Are you genetically programmed to be a scaredy cat?

calli Sun, Sep 28, 2008 at 04:52 PM EST

i want to watch micheal myers scary videos

Eric Friedmann Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 12:50 PM EST

As a very, very tough critic of horror films, I have found that more often it is creepy, haunting images on screen that can give me the chills, more than just mindless and violently bloody acts. Two of the most haunting films I've ever watched are not even classified as horror films; Adrian Lynne's JACOB'S LADDER (1990) and David Lynch's TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992).

Gre Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 09:46 AM EST

THE RING is perhaps the most effective PG-13(!) horror movie ever. I recall vividly the screams in the audience as Samara came out of the TV.

Nancy Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 09:35 AM EST

Ha. Slezak, thank you. I, too, am glad I'm not the only one that plans escape routes out of my apartment. I'm sure we're not alone. There are probably millions of us, all genetically programmed to do so.

Jen Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 06:32 AM EST

Slezak! Damn you and all your pants for using that picture for this post. Just when I thought it was safe to watch my TV again...

pede Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 05:47 AM EST

I scooted about 10 feet back when Scary McLonghair crawled out of that TV. (watched it at home) And then, just as the credits started to roll, the phone rang. My roommate & I (after we screamed) let it go to voicemail. Other than that, the only other movie that ever really affected me was The Exorcist. Saw it when I was 10 & it scared me so bad I slept with the lights on for 2 years. I was convinced I was going to wake up possessed. It only took 20 years for me to be able to watch it all the way through. Oh and the original When a Stranger Calls. OMG, when the cop calls Carol Kane & says "We've traced the call, its coming from inside the house!"... Why the people who remade it felt it necessary to show that in the trailer is beyond me. Can you say STUPID? Now that I think about, stupidity (and stupid movies) scare me more than any horror movie ever made.

Nix Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 11:51 PM EST

If it's genetic, then there can be a cure!

--if that doesn't scare you, nothing will.

Drayton Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 08:45 PM EST

It's not genetic for me, but I am one helluva scaredy-cat. I can stand next to nothing, especially the real-life based or centered films (like last year's 'Vacancy' or this year's 'The Strangers'). I actually got up and left the theater for the 'Vacancy' TRAILER. I about peed myself, then ran out, my hands near flailing about, and hid in the lobby for a good, sure 5 minutes. AHHH!

Heather Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 07:27 PM EST

Hey, I don't see why you should hate on people who get scared. Some of us have very active imaginations and have inbred paranoia. Okay? So don't make fun of people like me who got a tad bit freaked out after seeing Scary Movie.

Anyway, I don't need to watch any of the horror movies. I have my friend Phil to give me a very detailed recap.

ks Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 07:20 PM EST

I don't see what the big deal in some of the "horror" films are, so that means no gene for me, but my kids freak out over the smallest things-they can't even watch Scary Movie hmmmmm maybe it skipped me :)

Jen Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 07:16 PM EST

For me it's the "walk through walls - kick them in the b***s" factor. If they can walk through walls and I can't kick them, a-hem, there, then I'm scared.

dma69 Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 06:54 PM EST

P.S. Love the name Scary McLonghair. Perfect name for Samara.

dma69 Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 06:47 PM EST

It depends on the movie. I remember renting THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and was bored out of my mind. On the other end, THE RING scared the bejesus out of me, so much so I couldn't look at my turned-off TV for several days thinking that creepy kid was gonna burst through. Looking at that photo above is creeping me out again.

(((mommy)))

Stef Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 06:36 PM EST

That picture scares me so much I'm going to have to stay away from popwatch for the next 24 hours!

Cranky Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 06:32 PM EST

Yes, that explains a lot. I am a pretty smart person who can indeed tell the difference between what is real and what is a movie, but I have always had a very viscerally negative reaction to scary movies. It's like my brain downshifts into fight or flight without any logic or reason and I have the uncontrollable desire to flee. I think it has to do with brain function, whether it's genetic or not.

UNK L Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 06:24 PM EST

There's nothing like being scared to get the blood pumping. Plus I think it's character building.
Check out Kinderauma's archives of movies that scared people when they were little and you'll notice they are all quite happy with the experience!

http://www.kindertrauma.com/

KateDFW Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 04:46 PM EST

I can watch any scary movie and they don't faze me a bit. My dad would make my brother and I stay up with him and watch the "late movies" (before the days of cable). I think I watched Psycho when I was 8. Saw the Exotrcist at 14 and thought it was hilarious! But give me a movie with "normal" looking people that are actually crazy...that scares the %^$# out of me. Rutger Hauger in The Hitcher was a perfect case in point. Can not watch that movie to this day!

Pinky Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 04:32 PM EST

I was also making the "EEEP" sound during The Ring. I asked my little brother to, "Please tell me when it's over" and in classic sense, he waited until the music died down to tell me it was over and when I came up from fetal position, I saw Scary McLonghair coming at me. I like being scared but can only handle it during daylight hours. Otherwise, I have to immediately watch another movie to get the scary one out of my head. And I can't stand any film that has the torture of people in it (Funny Games, I'm looking at you). They don't scare me, they just piss me off.

Slezak Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 04:03 PM EST

Nancy, I am glad to know I am not the only person on the planet who plans escape routes from my apartment (and knows which household objects can be used as weapons, too). Everyone does that, right?

BrandonK Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 03:54 PM EST

I don't enjoy scary movies, but I don't think I'm easily frightened or startled, either. When I do get roped into watching horror or a thriller, I put myself in a state of mind where I'm always aware that it's a movie. I guess that doesn't really answer whether I have the scaredy-cat gene, but I'm definitely less scared of things than my partner.

jcarla Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 03:07 PM EST

It always depend on the movie. The Freddie/Jason types don't scare me because they telegraph what is about to happen. On the other hand 'The Orphanage' really shook me, because you kept going back and forth from might-be ghost to might-be human killer. My only other problem is any vermin, so guess which part of 'Cloverfield' I had the most problem with?

