Over the past few years I've had the opportunity to ask thousands of people this one question, "Do you like horror?" Not including my discussions at the World Horror Convention or Festival of Fear, more often than not I get variations on, "Oh, no. I do not like horror; its not my thing at all." Followed by something like, "Although, I really liked 28 Days Later." Egypt "I did rent Saw's I & II and loved them!" And the topper, "No, but my favorite movie is Silence of the Lambs."
Okay, so, I hate to be the one to break it to all the mainstream, horror-not-for-me masses … if you liked any of those movies (especially great, gory Saw), you actually DO LIKE HORROR! You may even (gasp!) Love horror. But do not panic. This does not necessarily mean you're a horror-fiend. Watching the occasional horror movie has not been definitively proven to be a gateway to horror addiction and a stack of well-worn Hellraiser DVDs stashed under the bed!
For those of you who are still not sure if you like horror here are a great great, easy-to-find movies to test out:
- If you find it easier to giggle with your bucket of blood, try the classic Evil Dead (1983-1992) series by Sam Raimi, where a cabin is possessed by evil spirits and the hero wields a chainsaw prosthetic. Good times! And a bit more recently Shaun of the Dead (2004) the British romantic comedy with zombies. You know, a "zomedy".
- If you experienced Saw and STILL need to see more screaming tortured captives to reeeaaallly make sure you're into horror, try American Psycho (2000) based on the Bret Easton Ellis Novel. The 80s excessiveness is taken to new heights by a type-A serial killer. And give the 70s classic, Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, a go (another brilliant novel based flick).
- Finally, for pure sadistic gore and graphic violence (seriously NOT for those of you who could barely handle Sleepy Hollow), I double-dog-dare you to try Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses (2003)!
Now, do not worry, they've taken horror out of the back room and put it in with the rest of the DVDs at the video stores. You can hold your head up high and walk out with your copy of Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan proudly shown in your hot little hands!
