Saturday, November 1, 2014

No Scary Movies for Me. // 7 Reasons I Hate Horror Films


Happy Halloween! 

Since Halloween is known for being scary and a reason to watch horror movies, I'll go against the grain and talk about why they most definitely aren't for me. I absolutely hate them with a passion and definitely wouldn't mind if they were banished from the world forever. 

I just don't like scary things. 
I'm trying to think about a moment in my life where something may have contributed to this, but there is nothing that I can think of at the moment. I just don't like scary things. 

Scary movies aren't happy. 
I'm an optimistic person. Now I know that there are certain horror films that end up having a happy ending (aka the protagonist barely survives), but waiting to put that at the very end isn't my cup of tea. 

The anticipation for something to pop out gives me anxiety. 
In an attempt to be less scared, I try to prepare myself for something to pop out. It's counterproductive in my case because I still get scared anyway and I'm already breathing heavily and hiding behind my hands or sweater even though nothing will pop out for another five minutes. 

Example: On one of my first dates with Darell, we watched one of the Twilight movies (don't judge) and a Paranormal Activity 2 trailer came on. I tried to prepare myself, but the shock of whatever had popped out freaked me out so much that I tried to hide myself behind Darell's arm, only to hit my nose on his arm and MY NOSE STARTED TO BLEED EVERYWHERE. What a way to impress a date. I mean, he is still here and that happened 4 years ago so I must've done something right. Haha.

I'm gullible. 
I believe what I see. I try telling myself that it's all just makeup and that they probably laughed and messed up in the takes before coming up with the take that got into the movie, but I'm so freaked out by what's on the screen in front of me that it doesn't help me at all. 

It gives me the feeling of being unsafe. 
The fact that the main characters are unsafe makes me feel unsafe. Part of this is my mom always telling my sister and I to watch out for everything around us when walking anywhere by ourselves growing up, so I was never at ease. I don't like being unsafe because what happened on the news could very well happen to me. And same goes with horror films. 

I'm not a fan of blood and gore.
You don't have to watch a horror film to see blood and gore, but I just hate it in general. Just the idea of blood and violence spewing everywhere is disgusting and sickening to me. I can't even look at my arm when I get blood drawn. What more when it's getting everywhere like a fountain spewing water or paint splattered on a canvas?

With some films, those events are definitely plausible in real life. 
Not everyone may agree with this, but I believe that we live in a physical and spiritual world. Because of my personal faith, I believe that there are forces (good and bad) at work in this world that we cannot see. And another reason that confirms that? If you go to most places outside of the United States, the people in that country are aware of the spiritual realm and are more in tune with seeing spirits and all that. 

So with films like The Exorcist or any film made in Asia, they freak me out all the more because of the spirits that are at work in those films or in similar situations in real life. When I was younger, my cousin and some other family told me of the spirits they've seen in the Philippines. My cousin had one in her house growing up in the Philippines! My sister was too young to remember, but apparently my sister had seen it too when we'd stayed there years later. NOPE. NOT FOR ME. 

See, I actually have some pretty valid reasons in my opinion about why I don't like scary movies. It's not an irrational fear because there is some meaning behind why I whine and complain when my boyfriend (who loves horror movies) tricks me into watching Paranormal Activity 2 instead of Footloose in theaters. (Darell, you remember that nightmare of a night). 

What are your thoughts on horror movies? Do you agree with anything I said? Any counter-arguments against any of it?

Chau for now

13 comments:

  1. I love horror, but I can totally see where you are coming from! Nowadays I really must be in a mood to watch a horror movie. This year I opted for Addams Family, Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, and Hocus Pocus over my usual horror movies. I rather enjoy suspenseful movies over horror these days - they tend to keep my attention more. :) Thanks for sharing, I know others just like you, so you are definitely not alone! :)

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  2. You have literally just sum up exactly why I am not a fan of horror. When I watch a movie - it becomes reality for me. So much so I'll think about the entire events that happened in it throughout the day! I love my sleep too much to sacrifice it for two hours of terror!

