| by Liza Jaine |
Ahhh, Halloween. Does it interest you to know that 3 out of 5 people between the ages of 17-30 name
Halloween their favorite holiday of the year? With that being said…does it surprise you that the horror
film industry brings in truck loads of money annually, especially around Halloween…and mostly from that
same age group. It shouldn’t. So, the question of the evening is this my friends… Why? Why do young
Americans want to spend money to be scared? Well, the answer will be revealed on a dark and stormy
night…
Why do we go to the movies? To laugh, to cry, to kill time…all these are valid reasons, but what it really
boils down to is this… we go to the movies to feel something that we don’t get in everyday life. We want
to see heroes and villains and revenge and true love and all that jazz. But do we really need fear?
Yes. Yes we do.
Fear causes a rush of adrenaline. We’ve all felt it. But as opposed to a happy adrenaline rush…aka
scoring a touchdown, getting a promotion blah blah blah…a rush caused by fear can be so intense that
it completely paralyzes the body. Basically, there is so much energy pulsing through your body that the
brain starts to shut down certain functions in order to handle it. The back of your neck starts to tingle at
the first hint of fear because your natural instinct is to run before the fear becomes too intense. It’s a
warning system.
Halloween their favorite holiday of the year? With that being said…does it surprise you that the horror
film industry brings in truck loads of money annually, especially around Halloween…and mostly from that
same age group. It shouldn’t. So, the question of the evening is this my friends… Why? Why do young
Americans want to spend money to be scared? Well, the answer will be revealed on a dark and stormy
night…
Why do we go to the movies? To laugh, to cry, to kill time…all these are valid reasons, but what it really
boils down to is this… we go to the movies to feel something that we don’t get in everyday life. We want
to see heroes and villains and revenge and true love and all that jazz. But do we really need fear?
Yes. Yes we do.
Fear causes a rush of adrenaline. We’ve all felt it. But as opposed to a happy adrenaline rush…aka
scoring a touchdown, getting a promotion blah blah blah…a rush caused by fear can be so intense that
it completely paralyzes the body. Basically, there is so much energy pulsing through your body that the
brain starts to shut down certain functions in order to handle it. The back of your neck starts to tingle at
the first hint of fear because your natural instinct is to run before the fear becomes too intense. It’s a
warning system.
| Count Orlok stalks through darkened corridors in F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent horror film, "Nosferatu," the original vampire movie. |
Your hearing becomes acute. Your eyes widen to take in as much of your surrounding as possible to see the attack coming. You get goose bumps because the
body is trying to detect dangers around it. Your heart starts beating faster to help you run if you need to. If you’re trying to hold still, your breathing will become
labored because, again, the body’s inclination is to run and denying that is more difficult. This is when our body gets cold and you start to sweat. (Cold sweat
doesn’t smell as much as a hot sweat in order to not alert a predator to your presence.)Are you excited? I am. Isn’t anatomy cool?
body is trying to detect dangers around it. Your heart starts beating faster to help you run if you need to. If you’re trying to hold still, your breathing will become
labored because, again, the body’s inclination is to run and denying that is more difficult. This is when our body gets cold and you start to sweat. (Cold sweat
doesn’t smell as much as a hot sweat in order to not alert a predator to your presence.)Are you excited? I am. Isn’t anatomy cool?
Anyway, this is all medical theory, which can be either proved, or disproved
depending on what particular studies you read. However, back to the subject,
directors and writers take full advantage of this knowledge in order to…well…scare
the crap out of you.
How do they do this? Well, now we come to the basic rules of directing a scary
movie.
1) You must first have characters that attract the senses die first, and they must die
pretty brutally. Basically, the prettiest people should die first. Or, in modern trend,
the cameo appearance will die in the first five minutes. (Sad but true. We’re more
likely to be scared and shocked when a sexually attractive person dies.)
2) The flight instinct must always take the character in the wrong direction. This
causes more stress for the audience because of our natural ability to flee the right
direction. (Which is why we all go “No!” When she runs up the stairs…in her
underwear.)
3) At the point of highest tension, the sound must go completely silent. This plays
into the hypersensitive senses thing. This is inevitable followed by a horribly loud
noise or sudden crescendo of music. The audience will be listening so hard during
the silence that the noise is almost painful, but in a good way.
4) The killer must always move at an even pace, yet still manage to catch up with the
victim. This isn’t so physiologically linked as it is psychologically. This plays into our
dreams. When you have a nightmare and are being chased, you can’t hide because
it’s in your head and you’ve created your surroundings as well as your pursuer.
So…if you know where you are, the one chasing you knows where you are too.
depending on what particular studies you read. However, back to the subject,
directors and writers take full advantage of this knowledge in order to…well…scare
the crap out of you.
How do they do this? Well, now we come to the basic rules of directing a scary
movie.
1) You must first have characters that attract the senses die first, and they must die
pretty brutally. Basically, the prettiest people should die first. Or, in modern trend,
the cameo appearance will die in the first five minutes. (Sad but true. We’re more
likely to be scared and shocked when a sexually attractive person dies.)
