While you’re munching on your Halloween candy and celebrating the new president, I thought I’d discuss paranormal horror movies. You know, they’re the stories featuring a curse, ghost, or a guest appearance by the anti-Christ. For the past decade, they’ve been lamented as Diet Coke terror, moody but not frightening. Let me tell you. This sub-genre can dump an elevator full of blood if you want. Still, if you’re a fan of this category of movies, you have had at least one person laugh and claim seeing a metal spike driven through a dude’s eyeball is way scarier. Don’t worry. It is okay to be scared by the paranormal.
Films like Saw IV and slashers definitely thrill. Nothing like a blowtorch in your eye to teach you about life and death, eh? A movie is no less chilling when dealing with an invincible unknown force. Suddenly, you’re not safe anywhere. You can lock yourself inside, but ghosts can pull you into the walls. These movies expose how little we know about the universe.
Naturally, a confrontation with evil leads to insanity as well as death. You can’t sleep or close your eyes to escape the horrible images. Paranormal movies ooze unending hopelessness. Even after the laying spirits to rest, the character finds the terror is just beginning. You escaped the haunted house, but you may have brought some “thing” back with you. I’ll share my three favorite examples.
In Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963) a paranormal investigator assembles a team to investigate the Hill House for ghosts. Among the group is Eleanor (Julie Harris) whose mother recently died; she wants to validate her belief in the unexplained. She gets that when the house takes a liking to her. You never see the ghosts, but you darn well know they’re there. Banging noises and rattling doorknobs don’t sound like much, but Wise cranks the volume up, unleashing a deafening assault on the investigators. Disorienting camera angles and bulging doors further the impression of being trapped inside a living building.
Article comments
1 - Hannah
wow, i love paranormal movies. they're my favorite! I love the feeling of being scared from a girl being posessed and shit haha. It takes a lot to scare me.