English 112
Genre Essay
December 2, 2011
Twisted Movies for Twisted Minds
The dead rise. Demonic possession occurs. Mutated animals go on a killing spree. Serial killers help detectives apprehend other serial killers. People saw their own legs off. Chainsaws roar to life making bodily dismemberment a breeze. Do these things sound familiar? They are staples for horror aficionados. The appeal of horror movies --- and lack of --- is due to various reasons: gender, age, personalities, upbringing, and good old curiousity to name several. Are these movies made by agents of Hell to instill evil unto the earth? I certainly hope so.
In 1895, American inventor Thomas Edison produced a seventeen second short film titled The Execution of Mary Stuart (archive.org), which depicts a woman being beheaded. Many consider this to be the first horror film ever made --- and it was made by an American icon. Horror movies have progressed into vile, filthy, rotting hunks of maggot-filled flesh and the boundaries are limited only by what the mind can conceive.
When I was a ten year old kid, nothing revved me up more than watching Jason Voorhees --- from the Friday the 13th movies of course --- poke, hack, slash, and rip his way through naked partying teenagers. Those of us that were lucky enough to have parents that would let a ten year old boy watch such a movie, were hoping for --- a new and inventive kill, a shot of some boobs, and plenty of bloody entrails. Forbidden things have appealed to people since the dawn of man, and horror contains many forbidden fruits.
The viewing of horror is dominated by the male population. For example, on imdb.com(The Internet Movie Database), The Exorcist has 113,000 combined male and female votes. Of those 113,000 votes, only 17,000 votes are comprised of the female population(imdb.com). Nudity is exploited in every other horror film one sees, though this exploitation typically involves female anatomy --- minus the occasional severed *****. Male nudity in horror would most certainly generate more female viewers, but for my sake, I hope they stick with the sex opposite me.
I wouldn't think many senior citizens appreciate the horror industry, nor do I expect them to, as this demographic grew up watching Gone With The Wind and episodes of Gunsmoke. Not to say that there aren't eldery people who appreciate horror --- there just aren't that many of them. Some of the most respected horror directors are in the senior citizen age group such as: William Friedkin (The Exorcist) 76 years of age; Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) 72 years of age; Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) 68 years of age. Horror movies began pushing the limits of what was acceptable with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho(1960) with the then notorious "shower scene". The Psycho shower scene is considered tame compared to horror movies released today. In short, what people watch today is far more brutal than horror of the 60's and 70's which may contribute to a generation that appreciates horror when we reach those years consisting of prostate exams and painful urination---The Golden Years.
Religion has a strong presence in many horror films such as Rosemary's Baby, Hellraiser, and Children of the Corn. As I grew out of my teenage years, I began to notice that I preferred more serious horror films over the hack and slash films I watched as a kid. People who attend church regularly and read The Bible on a daily basis would more than likely not embrace the horror genre and probably despise it. The next time a Jehova's Witness comes knocking at my door, I'm going to answer the door in a t-shirt that says "Will Buy Drinks For Sex" and ask, "What's grosser than ten babies in one trashcan?" (One baby in ten trashcans.) That should send the Bible-toter packing. The abnormal and forbidden piques interest in some. It repulses others --- but not me. I tend to embrace the strange and unusual.
I'm not sure if there is one good reason as to why people like or dislike horror movies, but people can't help but stare at the mangled body laying on the road at the scene of a car accident, or watching the lion-tamer getting mauled by his pet. When I get too old to enjoy a good-ole decapitation, or a spine being removed by hand, then I think it's time for my own reality horror show with me as the victim.
