Topic: Does Horror Really Scare You?

[addicted2dvd]

Well, it is October. The month that is filled with horror for a lot of us movie fans. So I was just wondering do you usually get scared when watching horror? See... I don't get scared. Not at all. I haven't since I was a kid (pre-teen). And I always found it strange when someone says a movie scared them. But then again... I could possibly be the strange one! 

The last time I remember actually being scared was the first time I ever saw the film "The Exorcist" back in the late '70s early '80s. I don't know... I think I just came to the realization that anything I see in a movie is fake so why be scared of that?

Don't get me wrong...I can enjoy great (even good) storytelling. Horror is my all-time favorite genre. I just don't get scared by watching it. Sure I will jump at unexpected jump scenes... but no more then that. No feeling of fear from a story or anything like that.

So you tell me. Am I the strange one here? (probably!)

[Tom]

No, never. Not even as a kid. Maybe this is why I don't really see the appeal in the genre. When growing up, I heard others saying they got nightmares seeing specific movies. I never did. I enjoy some horror comedies though. But more because of the comedy than the horror.

[addicted2dvd]

Thankfully I can still more then enjoy the genre. I don't know... maybe it is because it used to scare me when I was a kid. But I also started watching horror very young. Some people say too young. But my mother allowed that. She just made sure I understood nothing I was watching was real.

[samuelrichardscott]

I think a lot of people have become desensitised to actual gruesome scenes and most will not be scared, but a good horror movie will still give me that chill down my spine or make me cringe.

[DJ Doena]

I remember having a certain fear of clowns in my childhood (there are some nightmares I vaguely remember). That was before I ever saw a horror movie.

But because of that I was never really fond of It. That guy just creeps me out.

Everything else is just a story on a screen, nothing more.

But in general, horror is not my genre, I find these movies often rather boring.

[Jimmy]

Of course not, so Pete you aren't strange

But a good one can made me jumpy and nervous wich is better than anything. Even at my age some film can give me a night of nightmare, sure I know they are only movie but I don't control my subconscious mind

But I'm "scared" if we talk of movie that could happen in real life.

So I'm in the yes and no category

[Kathy]

Horror films are my least favorite genre and don't scare me at all. A lot of them are boring, make me roll my eyes or just make me laugh.

There are a few movies though that will make me jump or leave me with lingering feelings long after the movie has ended.

Jaws is one movie that comes to mind. Although I haven't seen the movies in many years - I can still hear John Williams music in my head and feel the sharks impending arrival.

[Piffi]

I dont get scared often by horror movies. But if its based on a true story
i can be scared. 

[W0m6at]

I like to be scared by a (horror) movie. The Descent did it well. Paranormal Activity had me tense, until I realised I was simply anticipating something happening. Once I stopped doing that, it became one of the dullest movies I've ever watched.

[Dragonfire]

I don't know that I've ever been really scared by a movie.  Freaked out a bit?  Yes.  Full on scared?  Not so much that I remember.  A little scared?  I'd say yes to that.  I have jumped when watching different movies.  I think the ones that have scared me have been ones that were done in a way that seemed more realistic.  Not over the top, full on gore stuff.  I've seen some of those types of movies and managed to enjoy them - Nightmare on Elm Street and the some of the slasher type - but they haven't scared me as much.  The original Halloween scared me more because Michael isn't some monster..he's a real person who just flipped out in a big way and went on a killing spree - never mind the later movies when he just wouldn't die.  That can really happen. 

I don't like some of the newer horror...the torture crap like the Saw movies and Hostel.  I saw most of Saw on television a few years ago - an edited version.  A friend mostly pushed me to watch it, claiming it was so good.  I hadn't been interested in seeing it.  Well.  No.  I hated it.  It didn't scare me, but it is one of the only movies to give me bad dreams. 

[Jimmy]

The original Halloween scared me more because Michael isn't some monster..he's a real person who just flipped out in a big way and went on a killing spree - never mind the later movies when he just wouldn't die.

I think exactly the same thing with the Friday the 13th movies. The second one is great because he act like a normal person, as normal as a person who had lived most of his life hidden in the woods can be of course... Steve Dash who is the stunt man playing him is the best guy who have played his part, when he is hit you feel that he is hurt.

[Dragonfire]

The original Halloween scared me more because Michael isn't some monster..he's a real person who just flipped out in a big way and went on a killing spree - never mind the later movies when he just wouldn't die.

I think exactly the same thing with the Friday the 13th movies. The second one is great because he act like a normal person, as normal as a person who had lived most of his life hidden in the woods can be of course... Steve Dash who is the stunt man playing him is the best guy who have played his part, when he is hit you feel that he is hurt.

I know what you mean.  I know I've seen some of the Friday the 13th movies..I think I saw the second one..it was more effective from what I remember than the later ones when he was some sort of...hmm..well...whatever the hell he was that wouldn't die. 

[Najemikon]

Pete, you aren't unusual in this at all. The joke is, most horror fans are not remotely scared of them and it becomes edgy entertainment.

Standard cinema goers are different and can be regularly scared by occasional mainstream horror. But what are we talking about? Jumps and shocks during the film, or still shivering the next day? I see most tricks coming these days, so I prefer the premise and story as a whole to hold some substantial dread.

I'd still love to find the film that could get to me properly! But I don't think it exists. Closest would be The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (specifically the very last moments), The Exorcist (again, it's the core of the story) and Taxi Driver, simply because it's so feasible.

So I'll tell you how screwed up I am... I enjoy nightmares! I've had one, maybe two, proper, wake up sweating, nightmares. And my first reaction after calming down was, "that was cool! Again!". 

[Achim]

I actually find it unfortunate that I don't get scared by horror films anymore (my favorite genre as well), since I started to get into it when I realized as a kid how amazing it is that those moving images could do that. While as a kid we are easily impressed by a TV screen, nowadays only few movies scare me and that only when seen at the cinema. Last one to do so properly was Neil Marshal's The Descent.

Having read Famoria for a long time, watched countless making of featurettes and an assortment of books about the topic I am now just too prepared about what goes on on the screen. Of course, seeing the stuff  in the comfort of my living room makes it a much more relaxed experience as well. Even jump scares I mostly see coming ahead of time, just seen to many of them to not see the sign of one coming up.

And if nightmares/dreams are a measure how a film stays with you, I have two memories about this (although you will see I had dreams without actually seeing the related films ):
- I dreamt about King Kong before I had seen it, based on that poster where you see him towering over the Empire State Building with his arms raised, totally out of proportion. When I told friends I had dreamt of a 20m tall mini-king Kong they laughed at me! (I was
- a friend told me the plot of Dawn of the Dead just after it had come out on video in Germany, I was around 13, I'd say; I had no clue what a zombie movie was... Shortly after I dreamt of being trapped in mall like building hunting down those zombies with friends. What a great dream!

[lovemunkey187]

The only ones I can think of that comes remotely close to scaring me was the first time I watched Ringu.
I had recorded (on vhs no less) it one night, I knew nothing about it - any talk or hype seemed to have passed me by, so anyway I was home alone one Sunday morning and decided to watch this Japenese film.
I have to admit that there were a couple of times I caught myself looking over my shoulder and wishing that I wasn't home alone.
Subsequent viewings haven't had the same effect, unfortunately.

Also The Grudge. Yes, the American remake of Ju-on.
I think this had more of an effect than the original, because I could sympathise with being in a foreign country and being unable to speak the language, that feeling of isolation.

As far as I am concerned the two scariest films I have ever seen are Deliverance(this has stuck with me after nearly 30 years of my first encounter with it) and Arlington Road, which is just terrifying.