2) The flight instinct must always take the character in the wrong direction. This
causes more stress for the audience because of our natural ability to flee the right
direction. (Which is why we all go “No!” When she runs up the stairs…in her
underwear.)
3) At the point of highest tension, the sound must go completely silent. This plays
into the hypersensitive senses thing. This is inevitable followed by a horribly loud
noise or sudden crescendo of music. The audience will be listening so hard during
the silence that the noise is almost painful, but in a good way.
4) The killer must always move at an even pace, yet still manage to catch up with the
victim. This isn’t so physiologically linked as it is psychologically. This plays into our
dreams. When you have a nightmare and are being chased, you can’t hide because
it’s in your head and you’ve created your surroundings as well as your pursuer.
So…if you know where you are, the one chasing you knows where you are too.
| ABOVE: Kurt Russell defends himself against his own comrades in the sci-fi horror classic, "The Thing." BELOW: Jimmy Stewart in peril in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller, "Rear Window." |
There are lots of devices that make movies scarier, but these have more to do
with the present trend of horror than scientifically based theories. For example,
there was a time when the Indian burial ground was a horrifying concept. Now,
due to common knowledge and political perceptions, the Indian burial ground is
cliché and dumb. Smart writers play up the fears of their audience. I’m sure we
all remember the series of monster movies about regular animals genetically
mutated by a nuclear accident of some kind. That plot idea just doesn’t work
anymore.
While monster movies have always been around and will always work to some
degree, there is only one horror movie device that consistently works. This is
the “mad doctor in the insane asylum” scenario. Why does it work? Because it’
s based on fact. There is a very dark period of our history when we were
exploring the brain and mental illness and the practices that were performed
and considered common are enough to keep anyone awake at night.
Vampires are pretty outdated, yet that is always a new movie trying to beat that
horse. These movies have moved into the realm of action with “Underworld”
and “Blade,” or they went the other way to cliché comedy like “Cursed” and
“Vampire in Brooklyn.”
Other monster movies cover broader topics and are up for wide debate. For
example, I would classify a monster movie as a film featuring a creature that is
either completely foreign to the world, or is much larger than it is supposed to
be that runs around killing people and creating havoc. “Lake Placid” is
considered a monster movie, as is “Godzilla” (in all it’s forms) and “Deep Blue
Sea.”
with the present trend of horror than scientifically based theories. For example,
there was a time when the Indian burial ground was a horrifying concept. Now,
due to common knowledge and political perceptions, the Indian burial ground is
cliché and dumb. Smart writers play up the fears of their audience. I’m sure we
all remember the series of monster movies about regular animals genetically
mutated by a nuclear accident of some kind. That plot idea just doesn’t work
anymore.
While monster movies have always been around and will always work to some
degree, there is only one horror movie device that consistently works. This is
the “mad doctor in the insane asylum” scenario. Why does it work? Because it’
s based on fact. There is a very dark period of our history when we were
exploring the brain and mental illness and the practices that were performed
and considered common are enough to keep anyone awake at night.
Vampires are pretty outdated, yet that is always a new movie trying to beat that
horse. These movies have moved into the realm of action with “Underworld”
and “Blade,” or they went the other way to cliché comedy like “Cursed” and
“Vampire in Brooklyn.”
Other monster movies cover broader topics and are up for wide debate. For
example, I would classify a monster movie as a film featuring a creature that is
either completely foreign to the world, or is much larger than it is supposed to
be that runs around killing people and creating havoc. “Lake Placid” is
considered a monster movie, as is “Godzilla” (in all it’s forms) and “Deep Blue
Sea.”
| ABOVE: Brad Pitt is a vampire with a grudge in "Interview With a Vampire." BELOW: Wesley Snipes as the title character in the action-horror, "Blade." |
Of course, we all remember those silly movies about the alligator that gets flushed
down the toilet and ends up huge and lives in the sewers. You know…monster
movies. (Interestingly enough…“Jurassic Park” is not considered to be a monster
movie…I’ll let you ponder the political ramifications of that one on your own.)
Then you’ve got Zombie movies. “Resident Evil” comes to mind as well as most of
Rob Zombie’s latest creations. However, like vampire movies, the zombie has been
spoofed with “Sean of the Dead,” which will most likely lead to more of the same.
You’ve got the devil idea like “The Exorcist” and the new “Exorcism of Emily Rose” or
“The Devil’s Rejects.” Always a popular choice.
Then there’s the teenybopper college horror mystery like “I Know What You Did Last
Summer” or the latest one, “Cry Wolf.” There are millions of these, generally
featuring ridiculously immature (yet sexually active to the point of promiscuity)
teenagers who don’t wear much clothing and scream a lot. “Valentine” is one of
these as is the entire “Urban Legend” series. Again, this has been spoofed with the
not so brilliant “Idle Hands.”
My personal favorite is the psychological thriller. Hitchcock made these famous by
making the audience imagine a thousand things far worse than what he showed.
“Silence of the Lambs” is about the best example there is of this kind of film. If done
well, the psychological horror film can be more terrifying than any blood and gore
film.
down the toilet and ends up huge and lives in the sewers. You know…monster
movies. (Interestingly enough…“Jurassic Park” is not considered to be a monster
movie…I’ll let you ponder the political ramifications of that one on your own.)
