Do You Like Scary Movies?

It's a cold October night, but this is no horror story.  It is a story of a group of people preparing themselves for a night of scintillating scares at the multiplex.  It's the opening night of "Paranormal Activity 2," the sequel to last year's low-budget horror hit that many were calling the scariest movie to haunt people in years, and had people questioning the creaks and sounds in their own homes.   

There were no seats left if you just showed up to see the movie on a whim.  On this night the anticipation was so great that everyone had to order their tickets ahead of time.  There's a sudden hush as the first frame falls across the screen and the audience braces themselves for an hour and a half of terror.  The irony is that everyone there has paid for the chance to have their pulses raced and their psyches and their sanity questioned.

That night, "Paranormal Activity 2" set the record for most tickets sold for an R-rated midnight showing, and it's only gotten bigger.  In less than two weeks, the film has made over $100 million, and the only film to beat it at the box office this past weekend was "Saw 3D," which drew $22.5 million.  There's no doubt that people's desire to scream turns into dollar signs.

"It is a safe way to get an adrenaline rush," says Brianna Moseman.  "The feeling you get when adrenaline is rushing through your body is one of the most exciting feelings you can get."

Moseman, a junior at Northwest, has been making movies since she was in middle school.  When she came to Northwest, she took an interest in making horror films as she learned how to do the makeup necessary for "blood and gore" in horror movies.  She too went to the opening night of "Paranormal Activity 2" for her adrenaline rush.

"My favorite thing to do is to make horror films," Moseman said, with an excited smile. "Because I love all the effects that can go into it."

Moseman thinks that going to a horror movie is basically the safest way to get this adrenaline rush.  She claims that there are lots of ways to get this such as roller coasters and even sex, but that you're safe in a movie, and that nothing bad can happen to you in a movie.

A way to live through people is another reason horror movies are popular, Moseman thinks.  She points to the way we recognize with the characters in the movies and how we can put ourselves in that situation in a safe way.  She also thinks that a tendency to watch harm on others is a part of human nature, and horror films feed into that.

"Since the dawn of time, we've seen other people get hurt, and we've hurt other people," Moseman said.  "I think a lot of people find it fun to watch bad things happen to not them, and again, horror movies are a safe way to do that."

Dr. Alisha Francis, a professor at Northwest, teaches a Psychology in Film course which teaches students examples of general psychology in a range of movies from popular to more obscure.  She says what it comes down to is people when they see horror films, they want to just purely be entertained by unattainable plots.

"My husband is a very big fan of the horror genre," Francis said.

"One thought is that a lot of them require a suspension of disbelief.  They really do require you to say ‘OK I'm going to turn off this part of my brain now, and let it be thrilled.'"

While the horror movie industry pulls in hundreds of millions of dollars every year, it still becomes a touchy subject with some people.  In a country that is obsessed with violence, there has to be concern about what effect these movies are having on the psyches of people.  Francis thinks that while movies may not help a person who is already having problems, it's not the root cause, and that every person is affected differently.

"My thought would be that a symptom would be associated with something else," Francis said.  "So we kind of need to know the bigger patterns of behavior."

Moseman thinks that the violence of horror movies certainly impacts our culture, but not necessarily in a negative way.

"Michael Myers, a guy running around in a Halloween mask killing people could feasibly happen," Moseman said, speaking about the 1978 horror classic, "Halloween."  "So a movie like that kind of reminds you, ‘that could actually happen, I need to remember to be careful.'  It doesn't always have to be a negative thing which I think a lot of people try to make it out to be."

While the violence of horror movies may be too much for some, Moseman thinks that not enough attention is paid to the positive influences of horror movies, as hard as they may be to find, that are still there.

"Honestly, horror movies try to promote the hero defeating the big bad, or die trying," Moseman said. "So when you look at it that way, it can actually be a positive."