Holiday seasons always have a movie genre tied to them. On Christmas, families settle down to heartwarming stories of finding love and connection in a cold, snowy month. On Valentine’s Day, couples watch cheesy romantic comedies. Today, on Halloween, almost everyone waits until it is dark and prepares to scream and hide their eyes behind quivering hands as we subject ourselves to horror movies. Jump scares, gore and every possible image that could disturb you are thrown into your field of vision as studios try to shock and frighten you. Yet, is it all necessary? Did that clown have to pop up unexpectedly, or are horror movies today leaning too much on the horror and losing the movie?
The horror movie Longlegs was released in the summer of 2024, receiving middling to high reviews. Some said it was alright, and some said it was wonderful. Yet, when my family and I decided to test it out, we walked out of the theater before the movie could end. This was not a horror movie, it was simply a horror. Scenes in the movie verged on utterly disgusting, and the plot was near non-existent. Unfortunately, this movie is only one of many; horror movies today have lost the plot, relying instead upon how much they can shock your senses.
When people go to see a movie, they expect some sort of story. Usually, if a movie doesn’t have compelling characters and an interesting narrative, it flops. An odd caveat to this presumption is a horror movie. According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, human beings are drawn to horror “to experience stimulation,” triggering “the release of adrenaline.” Horror movies provide a safe, detached way of attaining an adrenaline rush, as there’s no real, immediate danger. Horror, as a film genre, may be the only form of media where a story comes second. People go to experience thrills, putting the plot second. Yet, studios have taken this notion of putting the plot second to mean putting the plot nowhere.
There is a long list of horror movies which I genuinely enjoy: Jennifer’s Body, The Sixth Sense, The Shining, Signs, Alien. All of these movies have two things in common: they are horror movies, and they have a good story. All five of these films have turned into cult classics, surviving past their release and being rewatched again and again. Audiences do not find that with modern horror movies. In today’s horror film industry, creators turn to blood, violence, pure creepiness and images that haunt you, but not in a good way.
When I subject myself to a modern — produced in the past ten years or so — horror movie, what I often find is nothing. I develop no relationship with the characters, and so I find myself caring very little about the story. Without an emotional investment in the plight of a film’s protagonists, I lose interest in whether they live or die, decreasing the movie’s potential for suspense. Instead, I grimace, shut my eyes or leave the theater with a strange icky feeling. Movies have become gratuitous to the extreme. Instead of building suspense and thrills through well-planned plotlines, movies opt for the cheap way out and throw in jump scares. There are ways to create a high quality horror movie without resorting to sheer cruelty –– on the characters and the audience.
One such way many horror movies go above and beyond is through blending elements of other genres. Alien, a movie about a spaceship that accidentally brings in an unwelcome and hostile otherworldly being into tight quarters, is frightening and gives you the adrenaline rush other horror movies do. Yet, it still retains a well-written plot, partly aided by mixing science fiction with horror. Zombieland is a movie that contains gore, zombies and a healthy dose of jump scares. Yet, this movie also follows loveable characters that you bond with on their journey to find paradise, mixing comedy with horror. A horror movie doesn’t only have to be horror, and blending contrasting or distinct genres with a standard horror film can lead to a better movie overall.
The final critique of these plotless horror movies is that once they begin to rely on the purely grotesque to frighten you, many turn to a specific target: women. We have probably all seen this trope within classic violent films but weren’t aware of it. Consider that in most horror movies, the first victim is always a woman. Additionally, sexual violence against women is often employed as a device to disgust the audience. Scenes will go into far too much graphic detail in an effort to replace plot points with, frankly, corrupted imagery that never does justice to women. Violence against women is treated lightly in plotless horror movies, causing prime audiences –– usually young men –– to be desensitized to this sort of violence in real life. In plotless horror movies, women are the ones who are exploited.
Halloween is not an excuse to watch a senseless film that lacks meaning and substance. There are a plethora of horror movies that are well made and enjoyable –– including the ones I mentioned above. Consider rethinking your horror movie selection for tonight, and choose one with a real plot, devoid of hurtful misogynistic subthemes. The movie might seem more genuine, and you might be a little more scared.
Jane Locke is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at jal562@cornell.edu.
