Around Halloween the horror genre has always expanded from its usual niche group to grab the interest of everyone, drawing all sorts of people to movies, television shows and video games designed specifically to scare them to the point of near insanity, so it felt only natural during this eerie time of year for The Centurion to take a look at peoples’ particular interests in the always present but ever-changing genre.
When asked about their interests in horror films names like “Sinister” and “Saw” were used often amongst the students at Bucks. Many of them seemed to agree that horror films today are more serious with better effects, allowing for more realistic and frightening scenarios–though they do sometimes fall into the trap of cheap jump scares.
Harrison Venema, a 22-year-old Business major believes the classic horror films are loved more for nostalgia than quality, and looking back today, many seem cheesy and not legitimately scary. Other students agreed that some of these older movies look goofy and haven’t aged well. “Atmosphere and pacing are the most important things in horror,” says Venema. “A good horror movie shouldn’t be scary when you watch it, it should be scary when you’re at home trying to fall asleep.”
Other students like Jose Fabian, 20-year-old Liberal Arts major, still enjoy the older films, claiming they have more story to them than the newer films. Of course that doesn’t stop him from enjoying the cheesy slasher films like “Freddy vs. Jason”, though he considers these movies more funny than scary.
When it comes to horror games the term survival-horror is very popular, with names like “Amnesia” and “Silent Hill” topping the list for student gamers. “The best horror games are the ones that make the player feel helpless and oppressed to create a true sense of dread” said Peter Davis, 20-year-old Computer Science major. He feels that most game developers fail to do this since the horror genre seems to fundamentally contradict what most video games set out to do. “Most video games work to empower the player, and most players are people seeking empowerment for that reason” commented Davis. “A lot of horror games are simply first person shooters that have been dolled up to appear scary. I think it is a problem because I feel that the true essence of horror lies in the psychological aspect… Newer horror games are trying to empower the player to reach a larger demographic, and tend to move out of the genre because of that.”
When it comes to the television screen some students recall watching “Tales from the Crypt” in their youth. Others think of “American Horror Story” and “The Walking Dead.” Ben Immordino, a 19-year-old Liberal Arts major, is a huge fan of the show and the whole zombie obsession in America in general. He claims to have watched the show from its start and that it has only gotten progressively better over time.