It doesn’t get any better than a Flick Friday on Halloween…unless you don’t like scary movies, I suppose. But if you don’t like scary movies, you’re watching them wrong…or watching the wrong ones.
I know what you’re thinking, what more could she possibly have to say about Halloween movies after last Sunday’s brilliant list of classics?
Plenty.
I once considered myself the kind of person who didn’t like scary movies. I didn’t see the point. Why would anyone choose to frighten themselves like that? I was watching them wrong…and watching the wrong ones.
Good scary movies are just as much (if not more) about making you think as they are about making your scream.
Bad scary movies are just like those movies that are carefully constructed to make you cry, and I don’t like feeling manipulated. They’re emotional affronts to cinema.
The thinking has to have a pay off. I’m not going to spend an hour and a half sitting in the dark, scared out of my wits, trying to riddle out the method behind the madness of this story, only to be handed a vague, “she was possessed by a demon,” explanation. (You know what you did “Paranormal Activity”.)
I need something to work with, or I’m going to be sleeping with the lights on for the next three weeks. I suppose some might consider utter, irrational fear a victory for a scary movie, but I’d like to argue that making your audience think through the fear is a greater service. I can’t do that if I can’t even bring myself to look at the screen.
Still, personal opinions aside, there’s no better night to enjoy a scary movie. So, pick your favorite, find a movie buddy and enjoy. Happy Halloween!
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…bi-daily smile…
Or you can skip the scary altogether: