Throughout the year horror movies try their best at scaring their viewers. Some of the more recent horror movies of the 2012 year include Sinister, The House at the End of the Street, Chernobyl Diaries, Prometheus, The Woman in Black, The Devil Inside, and The Apparition. According to CNN, horror movies can receive up to $80 million in box office.
Sophomore Brandon Prashan wanted to see the movie Sinister because, “The story behind it looks like it’s going to be really good. It doesn’t look like are really fake movie.” Prashan believed what makes a bad horror film is “when the movie is just all about murders or gore. A good horror movie to me has a good story or point.”
Sinister is about footage that was found by a novelist to make him realize what happened at his house, and how finding these discoveries can put him and his family at risk.
Every person has their own opinion when it comes to what makes a good horror movie and each movie has a different plot line to suit those needs. Some like Prashan enjoy a good story line, while others prefer more gore in their movies. Paranormal Activity 3 and Insidious were the top two grossing horror movies in 2011 according to box office
Sophomore Tori Stratis believed a horror movie is good when, “Lots of people have to die, it should be unpredictable with a lot of twists, and preferable with lots of blood.” One movie that lived up to this expectation was The Strangers. “Its super creepy and you really don’t know what’s going to happen. [The story was] totally twisted and you never really know who the killers in the movie are […] and it ends without answering my questions; it’s great.”
While new horror movies are being made every year, there are some classics that people can’t forget. Most of these movies have been remade with better effects. These effects can include: IGEBA (fog machine), CG (computer graphics), etc. Some students would rather watch a classic than a remake.
Stratis commented, “The Shining was originally a book written by Stephen King, who is a well-known horror novelist. Nightmare on Elm Street is intense and it has a good story line to it and Freddy Krueger is such a good protagonist. The Exorcist is just twisted.”
The Shining was about a family staying at a vacant hotel and an evil presence influences the father into violence. Nightmare on Elm Street is about Krueger killing kids in their dreams and how they try to defeat him. The Exorcist is about a little girl being possessed by the devil and how a priest tries to rid the demon form inside her.
On the other hand, the effects are what make a movie good to some students. Over the years, the effects have improved substantially due to advanced technology.
Junior Caleb Gardner believed, “One of the things which make a good horror movie is if you can picture what is happening […] in reality because people aren’t afraid of things they know are completely fake. If you throw in the perception that what’s happening could happen to you, [you] tend to feel chills in your spine.”
Whether a horror movie is a classic or so real that it feels like it’s actually happening, they all have one purpose and that is to scare its viewers.