My Love-Hate Relationship With Horror Movies

Hello! 

Halloween is just around the corner. Time for spooky stories, pumpkins, and… horror movies. 

I’ve seen a fair amount of horror movies with my dad and brother. In the depths of winter, when there’s nothing else to do, it’s kind of fun to get scared. But that’s really all horror movies are made to do. To scare you. To spill the popcorn bowl. And that usually comes with the sacrifice of a good (and sometimes cohesive) story. 

My Dream (But Sadly Nonexistent) Horror Movie

I don’t hate the horror genre. Like I said, it’s fun to get scared every once in a while. Horror movies play with the audience. Sometimes you could be watching a scene, and you know something is going to hop out, but you still have to watch. There’s a level of engagement with horror movies. Yes, we react to movies in other genres, but horror movies take this to a whole new level. 

What I really want is a horror movie that combines the best of both worlds. Something scary, but also has thematic ideas, relatable characters, and a cohesive plot. There’ve been a few movies that check these boxes, but they fall short on either side. For example, A Quiet Place had relatable characters that grew together over the course of the story. There was an interesting world that wasn’t just a haunted house. And you could tell that the movie was about family, which I really liked. I had heard so many good things about this movie, but it wasn’t as scary as I was hoping for. 

But I also haven’t seen a ton of horror movies. Maybe five or ten at the most. So maybe that nonexistent movie is out there, and I just haven’t seen it yet. 

Ridiculously Stupid Protagonists 

There’s a creepy house that has a creepy ghost-thing terrorizing me? That’s fine, I’ll just spend the night there. 

Why. Are. Horror. Characters. So. Stupid?!

I just can’t get over how brainless these characters are! I’d like to imagine that an actual normal human being would have the sense to not do some of these things. Like, “What happened to your brain?!” kind of stupid. 

I definitely wouldn’t willingly spend the night alone in a creepy house while a thunderstorm is happening. Or just wander around said creepy house at night without turning on some lights first. (Really, most events in these movies wouldn’t happen if people just turned on some lights and did things during the day)  

I get so annoyed with these stupid protagonists that I start rooting for the ghosts and demons. At least they have an interesting backstory and brains! 

Clichés

There are so many horror movie cliches. A dead relative. People from the 1800s dying and then becoming ghosts. Ghosts wearing wedding dresses. Death. Betrayal. The list goes on and on and on. 

Some of these cliches work, to my dismay. Creepy jump scares. Ghosts looking through windows. They scare me, and then make me ridiculously mad that I fell for a very predictable scare. 

But I’m sure I would enjoy horror movies more if they weren’t so similar. I want something new and original that still scares me, but not in a “This-has-been-done-a-million-times-but-still- somehow-works” kind of way.  

Closing Doors: Just Common Sense

Back to the stupid characters. I’ve noticed that when a door opens in a movie, and a character walks through it, they don’t close it. So I just sit there, watching the characters get beaten up by a monster, thinking Just close the door! 

Like, there’s rain and lightning outside, it might be a good idea to close the front door. That might help you SuRVIvE. 

But… I Still Like Horror Movies 

Even after all of these things that I hate about horror movies, I still kind of like them. It might be because it’s just fun to get scared every now and then, especially with my brother and dad. Or maybe it’s because the horror genre is so unlike other genres. (What other genre’s main purpose is to scare you?) 

Either way, I’ve decided that I just need to go into a horror movie with the mindset of “This is a horror movie. There will most likely be stupid characters, a predictable plot, and no moral or purpose.” So, ignoring my thoughts of Why, oh why did he do that!?, I can enjoy horror movies. But I’m still looking for a horror movie that combines the best of both worlds, being scary and meaningful at the same time. 

What do you like and not like about horror movies, and the horror genre in general? What are some of your favorite horror movies? Until next time!

-Hannah