Why We Need Horror Films

We need to watch horror movies. In fact, both Stephen King and Flannery O'Connor (a devout Catholic) would say that we should be exposed to the grotesque and violent every so often. I know that for most people this train of thought seems contrary to Catholic teaching with the over abundance of certain elements in current horror movies, but hear me out.

The traditional horror-slasher flick usually has a few distinct features:

1. Main characters only survive because they don't break one of the ten commandments.

2. Characters who do break one of the ten commandments are killed.

3. The killer only kills according to those who break one of the ten commandments.

For the most part, most of your 80's slasher flicks fit this pattern.

Nightmare On Elm Street - Freddy abused kids. He comes back, and he kills the kids who have sex and disobey their parents.

Friday the 13th - Jason kills the teenagers having pre marital sex.

In addition, horror movies reassert the saving and protective power of Jesus Christ. In any movie about exorcism, the priest uses the Rite of Exorcism as well as the crucifix, Holy Water, and the power of Jesus' name. But we also see the power of the crucifix in other movies excluding exorcism. In Nightmare On Elm Street, the little girls chant "5, 6, get your crucifix." In one scene of that movie, the crucifix is the only thing that protects an amoral character from being massacred by Freddy.

Moreover, if the horror flick doesn't fit the typical "break God's law, you die" formula, then it supports the Catholic theology of "sometimes bad things happen to good people because we all have to suffer the consequences of sin."

Even more so, with the advent of the "Saw"franchise, we see that the "Saw" serial killer basically takes being God into his own hands, and though we feel empathy for him, you're still rooting for the main character opposing him to live because as a viewer, you know it's not right to kill another person. Although, in most of these movies, the opposing main character has also committed a sin that is usually exposed towards the end of the movie. Most of the main characters die in this franchise because they are given choices: save yourself or someone else. It's usually their pride and selfishness that cause them to die.

The only downside to horror movies is that the more films that are produced with just gore for gore's sake, sex for sex's sake, and torture for torture's sake. When film studios do this, the genre is being demeaned and is able to convince people that "it's just a movie; it has no real world application."

All of this is to say: Horror movies are good for us in doses. They remind of us of our mortality. They are the last stand in mass media and pop culture that is still relatively moral. Horror movies remind us that the supernatural, as well as evil, does exist in this Earthly life, people who commit sin will suffer the consequences, and sometimes, bad things happen to good people. And every time I watch one, I'm always sure to say a rosary before I go to sleep.

So, it's Friday the 13th. Go out and rent yourself a scary movie. Eat some popcorn. Root for the main, moral character to live. And be sure to say a rosary before sleeping and have a crucifix handy. :)