Horror Movies: Have They Lost Their Effectiveness For Me?

When I was a teenager and on into my 20s, I used to love watching horror movies.  I was talking to a friend recently, and I mentioned that as much as I loved those movies then, they just don't hold the appeal to me that they used to.  I still enjoy a good scary flick when the itch hits, but not like before.  It was a bit of a depressing thought, because for me it was yet another sign of growing up.  As if having a wife and kids wasn't enough of an indicator, but for some reason I can flow with that.  The changing of ones tastes hits a little harder.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that back then, horror movies were a good bit of catharsis.  Like riding a roller coaster, you can release nervous fear in a non threatening way.  The jumps were good and I always enjoyed the thrill of watching a character I could relate to put into horrifying circumstances, going through hell and coming out on the other side (for the most part) victorious.  As a teenager, I got a rush out of it.

Now as a dude in my 30s, horror has different meaning.  It's no longer about being scared of things that go bump in the night.  Now I have kids.  Fear is not the bogeyman coming to get you, its about "what if my 1 year old sticks a pair of scissors up his nose?  Because that's the kind of thing that little madman would do!"  There's still a bit of fear of the bogeyman, but as an adult, you know it's fantasy.  And the reality of how the heck will I be able to provide for my kids hits a little harder than Michael Myers slicing and dicing moronic teenagers.

Quit Staring!

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy a good horror flick, but it's hard for me to sit and watch any generic slice and dice anymore.  The wife and I currently enjoyed the two Paranormal Activity movies and found them suitably creepy.  But I've not seen any of the newest installments of the Halloween or Scream franchises and back in the 90s that just wouldn't have happened.  Opening night, baby!  Now: maybe Redbox.  Or Netflix Streaming if I can't jump on the Redbox.

I still enjoy them, though.  The original Halloween doesn't creep me out like it used to, but I still enjoy watching it nonetheless.  Carpenter's atmospheric direction and the great Donald Pleasance as Dr. Loomis still hold up and bear repeat viewings.  Just give me good atmosphere and characters and I'll be all about your movie, horror or not.

Still Number One, Baby.

Now it's October, Halloween time, time of horror movies.  I might have to track down a couple of scary flicks to watch this month.  Maybe I'll even take a crack at the Halloween remake, just to see if I can punish myself that harshly.

I kind of miss the horror and scary things in my life being the harmless make believe stuff.