Soapbox: The Horror, the horror

As Halloween approaches, Hollywood can't help but throw numerous "horror" films out to the masses.

However, if you think you're going to get a real scare out of going to see cinematic masterpieces like Saw 3D, I have to tell you that you're taking the easy road.

See, there used to be a film director by the name of Alfred Hitchcock who understood how to frighten people. He truly was the first to replicate real horror on the silver screen.

So then how did we get to where we are today? Somewhere along the line, Hollywood forgot that fear comes from the unknown.

Let me illustrate for you an example from a Hitchcock great, Psycho. In this film, the audience, along with the protagonist, doesn't know what type of person Norman Bates (the strange motel owner) is, or what he's capable of.

Sure, he's creepy, but Hitchcock doesn't rely on Bates alone to scare viewers.

There's a dread, a heaviness in the atmosphere surrounding  Bates' Motel and Bates' Manor. Even in black and white the suspense is palpable.

Hitchcock knew how to light his films; he knew where the shadows should go.

He didn't fall back on "Oh my, God, what could be around this corner?" gimmicks. In fact, the biggest difference between his films and those of late is that when the violence and horror finally occur, the audience doesn't feel relieved that it has happened.

That's the real flaw in movies like the Sawor The Texas ChainsawMassacrefranchises. You're almost glad that a nameless teenager just got his hands chopped off because it means that the next ten minutes or so will be easy-going dialogue or what have you.

And this happens again and again until at last, you're so numb to the process that even if blood actually flew out from the screen on you, it's unlikely you'd even notice.

But Hitchcock only springs the shock-scene on his audience once. He builds up his rising tension like a violinist whose strings are so taut they just might snap.

And when they do, you're actually horrified because you knew it was going to happen but not now, not like that.

The sad truth, however, is that most of us can't tell the difference between horror and apathetic gore anymore.

We've been taught to believe that horror can only be attained by limbs flying through the air, or by watching a group of teenagers get mutilated one by one.

But maybe that's the real horror. We call ourselves advanced, but we're still afraid to admit that there's something very gratifying in watching an innocent person suffer. Hitchcock must have known this - otherwise, I wouldn't be talking about him. 

Some movies perfect for a Halloween marathon: Psycho, The Machinist, The Shining, The Silence of the Lambs, Rear Window, Seven, American Psycho, Vertigo.