HOLLYWOOD BREAKDOWN: Halloween Fear

For over a century, movie goers have plopped down coin, walked into the dark, sat down and waited, waited to be frightened.  Think about that for a second. We are using our hard earned bucks to get ourselves terrified. And if we're not scared enough, we feel gypped. A rationale human being would question their sanity, and that's just the point. Purposeful fear is not rationale and, not what one would consider normal behavior.

Why then?

Being scared harkens to our primitive past, back to a time when we had plenty to fear. Many things were unknown, and many things did more than go bump in the night. Our fragile lives were seemingly more fragile then. These days our cocooned,  contained society represses our deepest fears. These fears are the basis for horror films. A psychologist could explain it more deftly than I could. They would tell us why we harbor these fears. Why we need a coping mechanisms. Why we need outlets and how films satisfy these urges. All I understand is we crave a good fright.

 Ah, but there's a catch.

We’ll only do it if we know exactly where we are and when it will be over. We don’t want unrelenting fear. Our fear must be controlled. We’re in a seat, in a movie theater, and it will all be over in 90 minutes. We can test ourselves, show how brave we are, let our primitive scream have a few moments in the dark and maybe grab a squeeze from our date. However, in a few hours, we’re home safe. Unrelenting, real fear is not on the agenda. Our fear is at a safe, comfortable distance preferably with a 46 ounce popcorn, a soda the size of Rhode Island and enough Sno-Caps to spark a diabetic reaction.

Here is something I have come to believe. What scares us at the movies, reflects our societal fears

In the 1930s, we feared science (“Frankenstein”), our animal nature (“The Wolfman”), and repressed sexuality (“Dracula”).

The 1950's horror/sci-fi films had mutated beasts and nefarious aliens. We feared atomic annihilation and conformity.

The slasher films of the 70s and 80s reflected a desensitized world made palpable by graphic mutilation and death.

When we look at horror films, we are catching snapshots of cultural fears. Ask yourself, why do I like them? Are they telling me something about my own fears? The answer is undoubtedly yes.

For me, it’s zombie films. Zombies are emblematic of millennial world. As so humorously put in ‘Shaun of the Dead’, many people are already zombies. They are the undead. Friends and coworkers are stumbling through life with vacant eyes in dead end jobs and finding no satisfaction. They are zombies.

And zombies get a virus, a blood infection.  Like some rampaging bird flu or ebola or AIDS, it is indiscriminate and often fatal. You get infected and you're changed. You are no longer in the living world.

So this Halloween, what horror film will turn you on? Care to share it with us?  Remember, what ever it is, it’s a reflection of your fear. Now that’s scary.

 
Garen has been sitting in the dark for over 30 years as an film exhibitor, consultant and reviewer. You may have seen him on NE Cable or some other Boston station.  More likely you heard him pontificating about films on NPR, TKK, RKO, New Hampshire Public Radio, or any number of other stations he's been on, but one thing is certain, he loves, and knows, film.