Many celebrations come with the Halloween season. From trick-or-treating to costume parties, people love to be festive for the spooky season, but one of the most popular celebrations is staying in to watch classic horror movies.
Many classic horror movies are slasher movies from the 70s to the 90s- including iconic films like Halloween, Scream, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street. These films have garnered massive fanbases and popularity year after year, being some of the most lucrative franchises in popular culture. Between selling merchandise, costumes, and just love of the movies themselves, it is clear that horror movies have cemented themselves in Halloween tradition forever.
However, some movie buffs do not understand the widespread popularity of these films. Instead of thinking about them as pillars of popular culture, they question the objective quality of slashers, whether that stems from either their age or the lack of substance in the plot.
“[I think] they’re just sick of the classic formula of someone with a knife chasing someone in distress- maybe they’re just looking for something new,” said OH film teacher Amy Severinski.
Other people just flat out don’t enjoy being scared, but even then there are things that can still make the movie entertaining to watch.
“It’s the adrenaline [[…]] if you’re not gonna get scared by the actual scare part then the adrenaline is what gets you,” said OH junior Charlie Stiefken.
A big part of watching horror movies is the event of it, whether you are watching with friends or by yourself at home, there is a level of excitement that comes with watching those classic horror movies.
“I love to watch horror movies because it is something new outside of my usual genre I watch year round and I like the suspense that comes with them. I like to watch with friends so we experience the same events for the first time together—plot twists, jump scares, etcetera,” said senior Gabi Concepcion.
Many horror movies that are highly regarded are hailed as objective gems. Between cinematography and clever screenplays, quite a few more modern films gain popularity for being “good”. Students tend to seek out films like Midsommar, or the recent release Longlegs because they have these impressive qualities above, so why do people continue to watch older horror films if they are objectively worse?
“For all the years I have taught, students still talk about the older movies- especially with horror being their favorites,” said Severinski.
The nice thing as well about “bad” horror movies, like Halloween or Friday the 13th, is that for people who may not enjoy the realistic gore of “good” horror, the lacking special effects of these older films can provide some humor rather than scares.
“Seeing a ‘bad’ movie can add some humor between your friends or family while both experiencing bad cinema,” said Concepcion.
Even though people may not like to watch these types of films all year round, Halloween is the perfect time to do it. So even if psychological scares or lackluster visual effects aren’t your thing, there is still a lot to be enjoyed about these movies- especially this time of year.
“I think people like them for the same reason as Christmas [movies]. It’s a special event that in most people’s minds you only watch ‘this time of year’ and it creates a fun tradition,” said Concepcion.
I am a senior at OH and so excited to be a Managing and Opinions Section Editor this year! I love working on 42Fifty, but I am also very involved in band and numerous honor societies here. Looking forward to doing great work this year!
