Horror (Movies) Can Be Your Happy Place

Hey, they're folks. It is Monday, October first, and there are two kinds of people in the world, those who love horror movies and those who don't. Which one are you and what does it say about you? Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Robes. This is sometimes the only time of year some people even entertain the idea of a horror movie. What is the thing they say about us most a horror movie fans. They think something's wrong with They.

Think we're sick, we're deviant, we have a fascination with the abomination. They question our ethics. I mean, I definitely have had people because I have been a horror movie fan since I can remember. I believe my first horror movie. I don't believe. I know my first horror movie was Poltergeist. In second grade. I sneaked to a neighbor's house who had HBO to watch it, and I was hooked from that moment on. So what does that say about me?

They think something is wrong with us, and some people can stomach a horror movie or two. We are I give it to it. We're a little on the extreme side. We are we wouldn't call ourselves experts. Well, we're something of aficionados. We watch more horror movies and we know more about them than most people.

I would talk to you, yes, one hundred percent, and I would say ninety eight percent of the time we go to the movies, and we go to the movies at least once a month, but sometimes more. It is to see a horror movie.

Okay, So we talk about horror movies quite a bit. Anytime we see a new and we see every big one that comes out, we talk about it on the podcast. But this time, for the month of Oktober, we are gonna celebrate horror movies and we're gonna help some of you folks out. We're gonna in this episode at least explain a little bit of the science, the psychology, your personality traits, what is contributing to you liking or not liking horror movies. That is absolutely fascinating. You're gonna want

We could have done fifties.

Oh, we could have done eighty. I think. Actually we had a hard time whittling down the list. We're thinking we'll save that for next year because the movies that we're going to give you this month will be from all different from different decades, different subgenres of horror movies, and not all highly reviewed. Some of them have a very high Rotten Tomato score and some of them have a fifteen percent.

But we like that and we recommend every single one gets absolutely all recommendation. But why in the first place, roapes There is a lot of study that has been done on this over the years, not all of a consensus, but it gives you an idea and some insights into why we like horror movies.

Why would anybody?

Right, we're talking about fear, anxiety, dread. Those are negative emotions? Are they not discussed?

Sometimes?

Yes, that's the.

One that you have to throw in there as well. That's a big deal. We'll talk about why would you Well, okay, I'll ask you personally, why do you go to the movie and put yourself in a position to do things that we normally consider awful?

Because there are a couple of reasons. I had to think about it. It just came naturally to me. I'll have to say, I didn't have to think about it. I didn't have to talk myself into it.

I just be a reason for that.

Naturally liked it. And I will have to say both of my daughters were the exact same way, where they were fascinated with Harry Potter, then they wanted to watch Conjuring and they were young. I have a I am a thrill seeker. I have always loved the rush of adrenaline. It's why I almost certainly probably gravitated towards the news and journalism because there was an excitement and a thrill

I didn't plan on starting with this direction, but you directed me exactly to this point. Who are the type of people that like horror movie is one of the top things. People who have a high sense of sensation seeking. Yes, you call it thrill seeking. They use the term sensation seeking. Folks who are looking for some type over rush, who are looking for a thrill of some kind. Yes, it plays into why you ride roller coasters as well. This

Yeah, you wouldn't let me, Like, don't look at any research. Let me guide this because you're going to be wowed.

Okay, here's how one researcher put it, and I'm quoting individuals thought to be high sensation seekers would experience much more positive emotion when highly aroused and stimulated, and would seek negative stimulation to maximize their arousal because this stimulation was intense. It's saying that the negative experience is such a rush that you will run to that even though it's negative.

Yes, I mean you've seen me when things start getting really tense in a movie theater, I will partially close my like put my hands over my face so that I feel safe. But I'm still looking through my hands. I'm not in jeopardy of anything, and yet I feel that excitement of ooh, well, I don't want to look, but I'm looking. I don't know. I love it.

It goes on robes here. It is a negative stimulus, such as a horror film, might therefore be interpreted by a person high in sensation seeking such as yourself, as being very positive, but a person low in sensation seeking would find the stimulus a horror movie unpleasant.

Yeah.

So it has a lot to do with your personality what you seek out. Even though you might be a thrill seeker and looking to have fun and climb a mountain or do a roller coaster that's associated with fun, you also just the excitement, the energy, and a drilling you feel you'll go get it anywhere, even if it's watching some horrible stuff on TV.

Well, because I know it's not real. Look, I will you. I have said this, and I and I feel like you're the same. I don't like watching torture. I don't like things that are drawn out and excruciating that bothers me. And if any thing mimics something that is too close to real life, I also don't love that either. So I gravitate like I think that's why I love Supernatural. I love a monster, I love all of that kind

And the things that keep you up are never because you saw a movie that had to do with bodygore, nuts or that kind of torture. It was all some spirit.

It's supernatural. Anything supernatural that stays with me. I actually was in a hotel a couple months ago and they had these old armchairs just sitting towards the bed, and it was an old hotel from the eighteen hundreds in Colorado, and I had to actually throw my suitcase on it, and then I thought, no, it looks like someone's sitting there. I've had to take coat hangers off of racks because I feel like it's going to look like someone standing

Okay, but stimulation is a big reason why you're sitting in there, and you are being stimulated mentally and physically. Yes, physically, your heart rate goes up, sometimes you start sweating, you have sweaty palms, you have a physical reaction to it, and you're breathing hard. That's a stimulation. Now, your mental

It is. And you know what's cool about that is you you mentioned the moment. You are in the moment when I am watching something that's that exciting and that thrilling, I am not thinking about what I have to do tomorrow. I'm not thinking about what I screwed up today. I am not doing any of that future casting. I am in the moment.

Okay, you are truly a horror movie Officionado because another big part you've guided me to the next thing I was going to talk. I swear I didn't look you didn't. But this is another part of why folks that love horror movies love horror movies, because it is as you were explaining, it's immersive. You are in it with anticipation, You're in the edge of your seat, You're following on with this character, you are experiencing the same terror that character is. And yes, you have to be there and

Horror?

The horror movie I would do.

No, I don't.

I have never. I've watched a horror movie by myself at home, and I've done that and regretted it because I've been really scary.

This. You have to because it is an experience.

It is a I want to share it experience with somebody.

And honestly, you we've talked about this before, but this was a huge connection that you and I had because when you find someone else who loves horror movies, it's like this immediate kinship. So I have it with a couple. I can tell you Sarah Haynes loves horror movies. I can tell you that Lester Holt loves horror movies because every time we would see something, we go did you

The other things reasons people watch. You've talked about this privately before plenty escapism, right, it allows you to detach from your every day all that's going on in the world right now. It's crazy to think, yeah, let me go watch somebody get slaughtered on in a movie to get away from it. But yes, it is escapism. You know it's not real. You can actually detach from it,

It feels I love that because that's so true. It feels like you're in an altar universe. I remember I was so immersed. This wasn't a movie, but I was so immersed into the Walking Dead series that I watched so many in a row. I remember I walked outside and I thought that I might see a zombie. But how fun is that? I mean, obviously, intellectually I knew I wasn't going to see one, but there was a part of me that I had to catch myself, like, wait, no, I'm in the real world now, there isn't going to

The other people who like horror movies, no surprise, but at least the studies and whatnot they've seen, usually younger folks and usually more so men than women, and men and women seem to sometimes have a different reaction to movies horror movie. They might watch the same movie get satisfaction out of that movie for different reasons.

It's funny because a lot of people who I know who are couples, either one of them loves them and the other one doesn't, and they always have a hard time because they can never bring their significant other with them too. So I remember always having like this like hodge Podge group of people who couldn't bring their spouses because no, their spouses didn't want to watch, and like ran away from the theater. So we would just kind of collect ourselves, those us misfits who love horror movies.

Okay, the other thing, the people who like horror movies tend to have an openness to experiences. According to some research. Also, they're able I just mentioned, is able to achieve psychological detachment. Meaning you're watching a movie, you're seeing a guy in a mask running towards somebody with clown shoes and a knife. There's probably not going to happen to you. You're able to separate enough act necessarily fearful at that point, also

Well that's a shame, you know what.

There's some opposing research. Yeah, the jury is still out on that, but that's been out there for a little while.

I mean, and people can say, you know, I don't know what other people. You don't ever really have full self awareness. I don't know how people would regard me, but I do think I have had the ability, and I would think you would have too, doing the jobs that we do as journalists having to process. I think police officers, a lot of first responders. Yes, you have empathy, but you have an ability to compartmentalize. So I do feel like I have deep empathy when I can, and

Again, some people will make arguments about this to say people are less empathetic, the suggestion that you can look up on screen and I guess you, I guess you don't feel as much of a not necessarily feel sorry for the scenario that you're seeing.

Well, I can separate art from reality.

