I am a pretty big fan of a good movie. Good, being the key word in that phrase. I like a wide variety of genres too. Probably the only ones I don’t care for are the very gross and graphic slasher chainsaw slice and dice movies. You’ve seen one person cut in half… well.. you’ve seen enough…. in my estimation.
But a scary movie? Yep. I’m in. I didn’t used to be this way. But as of late, I like a good chiller.
You see…. it didn’t take long after the whole movement of motion picture technology started…. for filmmakers to start making things scary. Late in the 19th century…. a really good French director …. named Georges Méliès’ came up with the very first one. It was the 1896 short The House of the Devil.
From there… America was home to the first Frankenstein and Jekyll and Hyde movie adaptations. But the early goings of the scariness came from Germany with films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu. It was these that influenced the most of American cinema.
And early on…. one of my favorites….. Actor Lon Chaney…. pretty much singlehandedly kept American horror afloat, with The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera and The Monster, and so many, many more throughout the 30s
So. That’s the history of it.
These days.. I like the ones about ghosts and the supernatural. They scare the spit right out of me. It is… ONCE AGAIN…. the whole “deal” I have with not knowing the unknown.
I am trying to watch The Conjuring. But it has taken me 4 days… in little bits. It is kind of like eating jalapeños or hot sauce. It feels both good and bad at the same exact time. And you can only tolerate it in small doses.
And when I’m watching a scary movie… I get really involved. I don’t yell at the screen when I watch a comedy. No need… really. But a frightener? I will yell…. “What the heck are you splitting up for? Why do you people ALWAYS say ‘Let’s split up.’???” It all goes terribly wrong from that point on.
Annnnnddd…. they always walk around in the dark with just a flashlight, or a candle, or a match. Turn on the lights for crying out loud.
So… with all of that said… I think we can learn a life lesson or two from the scary movie.
1. Always Stick Together
And…
2. Always Walk in the Light.