Many people dislike horror films because they are often very depressing and bloodily gory. But on the other hand, many people like them for these exact same qualities. Horror movies are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films effectively center on the dark side of life, the forbidden, and strange and alarming events. They deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death or loss of identity. Horror movies, in essence, are the subconscience of who all of us really are.
Horror movies are usually set in spooky old houses enveloped in mysterious fog. As the story unravels, the viewer often encounters supernatural and grotesque creatures including: vampires, ghosts, monsters, witches demons, werewolves, and other complex demonic creatures. As time has passed, this familiar setting has changed a great deal to accommodate the here and now, the present.
In 1979, Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter were turned from nobodies into acting and directing stars practically overnight. The movie was Halloween. A movie that basically was about a masked madmen who killed innocent baby-sitters. The movie was dark in tone and sported bad acting here and there but despite all of this, it hit a chord with critics and audiences alike and went on to be the top grossing indie film ever. Then came the backlash. Hollywood has a tendency of taking a movie that has done quite well at the box office then re-doing it to death. Halloween 2 quickly followed and the ball to the Slasher flick category quickly began to roll. Shoddy movies like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street went on to be huge hits but as the 80's progressed, the films got worse and worse until their box-office diminished as well and then ironically, horror movies were laid to rest. They were DEAD....until 1996 when Kevin Williamson created Scream, a movie that made millions at the box office. Scream was different though. It was a funny kind of horror. It poked fun at how obvious and shallow Slasher flicks really were. About a year later, I Know What You Did Last Summer followed as well as Scream 2. Horror movies were back. These movies reminded us of what we enjoyed in Halloween. That edge of your seat feeling had drawn so many in again. Movies like The Haunting and Carrie 2: The Rage have drawn so many again that it can definitely be said that the horror genre has been born again. Unfortunately though, the future looks bleak. Hollywood is slashing their hits again and again. I mean come on, did you really think that these good times would last with Scream 3 and I Know What You Did Last Summer 3 in the near future?
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