Movie Industry: A Nightmare on Elm Street

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Through the years, countless movies have been made with the central theme of scaring the viewer. What is fear? According to Merriam-Webster, Fear can be defined as being as being afraid of someone or something. When studying about horror movies, it is important to know the definition of fear and horror. “Horror dares to say that everything is not okay. The control was never ours to being…something other, rather than something else, is at work…The function of horror is incredibly simple. It reminds us that we are not alone” (Yeats). Horror films are abundant and the idea of being scared keeps bringing people back to the movies only to go through that unpleasant journey again but with a new plot and characters. What makes these movies scary? Why are people attracted to horror films? Why are some older horror films remade and some are not? When these movies are remade, why are some successful and others are not?
During the 70’s and 80’s, the horror genre was thriving in the movie industry. Movies about ghosts, werewolves, demons, psychopaths, and serial killers attracted teenagers to gather at the movies to spend their hard earned money, only to be scared out of their socks. Today, we find the same thing, even thirty years later. Why is that? Why do people enjoy being scared? Some people enjoy the stress of fear, but only because of the safe environment that they are in. If one were in the actual situation, they would act differently than in the closed quarters of the movie theatre. As stated earlier, it is the lack of control that makes us scared. This is why when watching a scary movie at the theatre, the moments that pop-out at you scare you the most, because you have no control over it. However, the moments that scare you when ...

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...around and stands as a guideline of morality. If you do something wrong, he will get you. Hollywood knows that this fear of not being able to control something is a fear that lives in the hearts of most of us. Hollywood will continue to make horror films that feed off of this fear and people will go back for more, because they enjoy it. The Bogeyman will never die. He simply changes himself into a new situation. The Bogeyman is a personified consequence of any action that one takes.

Works Cited

1) A Nightmare on Elm Street. Dir. Wes Craven. New Line Cinema, 1984. DVD.
2) Vidler, Anthony. The Architectural Uncanny: Essays in the Modern Unhomely. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1992. Print.
3) A Bogeyman With Supernatural Powers. By: McCabe, Nancy, Newsweek, 00289604, 10/17/2005, Vol. 146, Issue 16
4) Ingram, Shelley. “The Uncanny and Abjection.” Powerpoint presentation. 2014

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