However, this interpretation has to be mitigated. To a certain extent, this cycle of films does reinforce the horrific character of poor British youths, presenting them not only as culturally but also biologically different. As a by-product of neoliberalism, it is deemed to depoliticise or deny the wider social context in order to better essentialise evil through the construction of a new folk devil. Allegedly feeding on and fuelling moral panic, it may perpetuate clichés about a so-called new underclass, thereby further blurring the thin boundary between reality and fantasy for spectators. Hoodie horror has sometimes been criticised because of its perceived conservative or even reactionary and/or racist overtones. Hoodies are thus othered, but they also ironically reclaim that enemy image. These gangs of predators appear to be fascinated by their own evil image that they proudly advertise through the use of social media. Because of the possibilities offered by genre films, the often claimed “feral” nature of these creatures is sometimes taken in a literal sense and young people from sink estates are presented as amoral and bloodthirsty monsters causing the general collapse of society.

The enemy image of the hoodie thus gelled on and off screen around the powerful symbol of that garment. Government and media campaigns against antisocial behaviour or Broken Britain under Blair and Cameron’s premierships undoubtedly helped revive the stereotype of a rebellious and dangerous youth, also a great cinematic trope, which culminated with the summer riots of 2011. The late 2000s and early 2010s saw the rise of a new subgenre in British horror cinema now often referred to as hoodie horror.

Law abiding citizen tv tropes