Ahh, democracy. What a beautiful thing. Democracy protected by bludgeoning children’s skulls and concocting a plan to protect the sanctity of an already sleazy politician’s clean public façade? Well lately, we’ve been conditioned to view that as an even more beautiful thing. But all that is about to change, right? On November 4th, one of the most important elections this generation has faced will take place. Whether you’re on the side of Barrack “Change We Can Believe In” Obama or leaning towards John “Suck It Up, America/Change Is Coming” McCain, the 2008 election results are bound to cause some crying, screaming, possible riots in the streets or bloodshed.

But, for horror fans, this year's voting results and election returns will bring more than just a new president and a dash of whomever’s “change” jargon is being thrown around like a bag of flag-themed confetti. This election will boast a new group of politically charged genre flicks, including Kevin Smith’s anticipated feature film Red or the recent short films we’ve seen, like The Election, from director Padraig Reynolds and producer John Norris.

Norris and Reynold’s The Election played at Screamfest LA in 2007 and received some much deserved recognition, but after tomorrow’s resolution of the 2008 election, when the new--and hopefully improved--president of the free world is announced, The Election will simply be added to the list of films that allow horror fans to trace the whoas of politics and democracy back to the early days of filmmaking, and will inspire a new cycle of politically active genre films.

As far back as the 1930s, monsters have represented our fears and the dangers any given political or social culture. In 1931, Frankenstein (though written in 1818 in London) received attention due in part to the wild re-Industrialization and scientific advancement of the time. And The Blob (1958) was appropriately released at the height of the communist “Red Scare.”

Over the years, depending on the climate, genre films have featured science lab creations gone wrong (1930s), to anamorphic creatures (1950s) to zombies (1960s), to slashers and serial killers (1970-1980s) as manifestations of political turmoil. But until the 1980s, most horror films shied away from honing in on the electoral or political process itself.

But blatant political settings began to unfold after the 1980 election of Ronald Regan, the devasting economic conditions of the '70s and '80s and the Iran Hostage Crisis. Three years after Reagan's election, David Cronenberg helmed the film adaptation to Stephen King’s novel, The Dead Zone, about a man whose newly found psychic powers revealed a future president’s term as a fatal for the country when he instead ignites a nuclear holocaust. (So where was that guy in 2000's Bush vs. Gore debacle?)

Flash forward to the 1990s (The Clinton era) and horror again experiences a lull in blatant references to the political process, focusing more on self-referential films and genre clichés. However, after what some would call the unfair 2000 election of George W. Bush, 9/11 and the launch of the “War on Terror,” The Dead Zone was again adapted to a TV series, which ran until early 2007 for six seasons. And following the 2004 election of Bush for a second term, with polling upheavals in numerous states like Florida, it seemed as if horror filmmakers could hold off no longer, and the genre was slammed with a series of politically geared films. In 2005, director Joe Dante showed some bi-partisan love/hate in bashing both the GOP and Democratic parties in his acclaimed Masters of Horror episode "Homecoming", featuring fallen soldiers who rise from the dead to cast their votes, a president with Bill Clinton's looks and Bush's speech patterns, and caricatures of Ann Coulter and Karl Rove.

In 2007, when Bush’s approval rating dipped around 30% and his second lethal term drew to close, David Arquette gave 1980s slasher film fans and political junkies The Tripper (named after Reagan’s nickname, The Gipper). The film takes place in Woodstock, with a slew of modern-day hippies getting butchered by a serial killer who wears a Reagan mask, and actually thinks he is Reagan, showing us just how far we haven’t come in nearly three decades.

Last year also brought forth the aforementioned The Election, a short film created by producer John Norris and director Padraig Reynolds (interview here) who go beyond representing political trouble metaphorically, and instead show us a seemingly normal politically-motivated couple who are actually monsters. The Election (available here) stars horror heavyweights Ray Wise (Reaper, Jeepers Creepers II, One Missed Call) and Lin Shaye (Snoop Dogg’s Hood Of Horror, 2001 Maniacs, Killer Pad) as the incumbent political couple who commit a heinous crime and attempt to cover it up to protect the purity of the upcoming election.

It's only recently that we’ve begun dealing with the election process itself. Perhaps Hollywood's bean-counters are afraid to greenlight creative, metaphorical films dealing with broader political issues and have chosen to be as blunt as possible. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times when even something as simple and full-proof as the election, the voting, the staple of the democratic process becomes uncertain and corrupt.

For more horrifying politics, watch the short film, The Election, read our interview with the creators and see where FEARnet stands on issues like... The Environment, Patriotism, The American Family, Foreign Threats and The Housing Market.

And remember to vote on Tuesday November 4th!