Movies That Influenced Jordan Peele

Jordan Peele has become synonymous with the horror genre since his directorial debut with "Get Out" in 2016. Both audiences and critics have been impressed, terrified and mystified by Peele's ever growing film catalog that includes the likes of "Us" and "Nope." Peele has never shied away from discussing the films that have affected his work. In fact, all of his movies are peppered with stylistic homages and easter eggs referencing other films.

Peele has been open about the movies that have impacted his filmmaking and screenwriting processes, whether it's something that terrified him as a child and made him love horror or it's a film that he saw as an adult that stuck with him for one reason or another. These movies run the gamut from big budget summer blockbusters to modern independent horror to classic dramas. Presented here are a few films that, for one reason or another, have influenced Jordan Peele and his filmmaking.

It's the film that made an entire generation afraid to go for a swim and one that Jordan Peele holds in high regard. In Steven Spielberg's "Jaws," the quiet seaside town of Amity Island finds itself under attack from a vicious man-eating shark. With bodies piling up and the mayor unwilling to close the beaches in the middle of the high summer season, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) must take action. Aided by oceanographer Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw), Brody sets off on sea-bound adventure to neutralize the terror plaguing his town.

From its oceanic cinematography to its stellar soundtrack, "Jaws" is regarded by many as an unparalleled classic. Peele certainly thinks so, as in a video for Fear: The Home of Horror, he declared that "Jaws" is "debatably, the greatest movie of any genre of all time." He's definitely taken a few cues from Spielberg's classic, explaining to USA Today: "The most beautiful revelation with 'Jaws' was the audience's imagination is far more powerful than what you show them. ... It changes the way we think of how to tell the story of a monster."

Peele has paid tribute to "Jaws" in overt visual ways, such as by having Jason (Evan Alex) wear a "Jaws" t-shirt in "Us" (via Insider). Meanwhile, "Nope" includes thematic connections to "Jaws" as it similarly centers around a ragtag trio, who use various methods to contend with a monstrous creature. And like Spielberg's film, viewers don't get a full look at the mysterious monster until the movie's second half.

Sometimes a horror film transcends the genre to become beloved by mainstream audiences and critics as well. "Rosemary's Baby" is one of those films and given its immense impact, it isn't hard to see why many – including Jordan Peele – hold it in such high regard. In fact, Peele loves the movie so much that he did a full (and very accurate) recreation of it via emojis on Twitter.

Guy Woodhouse (John Cassavetes) and his wife Rosemary (Mia Farrow) have just moved into a sizable New York apartment. However, it soon becomes clear to Rosemary that their new neighbors, the Castevets, aren't who they appear to be. Her suspicions are confirmed when the Castevets pay her a strange visit and Rosemary becomes pregnant without any concrete memory of how. She soon discovers that her conception may have ties to the supernatural and the Devil himself.

"Rosemary's Baby" is a disturbing gem if there ever was one, as it possesses both surreal dreamlike visuals and horrific moral implications. The film is adapted from the eponymous novel by Ira Levin, who also wrote "The Stepford Wives." During an interview with UCLA, Peele recounted his appreciation for Ira Levin's writing technique "of inching us towards this inevitable horrific reveal," which is an influence that's clearly seen in the slow reveal of a twist ending in "Get Out."

Speaking to Forbes, Peele confirmed that both "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Stepford Wives" were inspirations for "Get Out" because "as those movies are developing we reveal more and more about this sort of awful direction it's heading."

While on the press tour for his inaugural horror release of "Get Out," Jordan Peele noted two key influences on his work in an interview with UCLA: Ira Levin's novels "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Stepford Wives," both of which were adapted to film. 

The 1975 film "The Stepford Wives" follows couple Joanna (Katharine Ross) and Walter (Peter Masterson), who relocate to Stepford, Connecticut with their two daughters. Things seem pleasant enough until Joanna starts befriending the other wives of Stepford and becomes increasingly aware of their eccentricities such as their lack of ambition or identity. The more Joanna gets to know them, the more she starts to feel that these women are mindless, subservient, and perfect housewives. She soon starts to suspect that something is very wrong in Stepford.