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  3. I like thrillers, but I don't like horror movies. I don't like the reliance on shock value, which is why I'm almost always okay with gore and blood in forensics shows where it's relevant and hate it in horror movies where the point is just to gross me out. I also think a lot of horror movies are badly written. That said, I love ghost stories and even horror (I watch Hannibal pretty regularly when it's airing) but for me it's MUCH better when it's more psychological like Shutter Island than when it's about stuff popping out at me or a psycho killer coming after a bunch of idiots with 0 survival instincts.


    PS this week I learned about aswang and DANG THAT STUFF IS NOT OKAY. I think in Korea it's just like, ghosts and stuff.

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  4. Kriselle!!! I completely agree with you. I'm a baby and I believe in all that stuff you said lol my mom always said watch what you hear, see, taste etc. because bad spirits can enter through those senses :(... Although, some people seem to be immune to this as they watch horror films all day without feeling anything wrong!

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  5. I love horror movies, but I have some friends who hate horror movies and I totally understand where they are coming from. I started watching horror movies when I was little (like elementary school age) so I grew up with them, which is why they don't really bother me too much. But, I'm not a fan of the torture ones like Hostel!!

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  6. Great film choices! I like the Addams Family and The Nightmare Before Christmas for the most part, and I have unfortunately never seen Beetlejuice (I know, how dare I, haha). As for Hocus Pocus, that is a show that I used to watch on Disneychannel as a kid so it definitely doesn't freak me out! I probably also didn't understand what was happening at the time since I was so young.


    I can see what you mean though by being "in the mood" to watch horror films. I'm not too big of a fan of thrillers/suspense films either, but if I were absolutely forced to, I'd prefer them over horror films. Thanks for sharing your opinion! :]

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  7. Yes! So glad someone else agrees with me! Same here, I love my sleep too much and hate the idea of staying up late so that the bad things don't come for me while I'm in bed.

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  8. I completely and totally agree with everything you said! I'm not a fan, either! I don't like the feeling it gives me and I hate the way my mind works to trick me after I see something that could potentially be real! :)

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  9. I don't even like thrillers! Haha the suspense kills me! And I get what you mean when stories are psychological--no matter what kind of horror film it is, bad or like Shutter, I hate it! (plus, I watched the Thai version of Shutter Island instead of the American version, and I was soooo freaked out to look at photos through cameras for such a long time!)


    Haha! I know there are so many more stories and legends like the aswang in the Philippines. But see, that's why psychological horror films freak me out so much, especially if the film was created in Asia! Because although some of these legends and myths aren't real, some are and people are more likely to see things outside of the US! And I'm sure in Korea there's more than just ghosts and stuff haha. That would be interesting to learn about.

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  10. Aww Heidi, thanks for commenting on my blog! I really appreciate that :]
    Growing up in church, my pastors and leaders told me the same things! They told me about a guy watching the Ring once and when his wife came into the room foam started coming out of his mouth and he basically got possessed. I definitely do NOT want that happening to me, ever! And honestly I don't know how some people are able to watch them and not feel anything. Alissa is that way, haha. But it's okay, we'll be babies together and just watch rom-coms :] Love ya girl!

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  11. See, I'd sometimes watch horror movies with friends or family very sparingly when I was growing up, but every time I did I would cry or hide behind something. Haha I guess we all just handle things differently! Oh, and those torture type of horror films are the WORST! Like why would anyone think to do those types of things to people? What makes it worse, in certain places around the world they probably execute people in a similar fashion.

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  12. Yay for someone else who is a scaredy cat like me :] Haha my mind does the same thing, and I get paranoid for days or sometimes weeks after watching certain films!

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  13. Oh you are so not alone Kriselle, trust me! haha. Tell me about it - or else I'll leave the light on all night long!

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