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Horror movies: Good for the soul?
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Where's the popcorn?
Have you ever watched The Shining and imagined yourself in that same creepy hotel, wandering the ghostly halls with Jack? While watching A Nightmare on Elm Street, did you find yourself rooting for the main character to figure out how to kill Freddy…and then found yourself utterly frustrated and yet excited that he wasn’t actually dead, nor would he be…like ever?
How about Dawn of the Dead? The modern version has a humorous twist and is filled with menacing zombies, gruesome attacks, and a group of likeable survivors in a mall. If you’ve seen the movie, you might have imagined you were one of those survivors, and you might have criticized or praised some of their actions because it is or isn’t what you would have done, not that you’d actually have to face those decisions in real life because zombies are never going to take over the world…or are they?
Movies like these and others can provide not only the typical excitement for the viewer, but also a sense of euphoria. You watch the characters with hope as they try to figure out how to survive. You are empowered as you imagine it’s you in the movie, running and swearing and finding weapons to defend yourself from ferocious creatures and murderous villains.
Watching horror movies could even be called a form of cinema therapy. Granted, we may not learn some deep life lesson from watching Hostel, except of course that you should not travel to a foreign country and go wandering off by yourself. Duh. However, we might be able to learn a little about ourselves based on how we respond to characters and scenes. And lest we not forget the power of being thoroughly entertained through suspense, fear, and sometimes even laughter. This is all good for the soul, is it not?
Within the confines of our daily lives, we are subjected to routines, stress, and various responsibilities. Sitting on the couch under a warm blanket and popping in a horror movie replete with bloody goodness can give us some overdue satisfaction, and even release a bit of our tension, anger, or frustrations.
Any horror flick will do—The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Saw, Rawhead Rex (an oldie, but goodie), An American Werewolf in London, or even a cheesy made-for-SyFy movie. If you’re not too squeamish or emotionally sensitive, you just might experience a bit of enlightenment as you watch in amazement, the horrific spectacle, and thank God it isn’t you. But if it is you, you’d certainly be one of the survivors because that’s who you see yourself as being, and that in itself is yummy, delicious soul food.
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