They entertain us. They terrify us. Sometimes they’re so bad or silly they make us laugh. Our culture is strangely drawn to the phenomenon of horror flicks (as if the world isn’t a scary enough place on its own). What is it about this genre that attracts us?
There’s the unbelivable story, the mystery, the suspense. There’s the super villain or bad guy — sometimes we’re cheering for him and most others we’re scared and waiting on the edges of our seats for him to appear next. But mostly, I think it’s the adrenaline. Most people live without too much danger and excitement in their lives, so horror movies offer an escape from the mundane; they allow us to suspend our disbelief and enter a world of the impossible wherein the characters must run for their lives, watch their every step, and always never “be right back” (see also: Scream).
What’s your favorite horror movie of all time? What’s the scariest? What’s the scariest scene of all time?
My favorite is probably Scream. The scariest in my mind, partly because I was rather young when I first saw it, is the original Nightmare on Elm Street. And the scariest scene of all time for me is in the original Nightmare when Freddy kills the first girl and drags her bloody body in a big plastic bag around the room.
Perhaps subconsciously inspired by today’s release of Freddy vs. Jason, I added three horror flicks to my DVD collection today: Scream and
Scream 2 (rounding off my collection of the trilogy), and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
And we still have two months and then some until October 31.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Dave Reed // Aug 17, 2003 at 1:07 am
I really haven’t seen much of any horror movies, so I can’t really say much for certain.
To throw it in for consideration, I think the scariest scene would have to be the very end of “Carrie.” It’s something you never expect, and it happens so suddenly. Even, at times, when I watch it and _know_ it’s going to happen, I still jump a bit.
So far, my favorite “horror” movie is “The Exorcist” (the original version; not the one with the cheesy scenes added back in). Frankly, it’s more like a comedy thing to me, where I end up laughing and really enjoying things in it, but it’s still cool. It helps that it’s based on a real-life account.
2 Ricky Thakrar // Aug 17, 2003 at 8:22 am
I havent watched very many horror movies at all yet, but I think that Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” (1980?) is very scary simply because youre expecting something around every corner whether it comes or not.
3 mrs. A // Aug 18, 2003 at 12:22 pm
the ring. the RIIIIING!!!
4 monica // Dec 19, 2003 at 8:02 am
not really a comment. if i’m not mistaken didn’t michael myers get stuck in the eye with a close hanger in one eye in H1 and shot in both eyes in part 2. But he still had his eyes in part 5.(He took his mask off too show his neice his face) Get it together!!!!!!