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AIBU?

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Original poster

to think that people who 'enjoy' horror films are just a little bit fucked up?

237 replies

LastMinuteLouise · 29/12/2011 00:07

Maybe I am just an oversensitive person but I find watching my fellow man being terrified, screaming and then horribly killed, with blood and guts spewing, just a bit offensive! I am aware it is not real (plenty of real stuff in the news which is just as bad) but just having these images in my head upsets me. DH says he just forgets it when it's finished - he's currently watching 'Devil', some fucked up film about a devil in a lift Hmm. Most of the dramas and films these days are about people getting murdered, getting killed or being dead. It is so mainstream.

I mean where do these film makers get these ideas? Surely they should be committed? Are we all supposed to have this 'dark' side that they make into 'art'? Where is the entertainment in having horrifying images in your head?

I remember watching 'Changeling' a few years back thinking it was about a woman who's son disappears and who is then given a 'ringer' back by the police. I was totally unprepared for the scene in which young boys (my DSs age) were shown being axed to death. Fucked me up for months weeks and I was watching it alone. I remember shouting at the screen, please tell me that did'nt happen but apparently it did.

I don't know. Am I abnormal?

OP posts:
notveryinventive · 29/12/2011 21:37

Zombi Im not very good at the films where you have to think. Guess thats why I like all these horror films as they are easy to watch even if I do have to look away at times

ScarletLadyOfTheNight01 · 29/12/2011 21:40

What did you think of Survival notveryinventive? I like the way it links in to Diary. I LOVE Dawn of the Dead (original). I know it's really low-budget and the zombies are blue and weird...but it's just an amazing film in my opinion. Especially for the time. I love how Romero always has quite a deep political message buried under all the cheesy zombies. Land Of The Dead is brilliant as well.

Zombi · 29/12/2011 21:42

All those films mentioned above are ace.

I like most horrors old and new. The old cannibal movies were cheesey as hell and great for a Saturday noght in. Old zombie flicks like Murder At Manchester Morgue crack me right up too.

My original love though has to be Child's Play. That and Poltergeist 2 along with the Nightmare On elm street, Wishmaster, Hellraiser and Friday the 13th films are my favourites from back when. I love that they're all still going!

notveryinventive · 29/12/2011 21:45

It wasnt my favourite. They probably go like this: Night of the living dead first, joint second is land, diary and day then survival then dawn. I just found both Dawns to be slow without much happening when they were in the mall.

I like Night most because when I watched it I was expecting it to be rubbish as it was old and even though at its time it might have been scarey, I didnt expect it to be any good nowadays, but it was.

ScarletLadyOfTheNight01 · 29/12/2011 21:45

Ooooh I agree with ALL your last paragraph. I love the 80s classics.

I have recently discovered that my Nightmare on Elm Street box set (all the films) AND my Hellraiser box set (the first 3) have gone missing from my collection since it was stored at my DH's Mums in her lodger's room...

I am NOT happy about it

Wishmaster is hilarious...

Have you seen the new Halloween films? I love Rob Zombie.

ScarletLadyOfTheNight01 · 29/12/2011 21:47

sorry that was aimed at zombi.

I can see where you're coming from with Dawn, but I love it for some reason. It is pretty slow...but it's just such a classic.

notveryinventive · 29/12/2011 21:47

"Hello my names Chucky and Im your friend to the end"

Really scarey when I first saw it, took me a while to see no3 as it was banned for years, but by that time I was a bit more used to them and less sensitive to it all.

notveryinventive · 29/12/2011 21:51

The films I found scariest at first viewing was The Omen (the original), Childs Play, The Shining, It and one called The Haunted I think (not the Catherine Zeta-Jones or the original, but another one about a family (consisting of DH, DW, and 2 DDs) moving into a haunted house and there was a little flat/smaller house I think joined on where the DH's parents lived. It was made/set in the 70's I think.

