When you consider yourself a movie buff you’re frequently asked the question what film made you fall in love with movies. The typical response tends to be such classics as The Godfather or Citizen Kane or other films that have become ingrained in our brains as true cinematic juggernauts. Let me say these films are exceptional and have left their mark but I remember one distinct moment being asked that question and when I responded with Halloween, I received the blankest of stares. That stare was followed by the response, “a horror movie made you fall in love with movies? You know that genre gets no respect in the industry right?” This attitude has put a bit of a scarlet letter on the horror genre but there is a level of underappreciated creativity in these films that don’t allow them to get the respect they deserve.
I was 8 the first time I saw Halloween. It would be an understatement to say it scared me senseless but mixed in with this fear was a sense of I would like to create something one day that generates that kind of emotion. The funny thing is I couldn’t tell my mom how the film affected me in both ways because I wasn’t supposed to watch it. We had an old VHS copy that my dad left behind and I knew where it was hidden. My mom went out of town for the weekend and my older cousin was put in charge to watch me and it didn’t take much convincing to find the tape and pop it in. He had a good time scaring me with it but it was also funny to see that he was also uneasy watching it. I had never watched a movie before that got that kind of reaction out of anyone.
If I couldn’t share it with my mom that this film terrified and inspired me, I could certainly share it with my friends. We never really discussed horror films. It was all about films like The Goonies or Hook or the Disney film of the moment that dominated most of our conversations. The day I shared with friends I had seen Halloween I was surprised to find out that many of them had already seen it and also had the very same reaction I had to it. The big moment from the discussion was them telling me about other horror films I had to see. I’ll be honest, a lot of them wouldn’t completely measure up to Halloween for me, but it would start a crash course in Horror 101 for me.
A Nightmare on Elm Street was up next and it was a different kind of fear but still exhilarating. Halloween made me afraid that someone could easily stalk me outside my home. A Nightmare on Elm Street made me afraid to fall asleep. There is a power in that kind of filmmaking. To make someone afraid to perform an everyday action that is so common is proof that your film has left its terrifying mark.
In the years that followed, I discovered other classics like The Exorcist, Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Hellraiser. Each film so very different in their approach to horror. I learned that horror had different sub-genres and that not all of them had to be pinnacles of cinema to be enjoyable.
Halloween essentially created the slasher film that would dominate the sub-genre during the 80’s but while Halloween was also a great film, the clones didn’t quite equal its quality. That doesn’t mean that these films couldn’t be fun. Friday the 13th is considered a classic for many but not in the same league of Halloween. It’s a by the numbers slasher film but it’s also a breakthrough for gore effects and a prime example of shutting your brain off at the door and just enjoying it for what it is.
Films like Prom Night, Terror Train, The Burning, and The Prowler fall into this mold. They may not be great films but they make an impact on some level because there are shades of the better films that inspired them in their DNA. Even Halloween II, which takes place on the same night as Halloween but was released three years later, has more in common with Friday the 13th than the film that spawned it. Less suspense and character development, but more gore and ample flesh. Like any genre, you separate the good, from the bad, from the so bad it’s good.
Then there are those films that frighten you on another level. Movies like The Exorcist or The Omen toyed with things I didn’t have a full grasp on when I was younger. Religion and demonic possession being used as tools for horror were intriguing to me, even at a young age. I had this feeling that I was watching something that was going well beyond a typical fright flick. These films had deeper meanings and they made you question what you believe. It was through films like these that I realized movies could make you question all the things you have come to know up to this point. This is another power in the genre that I first discovered in horror and would find in other genres from comedy to drama.
Despite my love for these films, none of them felt like my own. I couldn’t tell the story about how I experienced The Exorcist on the big screen (although my mom has a fun story about her seeing it on opening night). By the time I found these films they were all on VHS and while it’s fun to see them that way, there’s something about it that makes you know these aren’t your generation of films. You didn’t discover them with people your age. These are films that came before you and are being handed down for your enjoyment.
Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson changed all of that for me in 1996 with Scream. I didn’t see it in theaters but as soon as it hit home video my friends and I had to see it. From the now iconic opening scene with Drew Barrymore to its whip-smart take on the horror genre and those who love it, we felt like this was OUR generation’s horror film. We all thought we were so cool and self-aware back then and that the film made it ok to be that way. It didn’t talk down to the audience. It had respect for people who grew up on this genre and it celebrated it while also being a scary film in its own right. This film made me realize horror films could be funny and clever. It really set the tone for crafting my style as a writer. It inspired me to be authentic and to write from a real place.
As we all know, Scream made horror hot again after a bit of a lull in the early 90’s. When anything hits big, the clones will come out fast and furious and it wasn’t long before the mid 90’s got its next slasher hit. It would come from the mind of Kevin Williamson once again as he clearly was speaking to a new generation of horror fans.
I remember sneaking in with friends to see I Know What You Did Last Summer in 1997. It was the first horror film I saw on my own with friends in a movie theater and it’s an experience I still remember. People just had so much fun screaming and laughing and it was just one big party. A party that I went back for 2 more times in theaters. Not to mention a trailer for Scream 2 was attached to it and we all just lost our minds that it was coming out soon.
I Know What You Did Last Summer was the first film that made me pay attention to industry stats. I can honestly say it sparked my interest in following film and TV news. The film was number one at the box office three weeks in a row and I remember going on the internet (dial up back then) to see how the film was doing because I just felt so invested in it doing well. As I’m researching how it’s doing, I’m also beginning to hone my own craft on how to present an entertainment story that would get someone’s attention. It might be weird to say but this movie is why I write reviews now and it inadvertently lead to me becoming a social media influencer for film and TV. Once again horror sparked even more inspiration.
Much like the 80’s, the 90’s wave of horror brought as many titles (some good, some bad, some so bad they’re good) and I went to see every single one of them. You could find me in line for Urban Legend, Disturbing Behavior, The Faculty and then my generation of horror reunited with the film that brought me into the genre with Halloween H20. Nothing was cooler than seeing Jamie Lee Curtis back in the role that introduced her to me as the original Scream Queen. It was a fun wave of films and even though they would die off and usher in new forms of horror, it was fun to be fully aware of the evolution as it was taking place.
Over the years, we have seen the haunted house film make a comeback and found footage films enter the arena as creatives take on the genre before becoming all too familiar. No matter what sub-genre of horror you love, the great thing is that it’s always evolving. People may look down on horror but I can’t think of another genre, besides maybe comedy, that brings total strangers in a theater together in such a special way. You’re in the scare together and you’re reacting to this fear in such a universal way that it becomes palpable.
I’ll be 32 this year and probably at my most inspired creatively for various reasons. To share that feeling of inspiration in the same year that has seen the horror genre come back in a big way creatively, it takes me back to that place when I was 8 years old watching Halloween for the first time again. I may be reaching here, but if I didn’t discover the horror genre when I did, I don’t think my love for movies would be as strong as it is today. The genre changed my life and for all its displays of suspense, blood, gore and terror, there is beauty in all of it that has the ability to truly inspire.
