10/26/07It’s October, which means the weather is getting colder, the maple leaves are changing colors and people are lining up in movie theaters across the nation to purchase tickets for the latest horror films and psychological thrillers.
Junior Erin Blackburn has watched over 1,500 movies. She said watching movies has been a hobby for her since her middle school days.
“I went to a private elementary school but in middle school I entered the public school system, which was a few years behind, so I went from having a lot of homework to having no homework at all,” she said. “I was too young to go out, so I got into television and movies.”
She said her love of movies runs in her family.
“It’s always been a part of my life,” she said. “My mom loves movies. She used to put little quotes in our lunch boxes.”
Blackburn said there is a definite difference between horror films and psychological thrillers.
“I don’t enjoy watching torture or some psycho killer on the loose,” she said. “But what scares me more than the scary movies like ‘Saw’ are the Lifetime movies that could really happen or have really happened.”
She said what she looks for in a movie is a good storyline.
“The story of horror films doesn’t interest me as much,” she said.
While Blackburn said the lack of plotline is something that turns her away from some horror films, junior Tim Obiefule said he likes horror films more than psychological thrillers.
“Psychological thrillers tend to have a deeper plotline,” he said. “You have to follow them more closely. There are less special effects.”
Obiefule said he’s not really bothered by gruesome, violent films.
“It’s the psychological films that get to me,” he said. “The blood and gore for entertainment doesn’t affect me.”
Obiefule said he is a big fan of horror films for a variety of reasons.
“I like how over the top they are,” he said. “The special effects are over the top. The blood and gore and violence are way over the top. I like action films, and the shock factor is so much more in horror films.”
Blackburn explained why psychological thrillers appealed to her.
“Thrillers scare you because they make you think,” she said. “That’s probably my favorite thing about it. I like coming out of the movies and it’s not over yet because you’re still working it out in your mind.”
Junior Megan Renehan said she likes the adrenalin rush she gets when watching scary movies.
“Sometimes it’s fun to be scared,” she said. “But then after I watch scary movies, I always have to turn the lights on or watch something happy.”
She recalled watching her first scary movie.
“I think it was ‘Creepers’ and I was watching it in one of my friend’s basements,” she said. “She turned off all the lights and we watched in complete darkness. I remember I was freaked out because I was sitting on the couch that had a space behind it, and I kept thinking someone was going to come up behind me.”
Renehan said she appreciates that characters in horror films are a little eccentric.
“It’s funny how stupid horror movie characters are,” she said. “It helps ease the tension.”
Renehan said she ordered tickets to see “Saw IV,” which opened at 12:01 a.m. today and followed the showing of the first three movies Thursday.
“I don’t really enjoy watching the stupid horror movies like ‘Freddy vs. Jason.’ I like the more serious horror films,” she said.
Freshman Brooke Pryor said horror films are not her favorite genre, but she watches them occasionally.
“I have to be interested in the story before I go see it, or I have to hear what other people thought when they saw it,” she said.
Pryor said “Disturbia” was one of her favorite scary movies.
“It kind of seemed like it could really happen, which made it creepy and just kept my interest,” she said.
Pryor said she doesn’t like to watch horror films alone.
“I definitely watch them with other people,” she said. “I would be too scared to watch them by myself.”
Pryor said she liked the anticipation involved in horror films.
“You’re kind of nervous because you don’t know what to expect, and you kind of psych yourself out,” she said.