Be Afraid.  Be Very Afraid.

Who can resist a good horror movie?  Not a whole lot of us, that’s for sure.  There’s just something about the adrenaline rush and the objectifaction of the absolute worst aspects of humanity that appeal to a lot of us.  As a matter of fact, horror movies are very interesting to me, because how someone reacts to a horror movie says an awful lot about the type of person that you are.

The Two Types of Horror Fans…

Horror cinema is an interesting thing.  It seems to be mostly kept alive by two groups of people.  The first group goes for the thrill of the scare.  This group is not ashamed to be afraid of what’s in the movie, and enjoys the adrenaline rush of the terror that they expeerience.  Then you have the second group, who are all to eager to point out how they are never scared by movies because they aren’t real, and are eager to look down on those who are scared.

Many people have come to the conclusion that it all boils down to being desensitized.  These people argue that if someone is raised on horror, then they are more likely to get used to it as an adult, moreso than if they rarely or never watched it growing up.  However, science has found links to suggest that the difference in people’s reactions to horror movies may be genetic.  Some people are more prone to anxiety, which from an evolutionary point of view, would prevent them from acting reckless in a high danger situation, such as being confronted by a dinosaur or something.

Certainly, people definately have much different reactions while watching horror movies.  Some people consider “The Exorcist” to be true terror on celluloid, while others actually find it to be humorous.  Me, I rank somewhere in the middle.  While I don’t find the movie to be terrifying or anything, and can easily watch it by myself at night,  I do find the subject matter to be quite dramatic, and I don’t consider the movie to be hokey or anything like some other people do.

But Why The Snobbery?

So, it’s understandable that some people are just genetically predisposed to not be scared by images on film.  That much I can understand.  What I don’t understand is A: why these people even watch horror in the first place, and B: why they have to look down on people who do enjoy getting scared.  These types of people seem to always think that being scared during a movie is some kind of weakness or something, and that it’s more admirable to sit and find pleasure in watching simulated images of people being chased and disemboweled.

As you might guess, I fall into the category of people who are genetically evolved and am capable of being “scared” by horror movies.  Now, I know that they’re not real, and I’ve always know that.  While I think that horror is a genre that more people should enjoy, I also think that it smacks of lousy parenting when a child doesn’t realize that the events that take place in any movie, horror or otherwise, are not real.  The type of trauma that a child could possibly endure if they come to get attached to movie characters that will eventually meet a bloody demise is reason enough that they should be well aware that movies are not real, including horror movies.  And that’s my point, all people who watch horror movies should know that they aren’t real, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t ever get scared!

Okay, look.  I’m not ignorant.  I’m aware of the groups of people who watch horror movies for reasons other than the scare factor.  Often times, they enjoy the outlandish premises, the makeup, the lighting, the music, the special effects, and all of those things that you only get with the horror genre.  I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with that.  However, some people take it way too far, and actually get a kick out of watching people get brutally slaughtered.  These borderline masochists will sit and watch horror movies for hours, for no other reason than for the blood and gore, most likely inducing violent fantasies of their own.

Because of the emergence of this type of horror fan, the genre has changed quite a bit from what I consider to be the golden age of horror which was based on psychological terror.  Often times, a horror movie with a PG-13 rating will automatically get overlooked, because some people are prejudice about the fact that a horror movie can’t possibly be good if it doesn’t have enough gore to warrant an R rating.  This, in a word, is just stupid.  Horror, by definition, has to do with provoking fear, and has nothing to do with violence.  A lot of film makers are realizing this, and lately the horror genre has gone through numerous trends depending on the success of recent horror flicks.

Blast From The Past!

The big trend lately has been to remake old horror movies that were successful in the past.  After all, with advances in modern technology, if a movie was good in the 1980′s, it will be ten times as good in the 2000′s, now that we have better actors, better sound, 3D visuals, CGI, and multi-million dollar budgets to work with, right?  That seems to be the thought process behind the decision to green light so many remakes and reboots of series instead of working to create new storylines and new characters.

Personally, I usually don’t see horror movies that I know to be remakes.  I’ve been burned way too many times with that.  There’s been a handful of horror remakes, such as The Ring, and The Hills Have Eyes that I enjoyed, but most of them smack of lazy filmmaking, and are just plain-old, not good.  Speaking of which, if you want a good laugh, go rent the remake of the horror movie “The Hitcher”.  I swear that it is one of the worst horror remakes of all time, and in the category of mediocrity that is horror remakes, that is saying something!

Thrill of The Chill

Tis the season to enjoy a scary movie or two.  In my opinion, if you’re not getting scared every once in a while, then you are not living.  I truly feel sorry for the people who aren’t evolved enough to get scared from horror movies.  I really do.  It’s one of the greatest rushes that you can ever feel.  It’s like riding a roller coaster or something.  I don’t ever see myself getting tired of the feeling of terror that I get from a good horror movie.  As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how I go out, with a heart attack at an old age from watching a really scary movie.  And you know what?  That’s just fine with me.