"The Stepford Wives" presents a chilling story about antiquated societal molds and suburban brainwashing — both handled with a masterfully disturbing touch. Speaking to UCLA, Peele described how Levin builds worlds so subtly that the protagonist can't tell if something sinister is really happening or if it is "garden variety average social weirdness." 

This is certainly the case in "The Stepford Wives," as Joanna starts to question her reality. This balance of social commentary and high concept science fiction-horror is clearly on display in "Get Out," as Chris wonders if he's dealing with the type of racism he's encountered before or something even more sinister.

Given his appreciation for "Jaws," it should be no surprise that Jordan Peele has a great affection for the work of Steven Spielberg. During an interview with BackstageOL, Peele revealed that his film "Nope" was influenced by Spielberg's alien classics, "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," particularly the latter.

"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" centers around Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), a local electrician who has his own close encounter and becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth. It soon becomes clear that Roy is far from the only one who has encountered a UFO and eventually, a sizable mothership makes first contact with humanity in grand Spielberg fashion.

"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" presents a very down-to-earth narrative regarding a very interstellar concept, complete with jaw-dropping special effects. Speaking to Backstage OL, Peele noted that the film is "such an awe-inspiring cinematic feat and I think the ambition with a flying saucer film and taking that on, [Spielberg] brought the appropriate ambition to it and so I felt a sort of responsibility to take on that ambition and do things in my style."

From film students to film critics, the work of director Stanley Kubrick has been praised, lambasted, and picked apart piece-by-piece. The man helped to revolutionize the science-fiction genre with "2001: A Space Odyssey," and brilliantly satirized war with "Dr. Strangelove." However, one of his most memorable cinematic contributions is his adaptation of Stephen King's "The Shining." 

The film follows the Torrance family — Jack (Jack Nicholson), Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their son Danny (Danny Lloyd). Jack has taken a job of overseeing the Overlook Hotel while it's closed during the winter season. Once settled in at their lavish new accommodations, things begin to unravel, as the hotel is harboring supernatural and malevolent forces. It's not long before Jack succumbs to the hotel's manipulations and begins menacing his family.

It's very clear that Jordan Peele loves both Stanley Kubrick and his version of "The Shining" — the man's wardrobe is evidence enough. Peele also confirmed to Vanity Fair that there's a direct homage to "The Shining" in an easter egg that's included in "Get Out." While Rod the TSA Agent (Lil Rel Howery) is working his airline job, you can hear an announcement for flight 237, which refers to the sinister room 237 at the heart of many events in the Overlook Hotel. 

Peele also spoke to USA Today about what makes "The Shining" so influential, saying it has "an attention to almost a subconscious level of perception of something creepy going on. It's just unsettling and I don't think anyone's really done a horror movie that well since."

Peele has spoken many times about his appreciation for the work of Alfred Hitchcock. In an interview with E! Insider, Peele noted that he took inspiration for the Bay Area setting of "Us" directly from "The Birds," which is set in San Francisco. He also included "The Birds" as required viewing for Lupita Nyong'o to watch before filming "Us" (via Esquire).

In "The Birds," Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren in her on-screen debut) meets an attractive lawyer, Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor). She decides to deliver some love birds to him as a surprise, and goes to visit him on his family farm in Bodega Bay. There, she's attacked by a seagull. Soon enough, more and more bird-related attacks begin to pop up around the area and people start dying from these suddenly aggressive birds. 

As absurd a concept of killer birds may be, Hitchcock takes his film to its most logical and disturbing conclusion, which results in some of horror's most haunting images. "Us" similarly takes a society-ending approach, and it's no wonder that Peele listed "The Birds" as one of his favorite horror films in an interview with Forbes.