As of today, April 16th, 2019, I have put an entire 79 hours and 16 minutes into movies so far this year. That’s over three solid days of cinema goodness, almost an average of one day per month. I’ve been watching a variety of things from His Girl Friday (1940) to The Battery (2012) to Us (2019). In this post, I am going to dive in to the horror genre, easily my favorite of them all. I expect this will be an ongoing series for a variety of reasons, some of which I will discuss in this post.

The Data

Movie Title	Release Year	Date Watched	My Rating
Shaun of the Dead	2004	01/19/2019	7
28 Days Later…	2002	02/03/2019	8
Chernobyl Diaries	2012	02/16/2019	5
The Battery	2012	03/03/2019	7
Halloween	1978	03/24/2019	7
Us	2019	03/25/2019	9
The Last House on the Left	1972	04/03/2019	9
A Quiet Place	2018	04/03/2019	8
Get Out	2017	04/04/2019	8
The Meg	2018	04/12/2019	7
Suspiria	2018	04/13/2019	10
Suspiria	1977	04/14/2019	8

First, Some Numbers

The first thing I should point out is just how much horror I have watched lately. Of the 42 movies I’ve seen so far, 12 (29% of the overall) are categorized as Horror by IMDb. 17 (40% of the overall) are labeled as Thriller and 9 (21%) are listed both as Horror and Thriller. Horror is tied for the fourth most viewed genre, behind Thriller (17 counts), Action (15 counts), and Adventure and Sci-Fi (13 counts each). The other genre in fourth place is Drama. If you take out Marvel, then you can drop Action, Adventure, and Sci-Fi by 6 counts each, moving Horror up to being tied for second. Yes, I have watched 6 MCU movies in 105 days this year. This does not include any Black Summer, Slasher, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, or Z Nation as I do not track shows in any capacity.

One more statistic before I really get into this. Of the 79:16:00 (79 hours and 16 minutes) I’ve sunk into movies so far, 20:41:00 (26%) have gone into Horror. The average runtime for a Horror is just under 10 minutes compared to all of the 42 movies I have experienced (1:53:14 compared to Horrors 1:43:25 and a 1:57:10 average for everything except Horror). That’s half a work week already, and it’s not even May.

Some Background

As for what inspired this post, you will recall that I have seen 12 movies labeled Horror this year. Six of those came within the last 14 days, eight if you stretch it to 20 days. The other four came between in a 44 day period earlier this year. From one movie per 11 days to one movie per 2.3 days between those two stretches, my average time between Horror movies is just over one week for the year. So what’s with the uptick?

For this, I give the credit to Jordan Peele. Unfortunately, I cannot find the Dreaddit thread that inspired the selections I am about to discuss, but basically, Jordan Peele gave the cast of Us some homework. He listed these 10 films, half of which I’ve already seen in my lifetime (and none this year). The aforementioned thread on Reddit had several more movies listed, all considered important for the genre to varying degrees. Halloween (1978) and The Last House On The Left (1972) were in that thread. I decided that I should finally gain some appreciation for the inspiration for much of modern horror and emerged from a Horror hibernation to watch Halloween the day before I saw Us.

That’s only one movie, but the idea stuck with me. On April 2nd, I was supposed to fly to Vietnam. Due to some inefficient policies (in my opinion) from Korean Air, I was not able to make my trip. I spent the rest of that day as well as the next day moping at home, taking some time to myself to feel the disappointment of my second cancelled trip this year. On the 3rd, while off work, I watched the original The Last House on the Left. And this sparked the recent binge, watching five more Horrors in the following 11 days.

From there I went with movies I know and enjoy, specifically A Quiet Place and Get Out. The Meg, in my opinion, is a bit of an anomaly, but it does fit the most common definition of Horror that I see (an element of the supernatural; in this case, a massive prehistoric shark). After that came both versions of Suspiria. More on that in a minute.

The Real Why

So why? Why the uptick, why all these numbers, and why does it matter in the first place?

Horror has long relied on emotions that are considered negative such as fear, anxiety, and violence. From the macro scale of a culture and making social commentary all the way down to scaring little kids, Horror has been the conduit with which together we experience tension.

My experience of 2019 so far has been one full of anxiety for several reasons. My growing negativity and my worsening outlook hit yearly records the day that my trip was cancelled, and I firmly believe that watching so much Horror has helped pull me out of that. Horror exists for writers, directors, and actors to hand us their thoughts and feelings so that we may feel the same tension that they do. But Horror also exists to release that tension, to give us a reward for our time and efforts, and to give us a way out. I went into this stretch with a lot of darkness and I stand here on the other side with a grin. It seems that I found the pin to pop the evergrowing balloon that was my anxiety.

Okay, so that’s the why.

But How?

Great question! For all my vagueness about my personal life, I will lift up the curtain a little bit in the following brief analyses. To this end, I will try my best to articulate my ideas but you will have to forgive me if I fall a bit short.

The concept I observe the most in Horror is the struggle when things greater than you are targeting you. Every movie I have seen recently fits this description. From demons to record-breaking sharks to strange white people, this general feeling is another thing I have felt for some time now.

Another common theme is when the characters experience a loss of control over their own agency. Looking over my recent viewings, this is prominent; Us, The Last House on the Left, Get Out, and Suspiria(s). That is five out of the eight I have seen in the last few weeks. In each of these, we see various characters at risk of losing their life (both in a beating heartbeat sense as well as the lifestyle, homes, and families they call their own), control of their bodies, or even control of their soul. To put it simply, these are emotions that I can identify with.

