the mask forever. Child torture, in a Batman movie? It’s more likely than you’d think. Well, I don’t know his exact age but he’s visibly a kid. Anyway, he ends up literally murdering a guy, so that’s wild. The whole tone of this sequence is ultra dark, and super memorable.
Speaking of Batman Beyond, watch this short film. It’s got a great big monster in, and it’s visually stunning.
Anyway, now we’re onto The Batman (2004). This show is one I’ve only seen a little bit of, but it’s got some great creepy moments. For one thing, its design of ManBat (a favourite of mine). For another, the dilapidated old mansion the Penguin lives in with his literally dozens of birds - crows and vultures, you name it. It’s dead spooky.
This might be pushing it but the Lego games have their horror-like moments too. YouTuber Eyezayar highlights the mission An Icy Reception - where Batman and Robin investigate an abandoned ice cream factory, seeking out Mr Freeze. It’s a genuinely eerie setting for a kid’s game.
The Arkham Games go a lot further on the Creepy scale. We spend most of the time in Arkham Asylum, creeping along through old tunnels and dimly lit hallways, fighting off lunatics. We spend plenty of time running from the gigantic Killer Croc too, which is pretty frightening as comic-book villains go. Throughout these games we also see visions of corpses grinning at us (and sometimes even jumping at us), we explore the wreckage of a science experiment gone wrong (and find broken body of the scientist’s wife), we scan dead bodies strung up on rooftops, and we even watch a restaurant full of people kill each other in a drug-induced frenzy. Who knows what hides around the corner?
Oh, and there’s a bunch of giant killer plants.
My final media to go over is a musical. It’s not official Batman content, it’s Starkid’s Holy Musical Batman!
It is pretty far flung from horror, honestly, but it’s awesome, so I want to talk about it. There is a plot element of people’s heads exploding from some kinda evil candy, but beyond that, it’s pretty tame. But anyway, I just want to gush about how good of a parody this musical is. It is a little dated, I won’t lie, there are some bits that make me grimace, but overall it’s a great exploration of friendship, loneliness, and what Batman would be like if he just straight up murdered people. He does a lot of kneecapping over the course of the story.
The music has a very eighties synth sound to it - cheerful and catchy as can be - and has a unique feel to it that I’ve never found anywhere else. It’s one of my all-time favourite parodies, and musicals too.
Anyway, that pointless ramble concludes my Batman article. I’m sorry I skipped a bunch of media, but you know, I was really pushing it with the Lego Batman game, and it’s past midnight where I am. Hope you enjoyed!
As ever, thanks for reading,
Until next time,
H.E.
Great article. There was an animated movie where Batman takes on Dracula and a comic book series Batman vs Predator
Great article, Harry! I've always thought Batman was a combination of noir and horror. Except for the 60s show, of course, which I despise.