Then you’ve got Zombie movies. “Resident Evil” comes to mind as well as most of
Rob Zombie’s latest creations. However, like vampire movies, the zombie has been
spoofed with “Sean of the Dead,” which will most likely lead to more of the same.
You’ve got the devil idea like “The Exorcist” and the new “Exorcism of Emily Rose” or
“The Devil’s Rejects.” Always a popular choice.
Then there’s the teenybopper college horror mystery like “I Know What You Did Last
Summer” or the latest one, “Cry Wolf.” There are millions of these, generally
featuring ridiculously immature (yet sexually active to the point of promiscuity)
teenagers who don’t wear much clothing and scream a lot. “Valentine” is one of
these as is the entire “Urban Legend” series. Again, this has been spoofed with the
not so brilliant “Idle Hands.”
My personal favorite is the psychological thriller. Hitchcock made these famous by
making the audience imagine a thousand things far worse than what he showed.
“Silence of the Lambs” is about the best example there is of this kind of film. If done
well, the psychological horror film can be more terrifying than any blood and gore
film.
| ABOVE: Godzilla sets Tokyo alight in the original "Godzilla: King of the Monsters." BELOW: Giant crocodiles attack helicopters in "Lake Placid." |
Which brings us to the most common kind of horror film: The horror series.
“Friday the 13th,” “Halloween,” “Child’s Play,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street,”
“Hellraiser,” and of course, “Scream.” I don’t know anyone who hasn’t seen
at least on of these films. These also seem to be on the fritz with the
slightly paradoxical parody of “Scream” being about someone imitating a
horror series and then the real parody “Scary Movie.”
The latest trend in horror is the Japanese invasion. “The Ring” and its
sequel, “The Grudge,” “Dark Water”…all these movies are considered to
be some of the scariest films ever made. Even I, a scary movie
connoisseur, will admit that these movies scare me to the point of leaving
the lights on at night.
Whichever type of horror movie you like, I bet you like one of them. And if
you don’t, it’s because you haven’t fully learned to appreciate fear. After
the incredible high that I described in the first section, there is a period of
relief and bliss. This is when you laugh about how silly you were to be
scared. (Yet, inevitably, it’s very likely that you won’t want to part company
with whomever you saw the film with quickly.)
Is there a lesson here? Yes there is. I’ve never understood the date-night
trend of taking a girl to see a romantic comedy in the hopes of getting her
to want to have sex. You want to know what romantic comedies make girls
want? Romance. Ever wondered why a rom com generally concludes with
a heartfelt talk about feelings and fate and destiny? Think about it. That
kind of movie makes us want movie love. (Generally with whatever actor
played the leading man.)
Next time, take her to a horror flick. Re-read the explanation of what fear
does to your body. What else does that? If I have to explain it to you…I’m
sorry…I have no words of wisdom…I’m just…sorry. Anyway, I guarantee
you’re more likely to have the reaction you’re hoping for. If not, at least it’s
very likely that you’ve seen some really hot young people run around
scantily clad.
“Friday the 13th,” “Halloween,” “Child’s Play,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street,”
“Hellraiser,” and of course, “Scream.” I don’t know anyone who hasn’t seen
at least on of these films. These also seem to be on the fritz with the
slightly paradoxical parody of “Scream” being about someone imitating a
horror series and then the real parody “Scary Movie.”
The latest trend in horror is the Japanese invasion. “The Ring” and its
sequel, “The Grudge,” “Dark Water”…all these movies are considered to
be some of the scariest films ever made. Even I, a scary movie
connoisseur, will admit that these movies scare me to the point of leaving
the lights on at night.
Whichever type of horror movie you like, I bet you like one of them. And if
you don’t, it’s because you haven’t fully learned to appreciate fear. After
the incredible high that I described in the first section, there is a period of
relief and bliss. This is when you laugh about how silly you were to be
scared. (Yet, inevitably, it’s very likely that you won’t want to part company
with whomever you saw the film with quickly.)
Is there a lesson here? Yes there is. I’ve never understood the date-night
trend of taking a girl to see a romantic comedy in the hopes of getting her
to want to have sex. You want to know what romantic comedies make girls
want? Romance. Ever wondered why a rom com generally concludes with
a heartfelt talk about feelings and fate and destiny? Think about it. That
kind of movie makes us want movie love. (Generally with whatever actor
played the leading man.)
Next time, take her to a horror flick. Re-read the explanation of what fear
does to your body. What else does that? If I have to explain it to you…I’m
sorry…I have no words of wisdom…I’m just…sorry. Anyway, I guarantee
you’re more likely to have the reaction you’re hoping for. If not, at least it’s
very likely that you’ve seen some really hot young people run around
scantily clad.
| ABOVE: Anthony Hopkins as cannibal Hannibal Lecter from the now-classic horror film, "Silence of the Lambs." BELOW: Eliza Dushku plays the resident scantily-clad hot chick in peril in the "Deliverance"-style slasher movie, "Wrong Turn." |
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