One thing I find interesting is how many of these movies rebel against the idea that what you don’t know can’t hurt you. We see this in The Last House on the Left, where the protagonists are unaware that going to a concert is the last free decision they make. In the movie Get Out, our protagonist thinks he is simply going to meet the parents. The Meg takes the scientific pursuit for knowledge (and money) and turns that on its head to use the unknown as the antagonist. In all of these movies, characters’ hopes are twisted against them, making them question why they ever chose their path in the first place.

None of this still answers the how.

How does enveloping myself in this despair help me come to terms with my own struggle? First of all, because I am not in any of their shoes. I am not below the ocean surface staring a shark in the face. I am not locked in a basement. But when I see these characters (or most of them, anyway) get out of their situation, that means I can get out of my own predicament.

Another feeling that you can pull from Horror is one of empowerment. I suspect that it’s somewhat similar to the feelings enjoyed by fans of heavy metal music, at least in the context of Suspiria (2018). But Suspiria isn’t the only one on my list that has a theme of empowerment. Us, A Quiet Place, The Last House on the Left, and The Meg also have dominant themes of taking control of your own destiny even in the face of grave danger.

So when you look at the valleys and peaks of emotions that Horror elicits, you start to see a path. Some of us are in the valley, or headed there. But on the other side of the low is those peaks and there are few things more empowering in life than standing on top of a mountain and looking at the world below you.

The Movies

I’m going to drop some quick thoughts on a few of the movies I have been discussing and explain my ratings a little more. If I wrote any thoughts, I’ll paste those here. They are often written at the end of the movie, so they’re fresh opinions.

Since Jekyll does not seem to have a way to hide spoilers, consider this your warning.

Us

Us is the sophomore film from Jordan Peele, and in my opinion, has started to solidify him as a modern Horror staple. Yes, it’s only two films, but both of them are so well done. He is also the host of the rebooted Twilight Zone, and he’s a comedy skit master on Jordan and Peele.

Us has sparked a lot of discussion as any valuable movie should. The themes and ideas that I walked out of the theater with will probably morph into something different by the time I finish my next viewing.

On a more physical note, I enjoyed the wardrobes and lighting the most.

The Last House on the Left

Gritty af. Hard to watch and gave me a sinking feeling in my stomach. This is so brutal.

TLHotL is definitely a brutal movie. I have yet to see the remake but it is on my list. The small metamorphosis into a more lethal Home Alone at the end was interesting to watch, even if the circumstances are quite sad.

A Quiet Place

Plot holes and conveniencies but still effective.

I would actually be interested in a sequel, especially to potentially address some of the plot holes but also to develop the world a little more. Asf or what these plot holes are, ask me when I’ve had more coffee.

I really like the concept of this movie. I thought that Bird Box was good, but not as good as A Quiet Place. I look forward to watching The Silence soon and seeing how it compares to A Quiet Place.

Get Out

Fell asleep a couple times but I liked it. Still prefer Us, though.

Peele’s first directed film was a blockbuster out the gate for good reason. He tackles the subtle racism that permeates America, and he does it on a beautiful set with a nearly cookie cutter family that reminds me of so many people. The scariest thing about the movie is besides one or two references to their location, this movie can take place anywhere.

I have a problem staying awake for the last 30 minutes or so of a movie. I may rewatch the end of this just to appreciate it again.

The Meg

Formulaic cheesy monster action movie but I like it anyway, actually. Cool shout to Finding Nemo

I stand by what I said. This movie follows a cheese whip formula but I still enjoyed the ride. Creature features are overdone but they’re fun. The setting for this was interesting. The main thing that encouraged me to watch this is Rainn Wilson called in to my favorite radio station (1310 The Ticket) to discuss this movie. That’s all the convincing I needed.

Suspiria (2018)

One of my favorites, easily. Dakota Johnson disappears. Cinematography and lighting is wonderful.

The VVitch (yes, I’m one of those people) was my favorite Horror movie until I saw Suspiria (2018). Dakota Johnson is Susie and Tilda Swinton is Madame Blanc.

The film is a bit art-house but less so than the 1977 version. Personally, I don’t mind it. I enjoyed Mandy so I enjoy some art-house elements. When I say art-house in the context of both Suspirias and Mandy, I am referring to lighting, coloring, and camera work. Red is very prominent and the camera work is undtraditional but effective.

This remake takes the best parts and fixes some missing elements of the original. Namely, the tension and the buildup are kept, but the remake has a much more developed story. The remake focues on the supernatural element within the characters.

Suspiria (1977)

Audio was unbalanced. Lighting and camera work was great though. I enjoyed it. Bad bad bad fake blood, just like the remake.

Oh, yeah. The fake blood is notorious (shout out to Juno).

The thing that can be considered “missing” from this version is a story; I would disagree. It has been said that the main character in this film is the set, the environment. The characters come second. Suspiria is effective with this.

I watched this on Tubi TV, so I had no subtitles (important for me), bad film quality, and terrible audio balance. But then I heard about the 4k Bluray version and purchased it. I will probably rewatch this soon.

Conclusion

Thank you for making it this far. After all these rambling words, I have nothing left. I’ll be back next time, hopefully a little more cohesive. I will also continue my Horror series.