Here’s why Hamlet, works as a compelling horror movie premise. Considered among the most influential works in world literature, Hamlet has been told and retold endless times due to its complex philosophical core and inherent timelessness.
Hamlet chronicles the Gothic-tinged, morbid tale of a Scandinavian prince swallowed by crippling indecisiveness when faced with the task of avenging the murder of his father. The narrative catalyst of Hamlet hinges upon a supernatural premise, wherein Hamlet’s father, the former King of Denmark, is seen as an apparition by the castle guards, looking for his son. This naturally makes the narrative’s core premise suitable to the horror genre, as Hamlet’s actions throughout the play are majorly influenced by his father’s ghost. According to Bloody Disgusting, the next take on Hamlet will tell Shakespeare's story through a distinctly horror-centric lens, which actually works well with the source material for numerous reasons.
The Elizabethan debate about ghosts takes center place here, as linguistic and dramatic cues make it amply clear that Hamlet is meant to unsettle and chill audiences, playing upon their suspension of disbelief. The ghost of Hamlet’s father is a terrifying presence that hovers ominously over the characters, functioning both as a supernatural element and a manifestation of extreme guilt. The play, much like Shakespeare's political drama Macbeth, drips with an atmospheric sense of foreboding, right from Act I, in which it is twelve at night, “bitter cold”, and the characters are “sick at heart” due to their fear of the ghost’s reappearance, which they refer to as “the thing.” These narrative images alone mirror the atmospheric setting of most modern horrors, but Hamlet goes several steps further with its themes of bloody violence, macabre acts, revenge, loss, and madness.
Moreover, the character of Hamlet is one plagued by demons of his own, constantly oscillating between sane avenger and imioned man, making him a source of horror for certain characters such as King Claudius and Gertrude. Most importantly, the plot of Hamlet contains elements of mystery and suspense, leading up to an especially bloody and tragic climax, which culminates in the death of several characters. Hamlet’s relationship with the concept of death in itself could potentially act as source material for a haunting psychological horror, as exemplified in the play’s oft-quoted soliloquies and the widely-dramatized scene in which Hamlet speaks to Yorick’s skull.
Keeping these factors in mind, it will be interesting to witness Hamlet being remodeled as a horror movie, one which verbalizes the elusive aura of darkness that resides within the human soul. The modernization of the Hamletian dilemma of “to be...not to be” can potentially reach terrifying heights, especially within the context of postmodern existentialism and identity politics. Whether the tale of Hamlet will be imprinted within the genre of psychological revenge-horror or not seems to be the question.