But thats suggestion. That's why some people got bored by the ID to call people less empathetic seems wild, but no to I like it the way the other put it, that you're able to achieve psychological detachment. I know what I'm watching, I know where I am, I know what I'm doing, and I am enjoying this experience. And you mentioned discussed earlier, that's the one part of movies, according

You don't like body horror, which is very much what you just described. And I feel like the audio that goes along with the body horror really schevs me out. Like yes, like the cutting, the slicing, the blood, I don't like any of that. That is a little bit too much for me as well. I don't like to be disgusted, Like I said, I don't like I don't like torture, so I think it would go along with that. I don't I don't enjoy watching that.

Well, we told you, folks, we are going to give you a movie a day for the entire month of October. The list is not going to include all the obvious ones, but we when we come back, will point out here at least give a nod to the obvious ones. And I'm sure some of you all are going to have a problem and say we left something out. And also one other thing. When we come back, I'm gonna hit you with why the adrenaline fueled fight or flight response in the movie theater is something we keep going back

I do. I do, I have always tried to. I want people to enjoy it the way I do. I want to bring people along. We're horror evangelists.

Okay, this is the best way as horror evangelists we can put it. And again, research I did, I think I said this to your baby. I think I did too deep of a dot, like I was getting lost in all this research and whatnot. But this is the best way. I heard put it, heard put it, heard it put When you're in a movie, what you are experiencing in a horror movie is an adrenaline field, an adrenaline fueled fight or flight response to an attack. Your body, your brain thinks there is an attack going on you.

You know you're safe.

There's not many things in the world where that actually could occur simultaneously or physiologically.

Going through that thing that's like intense. At the same time you know you're safe, and that's just a rush. It's almost like a roller coaster for us. We love roller coasters.

And so by what you're saying it makes sense. I would say, I mean this, I am addicted to horror movies. Like if you told me I could never watch another horror movie again, I would be despondent. I we watch a horror movie almost every day.

Oh, so you're right.

We have Rush on and to my left there's oddity two horror movies.

Hush, he said, rush Rush is there a movie. There's a thing called rush hour.

Rush. I think that was a that was a race car movie.

Yeah, anything rush over there. What I'm saying is we always have something on. I even complained earlier, like what's wrong with us? That we had a horror movie on in the front of the house and we hear a woman screaming on the TV in the back end the liveary.

We had to go turn it off because we were record an episode, and we probably thought it wasn't good to have a woman screaming in the background on the television.

But that's our.

White noise almost. It's just we have horror movies on in the background. Yes, we love them that much, and we love them we want other people to experience it. That's why we're talking about it all the time. Here, though, are the obvious ones. Again, we're giving you one a day starting what tomorrow, starting tomorrow, starting tomorrow, give you one a day counting down to Halloween. But these are some of the I think obvious classics. How many man looks like we got twenty or so here, but we

Nineteen seventy nine Alien.

You know a lot of people. I I kind of a partial Alien. The second the sequel Aliens.

Oh, I love the original Alien without a doubt. And then of course I feel like one of the original most incredible horror movies Psycho nineteen sixty.

What was the scene. There's history in there with that something out of the shower scene, but yeah, that was an incredible I could watch that anytime. You see that, and we think, like this movie would be over today because just if somebody had a cell phone.

Oh my goodness. Every single horror movie out there now has to deal with the fact that technology exists, and so they always have to create a scenario in which there's no cell phone service, the phone gets broken, they're in a remote area. Watch every modern horror movie and almost right away they have to establish that there's no phone signal. Anybody signal it every time. So we look at each other and we laugh because they have to do it now.

They have to do it also Saw that was two thousand and four. They've gotten ten movies out of.

This carry el was and that original Saw. Oh, and that is torture. But couldn't stop watching it. But that was excruciatingly good. Is the best way, I guess.

One of the newer classics, if you will, that we have on the list.

Yes, this one, Oh my goodness, the Exorcist the year of my birth, nineteen seventy three. That is an oldie, but a goodie I can. I mean, have you ever taken a picture and you see some sort of a shadow or a light going through your neck? And I immediately think of the Exorcist? Right? Is that the Exorcist when they foreshadow the deaths of folks when they take pictures? Or is that the omen? Am I screwing it up?

Wait a minute, I think you're am I'm screwing it up.

That's the omen See, this is what happened. I get confused the Exorcist. But obviously that was just the vomiting and the head spinning around. So it's actually I'm trying to think of it right now.

