Do you like scary movies or haunted houses? Adults are split on whether they enjoy being scared or can do without it.
We’re told there are scientific studies on why people enjoy being scared and that spooky thrills can stimulate the same centers of the brain as happiness. After fear releases hormones and neurotrasmitters to signal the body to “fight, flight or freeze,” humans realize the scary thing cannot hurt them. They are left with the adrenaline and dopamine that feels good.
We also experience social bonding. Just ask your friends if they’ve seen the Halloween displays around town or what their Halloween costume will be. We also bond over our favorite horror movies and books.
Our list of cinema favorites is fairly old, going back as far as 1960 when Aldred Hitchcock directed “Psycho” and 1963 when he gave us “The Birds.” The best movie in the “Halloween” franchise was “Halloween III: Season of the Witch,” in 1982. The original “Halloween” in 1978 launched several sequels; with “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later,” we thought the boogie man of the series, Michael Myers, had been put to rest. It didn’t end. There have been five “Halloween” remakes or sequels and there may be a television series in development.
Other 20th-century horror movies that make our list of favorites are “Beetlejuice,” “The Addams Family,” “Death Becomes Her,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Halloweentown” and “Hocus Pocus.” All of these are more funny than scarey.
“Scream” in 1996 was a true slasher movie with an R rating, but it had enough humor to also make our list. It was so fun, we returned for “Scream 2” in 1997 and even broke into the 21st Century to watch Scream 3 in 2000.
Also on our list from this century: “Shaun of the Dead” (2004), “Bubba Ho-Tep” (2003), “Zombieland” (2009) and “Get Out” (2017). We haven’t seen “Scream 5” or “The Cabin in the Woods” (2012), both of which seem worthy of checking out.
“Rotten Tomatoes” lists 200 of the best horror movies of all time. The original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” from 1953 is on the list but truly I’ve watched and loved every remake and think we’re due for another. At No. 163 is “Carnival of Souls,” a mostly unwatchable film from 1963 but interesting because a lot of it was shot in Lawrence and Lecompton, Kansas. And, according to the Internet Movie Data Base, George A. Romero once noted this film as the inspiration for “Night of the Living Dead” (1968).
Do we really need to know the science behind what makes creepy and campy equally fun? “They’re coming to get you, Barbara!” Makes me laugh every time.