ScarletLadyOfTheNight01 · 29/12/2011 21:54

I'm not scared by most horror films really but I did find The Omen scary though...and The Exorcist. They knew how to do suspense better back then.

solidgoldbrass · 29/12/2011 22:09

INteresting to see a couple of people saying how superior Blair Witch is to 'torture porn (which is basically made with ketchup and props, not real dismemberment). Not only is BW boring, clunkily-shot and lazily-plotted, but the film-makers' ethics are pretty questionable. They seem to have been quite proud of the fact that the film was made by psychologically torturing their cast (they sent the cast into the woods with cameras, misled them about where they were going, stole their food, woke them up repeatedly when they were supposed to be 'off-duty' etc.) It left me wondering why they couldn't just have written a decent script and got some actors who could act.
But when it comes to made-up stories causing social harm, religion does far far more damage than any entertainment media.

ledkr · 29/12/2011 22:38

scarlett oh the irony Grin
I like the "of the dead" ones ill look and see what ones ive got.
Anyone tried 30 days of night or is it 40? Anyway i love them,very scary and totally different monsters sort of vombies or zampires.

I am off to the pil tomorrow who hopefully have bought me some books off my xmas list,all zombie ones,J Bourne and Max Brookes.I bet they think im a bit mental Grin
At least we will know what to do when the Zombie Apocolypse happens.

ledkr · 29/12/2011 22:40

Oh yes Hellraisers are brilliant.
I actually did like blair witch though.
Anyone seen wolf creek,not my usual type but i found it very scary.

boglach · 29/12/2011 22:43

Oh i am dead excited to find some fellow non evil geeks.

boglach · 29/12/2011 22:45

I love donnie darko

oh yes pinhead was legend

paranormal activity

boglach · 29/12/2011 22:47

And yes what should i pack in my oh fuck ruck sack?

NotTheBlinkingGruffaloAgain · 29/12/2011 22:51

YANBU I find exactly the same as you there is something very dark and perverse in people that indulge in horrible sights, it must impact their minds and therefore impact society in a negative way.

ledkr · 29/12/2011 22:52

Not blinking You could say the same about wildlife programmes or the news Smile

rasputin · 29/12/2011 23:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SixFeetUnder · 29/12/2011 23:22

I love horror films too but mainly psychological, 'jumpy' ones although have seen all the Saws and Hostel (didn't really enjoy them). Have seen more crap ones than good but I like loads of the ones mentioned above and would also like to add The Mist cos the ending just stayed with me for ages and Rec which is a Spanish zombie type one. Also Gothika but I think that was scary because of the environment I watched it in, I watched it again much later and couldn't figure out why I'd thought it was so scary.

The films which have given me nightmares are Watership Down and one of the Harry Potters (go figure!)

I draw the line at Human Centipede - on that film only will I slightly agree with the OP and say the guy who thought that up must be disturbed, and I only watched the trailer.

NotTheBlinkingGruffaloAgain · 29/12/2011 23:31

ledkr you can't compare people imagining and creating sick and dark scenes for the purpose of entertainment and pleasure to the pre-existing tragedies which occur on the news and in nature, in fact the former makes a mockery of the unfortunate people who are forced to experience the latter.

The news encourages us and gives us the opportunity to extend our compassion and awareness of the sufferings of fellow living beings- viewing such realities has the potential to spur us on to creating a better world by helping in some way or even on a small scale just making a determination not to add to existing sufferings.

On the other hand sick films are used to indulge negative and dark imaginings I don't see where the benefit is in that??

solidgoldbrass · 29/12/2011 23:57

Now you see I mistrust people who are in a hurry to blame social ills on horror films/rock music/goths/computer games. I think such people are hard of thinking, unimaginative and not much fun to hang out with.

NotTheBlinkingGruffaloAgain · 30/12/2011 00:03

I think that people who seek pleasure in violence, negativity and darkness have never yet had to experience such things and will be far more humble when life throws them a curve ball.
I also think that weak -minded people will always fail to question/challenge the current horrors in our society, until something lands on their own door step.

JustRedbin · 30/12/2011 00:10

Horror stories are not exactly new - try reading the old testament.

TotemPole · 30/12/2011 00:17

ledkr, 30 Days of Night is an excellent film.

Stakeland is now on my 'to watch' list.

Moominsarescary · 30/12/2011 00:43

I'm watching land of the dead now, used to watch crypt of the living dead, island of the living dead and all the others with my mum years ago.

I like the hills have eyes too

for some reason jeepers creepers freaks me out though