You gotta see that one. Children of the Core in nineteen eighty four, what's the kid's name?

Malachi Malack?

I will always think Malachi, But what the head kid?

What was his name?

Malachi scared me more than the red headed.

Yeah, he was scary as I'll get out. But this is a that was a Stephen King, right, Yes, okay, how many? I wonder how many on here of steering there.

Are several of them? Child's nineteen eighty eight. It's funny. I had written down we were making this list Chucky, and then I realized, wait, it's not called Chucky, it's child's play.

And again that spawned all kinds of spinoffs and all kind they had, Bride of Chucky even, yes, was a movie, yesing Gangbusters your first, right.

My first? Nineteen eighty two Poltergeist, I so, yes, I was nine years old, so I watched it as soon as it came on HBO. So that movie there here. I sweated for years, staring at my closet, making sure it was shut, making sure I checked my closet. That and then clowns. That started my fear of clowns because of that little clown that you just heard the footsteps. And then thunderstorms one one thousand and two, one thousand and three one thousand with the tree and trees.

Yeah, that thing would turn you off to your whole childhood.

It basically scared me. And yet I wanted more.

Didn't you want to sit in chairs and watch TV?

Because after Polter Guys, the next horror movie I watched was the next one on our list, Nightmare on Elm Street. Then I couldn't go to sleep, I couldn't dream.

That was That movie was mean. I mean what it did to kids, You're scared to go. You literally are a wait a minute, is this a real thing? Yeah? That was a good, a perfect horror movie.

Yes, Nightmare on Elm Street was beyond scary. Nineteen eighty four, nineteen eighty four, all right.

I can't remember how many sequels either.

So many. I know they continue to continue the shining, the shining nineteen eighties, and I have seen how many times have we seen that movie?

I mean, what he does and he see him descend into match Jack Nicholson.

Yeah, and that was that is Stephen King as well, So yes, it's Stephen King. Yes, and then yes, I just talked about the omen with the pictures, and yes, when Gregor the stairs and the priests and oh my God, how about It's All for You, Damien and she jumps off of the I guess the fourth floor or whatever,

And to be clear, the movie is called the First Omen, but it's the most recent OMEN picture.

It's the prequel. It's the prequel to the original of the nineteen seventy six one. But I would actually, if you guys haven't seen it, I would encourage you to watch the original OMEN with Gregory Peck and then and then go back and watch the First Omen, or do it in whatever order you want. But it's so well done. It's so well done.

The next two AVO obvious classics Friday the Thirteenth Halloween to the most successful franchises in movie history. Those were seventy eight was Halloween of course Jamie Lee, Curtis Michael By superstardom, and in nineteen eighty was the First Friday the Thirteenth the next one on the list here. I guess maybe some would argue, is it a classic or a cult classic?

It's a cult classic. I think I know what you did last summer nineteen ninety seven. It's so good. It spawned so many careers. It's campy but also a little scary.

I liked that one. This most recent one it.

Was not as good, but the most recent scream. I loved the original stream nineteen ninety six Drew Barrymore. I love that opening scene on the phone. It is so so good. So they recreated that with this latest one, and it is phenomenal. Jenna Ortega and she's been doing a lot of horror movies lately. We love her, but maybe the Wednesday character has spawned that.

Yeah, I don't want to sound don't think it sounds me. She has a good look for it. She does pull all like kind of a dark look with the dark hening.

But she's cute and you're rooting for her. Yes, Okay, Obviously we have to talk about the conjuring that has become a classic now and the juggernaut that it is. If we had included all of the movies we love, half of them would be in the Conjuring Family, so we just had to put them all in this classics and would love to give special love to Conjuring two, Annabelle Creation and None too. Those are my probably three favorites of the Conjuring Family, which is the.

Most now successful horror movie franchise in history. Next movie, there's a sweet spot for us on those with nineteen ninety two's candy Man the original Tony Todd. Of course we just love who passed pretty recently the last several months. But yeah, that's just now. That is a classic.

I can't go into a parking garage without thinking Candy Man is going to be there with his hooked hand and Cabrini Green Chicago, the whole setting, everything. It's such a I didn't really love the remake. I know it did well, but to me, the original was just the best, all right.

Of course, everybody knows Jaws fifteenth on the versary just happened. That is a classic, dude, I mean that's a horror movie, right, Yes.

It's oh my Dudham, Dunham.

It happens to be a fish and not a knife wielding mast man.