Minutiae Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 03:00 PM EST

If a horror movie has a horrible or nonexistent plot, I get too distracted by it to actually get scared. That goes for all the Saw movies, as well as just about every slasher film out there. Also, if it isn't made to seem plausible, and I don't believe in whatever they're selling (I don't believe in ghosts or monsters), I can appreciate a good plot but not be scared. However, give me something like 28 Days Later, and I will both love and fear it.

Melinda65 Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 02:50 PM EST

It depends on the movie--I liked* "The Sixth Sense," but no way will I watch blood-and-guts movies, or movies where someone is being relentlessly chased by someone/thing (although I thought "The Lost Boys" was awesome.) If I'm forced to watch horror movies, I prefer them to be chopped up by network censors; "Candyman" was hilarious that way! Ditto "Dawn of the Dead."
*Okay, I admit that whenever it seemed as though the movie would get scary, I peered over my glasses and through my fingers.

Kristin Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 02:46 PM EST

Despite zombies being one of my biggest irrational fears, I can completely tolerate those movies. Same with the ultra violent gory films like Saw. However, I cannot take any movies with dead children, or any type of J-horror (and US remakes of) films. Ghosts with slow, stilted movements freak me out to no end.

TSD Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 02:27 PM EST

I hate horror movies. I can't watch any of them. But, that is not the shameful thing. That lies with my brother. He was scared of the Michael Jackson video "Thriller" when we were kids.

Marcie Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 02:23 PM EST

CSI gives me nightmares, and that is the only "scary" thing I can watch!!

I would rather poke my eyes out than watch Saw too. I do NOT do well with torture and suspense. And blood. And psycho killers. And if there is an animal in a house, like a dog or cat, I freak too. Good to know its all in my genes!!

A. Rae Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 02:22 PM EST

It's ridiculous to me that my four and a half year old daughter isn't afraid of the creepy scarecrows on Dr. Who, but I am. Especially since she keeps rubbing it in that they don't scare her at all!

Nancy Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 02:01 PM EST

I'm even more easily rattled than you, Slezak. After spending years watching all the scary Jason/Michael Myers/Freddy/Exorcist movies, and sleeping with the lights on, and having really bad dreams, and devising escape routes out of my apartment as I was lying awake at night, because some movie scared the you-know-what out of me, I finally asked "why am I doing this to myself?" And I just stopped. I don't watch anything scary like that anymore, and I sleep much better!

Tate Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 02:00 PM EST

Only when Jack Nicholson is limping around with an axe in his hand...

Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 01:50 PM EST

That movie completley creeped me out, but why people didn't FLEE once the ghost started comming thru the TV was beyond me.

Laurie Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 01:12 PM EST

Horror movies just bore the pants off me. It's just a movie! What's to be scared of? Unless it's so bad it's funny, I spend the whole time yawning. I wish people would give up trying to convert me. It's not happening.

Wojo Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 12:49 PM EST

For some reason, I always jump if I turn a corner in the office and someone is unexpectedly there. Or if I open a door that is completely opaque and someone is immediately on the other side. My coworkers think it's hilarious. Yet, I love scary movies and am rarely affected by them on any kind of psychological level. So none of it makes much sense to me.

donner Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 12:24 PM EST

I get MORE rattled if the movie is something that hits close to home..when I was 16 and a babysitter who lived in Illinois, I watched Halloween - a psycho who hunts 16yr old babysitters...I was terrified for, well, ever...

I can't see movies like "Funny Games" or ones where normal people are terrorized at home (the killer is using the phone upstairs, Carole Kane!)...I immediately think someone has snuck into my house and is waiting for me to turn the lights out...no way...

I can't handle blood and guts movies - Saw, Hostel, etc...nope...

Andrea Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 12:15 PM EST

In my case it actually depends on the type of horror movie. If it's a Saw or Texas Chainsaw Massacre (i.e. more gross and bloody than really creepy) then yes, I get scared but not sleep with the lights on scared. Movies like the Shining, the Others and the Ring, though, scare the daylights out of me! The Shining will still give me nightmares if I see more than 30 seconds of it...it's stuck in my subconscious, I guess!

coco Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 12:13 PM EST

I can't see movies with wet kids (drowned, in a bathtub, in a well,pool, river, etc..)
Wet kids freak me out!

nay-lo Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 11:54 AM EST

I didn't sleep for a week after seeing "Critters" when I was 6 (if you have seen this campy movie, you'll know my shame). A friend of mine forced me to see the remake of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and I spent the entire movie with my eyes (and ears) covered. I cried at "The Ring" when they showed the first dead girl in the closet. I would rather poke my eyes out that ever watch any of the Saw movies. I get it from my mom - but having studied genetics, it could have just as much to do with environmental factors (being raised by a scardy cat could create a scardy cat) as inheriting genes.

Christa Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 11:46 AM EST

Scary McLonghair!!!! That's awesome.

Winona Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 11:39 AM EST

I am another that is genetically predisposed to not want to be in the same room as a horror movie. I'll hide behind the couch for the next 90 minutes, thankyou. Or better yet, run upstairs and watch that Who documentary on VH1 Classic for the umpteenth time.

kelli Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 11:09 AM EST

FINALLY, i have an authentic scientific excuse to use when explaining to my husband (for the zillionth time) that i don't like scary movies. When he asks why (which he ALWAYS asks), now i can say i am genetically opposed!!