Scary and slasher movies have a special place in the hearts of many Americans. People have greatly enjoyed being thrilled and horrified with the scenes and things they see on screen. Unfortunately I am just not one of those people. To me, enjoying a movie really has nothing to do with goriness, shock and awe, and being scared out of my mind. I totally understand the thrill some people do get from it, but personally I just do not see the point. However, I do not base this decision personally on speculation; there are a very select few scary movies that I have seen. The movie that stuck out the most to me was ‘Amityville Horror.’
‘Amityville Horror’ is a ‘true’ story about a family that moves into a house in Amityville that was once thought to be possessed by the devil. In this family the father was extremely possessed and ended up killing the remaining members of his family. The family that is now living there seems to have the same thing happening to them until they eventually escape. This movie was the scariest to me for many reasons. The first reason would definitely be that it took place here on Long Island not to far from where I am from. Since the whole movie is said to be based on a true story I was even more scared. Then I had heard many different stories surrounding the cast and crew of the movie and all of these people had scary encounters with ghosts and spirits and such, so I again was more scared. Finally it came time to actually see the movie in its entirety. I sat down with all my cousins and we put the DVD in. Immediately I could see thrasher and scary elements and everything seemed so real! I was freaked. I tried to be brave and sit through the whole movie but it was hard. People were being attacked, the devil and evil kept coming into play, and the whole ordeal had me covering my eyes every second. I really am not a fan of scary movies and this particular movie did nothing to dispel my qualms.
This is a trailer for the movie which came out in 2005.
Here is a link for a documentary of the original and real "Amityville Horror"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsIE9wrkYFU&feature=related
I believe that James Parker has hit the nail on the head with his theory that slasher films are more popular in certain periods of history than in others. People in times of war and conflict look towards these movies for a certain type of comfort in the knowledge that maybe things can be worse than the situation they are in now, or maybe just that this cheap thrill will take their mind off what is going on outside if only for a little. It is much easier, emotionally, for someone to sit in a movie theater and watch blood and guts pouring out all over the screen than to sit home and watch blood pour from loved ones fighting for our country. I really do think that Parker knew what he was talking about when he published his theory.
So even though these gory, horror filled movies and thrilled and scared audiences for decades, this genre is not for all. Some people, such as myself, are just not made for all this blood and all these guts. Throughout war and peaceful times in history the fascination with scary movies has fluctuated as well. During times of unrest there seems to be a large increase in the popularity of scary movies, while during times of peace the popularity does tend to decrease. Scary movies are a genre that will be around forever, despite critics who don’t believe in them, they have survived for decades and will continue to live on in the future.
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