It's a monster at least it was. Yes, it was a monster. But anytime I watched a movie and it made me change behaviors, Jaws one hundred percent is probably the reason why I still have a fear of the ocean, and I would say a healthy fear of the ocean, because there are shark sharks in there, and I know they're not all monsters, but I'm just I feel like better safe than sorry.

I would say none of them a monster.

None of them are monsters, of course. Stephen King again, right, it nineteen ninety. I had to be reminded this was a television mini series originally, but I saw it for the first time on BHS, so I forgot about that. But yes, it that original.

Yeah, don't tell me.

It messed with me because I read the book and loved it. Then I watched this, and obviously it reinstilled my fear of clowns. Pennywise, they all float down there. But John Boy, you probably didn't watch The Waltons growing up, but I did. John Boy suddenly is thrust into this horror movie. I thought it was such a fun little twist to see someone who was normally you know, in a non life threatening storyline suddenly is in it and was basically the poster child of that movie. So loved it right.

Twenty eight days two thousand and two. They just a sequel not too long ago, but well that was this year.

It was this year twenty eight years later.

Later, So a heck of a sequel. But that thing, it certainly has legs to it. The American Werewolf in London. American Werewolf in London, I should say that was in nineteen eighty one. But again that got a lot of credit for I guess being pretty cool and innovative in the way they used makeup, in the way he changed into that where well, if that was cool. But nineteen

Rosemary's Baby, Mia Farrow so so so good. Loved it, you know, I just realized because I always think of when I think of Mia Farrow, I always think of Sissy SPACEK two, which reminds me of Carrie, which is another another Stephen King movie around the same time. That one was so scary as well.

On the list as well. Many people probably haven't seen it but you should check it out. It's a silent movie, but it is considered one of the greatest horror movies of all time, really genre defining, and maybe even the best horror movie of all time. Nosferatu from nineteen twenty to a silent movie. It's essentially the story of Dracula. This was an original and I love, love, love this movie. It's different if you just embrace and experience it. It is really cool to see what they did with movie

Yeah, I think nineteen ninety Misery again another Stephen King, he is the mastermind of horror. But yes, that with Kathy Bates and just such such a good film. Could watch that. I've watched that so many times. I've seen the next one at least ten times. Silence of the Lambs nineteen ninety one, Anthony Hopkins and Jody Foster at some of their best.

You know what I might do?

I have this right, I'm gonna say it out loud and I'll converm it later. But I do believe this is the only horror movie they ever win an Oscar.

That makes well, no, because actually the most recent one, the South Korean Parasite.

That's considered hard.

That's a horror movie I ever saw that. You haven't it's so good. That is that horror movie. Absolutely one best picture. Yes, oh, I'll watch it with you.

It's so good.

The Ring I loved the Ring. That was Australian actress blonde Naomi Watts. I this one scared me to death. I didn't want to watch any DVD or any VHS tape that was handed to me. I needed to know where it came from and needed to be sourced. This movie freaked me out. In two thousand and two.

Then of course you had The Evil Dead. That series has been going on since nineteen eighty one. They've had several big gaps in between sequels. I think they've only done five since nineteen eighty one, but they are all worth checking out. But nineteen eighty one was the original and the most recent Evil Dead Rise. Well, I mean, your daughters are adults, and they stopped watching within ten minutes.

This is a true story, and they love horror movies. I had been telling them about how unbelievably scary and gripping. I mean, your whole body hurts because you're so intensely watching. They were on a plane. They both started watching within five minutes like nope, and they turned it off. They're like, not gonna watch anymore. It was too scary. And then we have to talk about the Insidious series because they were. Patrick Wilson is also just getting I want to give

Yes, of course, Insidious too.

Yes, of course it is. It's so good with that Red Door. The last one wasn't quite as good, but go for Insidious too. If you want to jump in. You don't have to watch the first one.

Those are the classics, if you will, that are not going to be included in our daily list. So we want to at least give love and give acknowledgement to those. So folks try it this month. We're going to give you a different one every day, and it's going to be a different flavor every day. Some of them aren't so gory, some of them are supernatural. Some you better have a strong stomach. Others are a little funny. It's going to be something in there for everybody. We're going

Yes, So please join us as we count down to Halloween for some of the scariest movies you might not have heard of, but we hope you'll check them out after checking out our podcast. So with that, thank you for listening. Everybody. I'm Amy Roebuck alongside TJ. Holmes. We will talk to you soon.