By Mike Kujak,
It's my first trip to the ocean. Like most, I spend time taking in the calm surface that seems to stretch on forever. I finally decide that it was time to enter the water. My swimsuit on, I go up to my knees in cold salt-water. Normally, I'm the kind of person who jumps into the pool, no slow dipping for me. However this time I kill time just pacing around slowly. Then I turn around and walk back up onto the beach. I've been in the ocean several times yet I've never swam in it. The reason is simple: the majority of shark attacks happen fifteen feet from the beach. I have no idea if that is true but I believe it.
I heard that fact in a little film called Jaws. I believe it because my fear is telling me it's true. It's amazing how film can have that effect on us. I'm normally not someone who lets fear control my life, yet I make an exception here. I also know plenty of people who have no problem swimming in the ocean after seeing the film. This got me to thinking about different variations of fear. What scares you? The real? The unreal? The normal? The paranormal?
I went into Paranormal Activity nervously. Critics and word of mouth had convinced me; this was going to scare the shit out of me. To my surprise, I spent more time laughing at the film then screaming. I look around the theater and everyone is in a trance. No one is talking, just waiting to be scared. The movie succeeds. They scream, and the scream often. I sit there puzzled. It's a door swinging shut. It's a bed sheet blowing in the wind. Who cares?
It occurred to me that the entertainment value of a horror/thriller is completely dependent on the viewer’s personality, beliefs and emotions. As a critic, I can point out all the flaws in character development and crummy dialogue and it doesn't matter. If ghosts scare you, you'll be scared. If they don’t' you won't.
I'm not a religious person. It's no surprise that the afterlife and the evil sides of its nature don't frighten me. I'm also not scared by "pop-out" or "jump" moments because I’ve come to expect them around every corner. The films that get to me are the ones that haunt me long after the viewing. If I can’t sleep the night after the viewing I gently applaud the film as a success.
This leads me to think that the decision to see a horror film should be personal. Watch horror movies and identify what gets to you, and what doesn’t. Then go out and challenge yourself.
It's my first trip to the ocean. Like most, I spend time taking in the calm surface that seems to stretch on forever. I finally decide that it was time to enter the water. My swimsuit on, I go up to my knees in cold salt-water. Normally, I'm the kind of person who jumps into the pool, no slow dipping for me. However this time I kill time just pacing around slowly. Then I turn around and walk back up onto the beach. I've been in the ocean several times yet I've never swam in it. The reason is simple: the majority of shark attacks happen fifteen feet from the beach. I have no idea if that is true but I believe it.
I heard that fact in a little film called Jaws. I believe it because my fear is telling me it's true. It's amazing how film can have that effect on us. I'm normally not someone who lets fear control my life, yet I make an exception here. I also know plenty of people who have no problem swimming in the ocean after seeing the film. This got me to thinking about different variations of fear. What scares you? The real? The unreal? The normal? The paranormal?
I went into Paranormal Activity nervously. Critics and word of mouth had convinced me; this was going to scare the shit out of me. To my surprise, I spent more time laughing at the film then screaming. I look around the theater and everyone is in a trance. No one is talking, just waiting to be scared. The movie succeeds. They scream, and the scream often. I sit there puzzled. It's a door swinging shut. It's a bed sheet blowing in the wind. Who cares?
It occurred to me that the entertainment value of a horror/thriller is completely dependent on the viewer’s personality, beliefs and emotions. As a critic, I can point out all the flaws in character development and crummy dialogue and it doesn't matter. If ghosts scare you, you'll be scared. If they don’t' you won't.
I'm not a religious person. It's no surprise that the afterlife and the evil sides of its nature don't frighten me. I'm also not scared by "pop-out" or "jump" moments because I’ve come to expect them around every corner. The films that get to me are the ones that haunt me long after the viewing. If I can’t sleep the night after the viewing I gently applaud the film as a success.
This leads me to think that the decision to see a horror film should be personal. Watch horror movies and identify what gets to you, and what doesn’t. Then go out and challenge yourself.
Jaws isn’t about a big shark eating people. It’s about the idea that sometimes there is a shark hunter, a shark expert and guy afraid of the water and sometimes the guy afraid of the water is the guy who has to kill that shark. It’s about facing your fear and accepting responsibility.
So watch the films that scare you. Face the shark. Jump in the water.
