(Mostly) Effective Tips For Teaching A Straight To Like Horror Movies

     My last post addressed the way in which straights (non horror fans) can have a tendency to look down their noses at horror fans, like we're Trekkies or something.  They only do this because they're ignorant.  It's our duty as fans to try to remedy this ignorance.  Following are a few tips from my own experience that I hope will help my fellow genre fans to convert the unwashed masses.


1)  The Classics Are Your Cornerstone

     The classics are considered classics for a reason.  It's no accident that every Halloween brings a wave of those "Ten Best Horror Movies To Watch On Halloween" lists from a slew of straight websites.  Sure, you'll see some variation, but these lists are mostly populated from a pool of the same titles on every single site.  We horror fans generally roll our eyes and think something like "The Exorcist?  Again?"  Still, though, you'd be surprised how many straights have never seen The Exorcist.

     The classics are a great place to let your student dip a foot into the bloody pool of horror, because your student will want to see these titles for many of the same reasons that filmmakers want to remake them.  Even if your subject has never seen these movies, he's at least aware of them.  He already has at least a vague idea of what they're about, often because he's already seen some of those aforementioned remakes.  Yes, even straights who profess not to like horror movies will occasionally go to see one - just goofin' - and chances are, what they saw was probably a remake with a familiar title.  Take the "in" and show them the original.


2)  Know Your Student

     Don't show a pregnant woman It's Alive (1974).  The amusement to be had from watching her squirm uncomfortably will be fleeting.  You've made watching a horror movie a distinctly unpleasant experience for her, and that only serves to reinforce her claim that she doesn't like horror.  She won't trust your recommendations in the future because she won't trust your motives.

Lena Leandersson - Let The Right One In (2008)

     Take time to find out what kind of movies your student does like, and choose a title that somehow ties into that.  If she likes arty foreign films, show her Let The Right One In (2008).  If she likes comedies, show her Shaun Of The Dead (2004).  If she likes being intellectually engaged by a movie, show her Pontypool (2008).  Remember that your student already has preconceived notions about the horror genre.  You're trying to make an end run around those preconceptions in the hopes of demonstrating that the horror genre is multifaceted enough to encompass movies that even she will enjoy.


3)  Make It A Learning Experience

     Some people respond well to the idea of developing an intellectual appreciation for something even when they believe that something doesn't actually appeal to them.  Sometimes that intellectual appreciation can develop into a genuine enthusiasm once they've become attuned to the particulars of the subject.  Use that to your advantage when introducing someone to the horror genre.

     I programmed two different series of genre movies for some of my students that I referred to as The Drive-In Movie Summer Series.  We watched one movie each Wednesday for twelve weeks.  Prior to starting this undertaking I even went so far as to create a program schedule with bullet-pointed facts, trivia, and production info.  Putting the movies into some kind of context for my students before watching them piqued their interest, and it served to make the whole experience something more than just "horror guy subjecting straights to B-movies".  They were only humoring me at first, but they were fully and genuinely invested in the experience by the end of the summer.

John Travolta - The Devil's Rain (1975)

     Be careful, though.  Don't get too bogged down in horror-centric details and lose sight of your goal.  For example, one of the movies we watched was The Devil's Rain (1975), and I made sure my resident John Travolta fan knew he was in it.  That's a bullet-point that mattered to her.  On the other hand, telling her it was directed by the same guy who directed The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) would have meant nothing to her.  This leads nicely into number four . . .


4)  Build On Your Successes

     If you show your student a Fulci movie and he objects to the graphic violence, shelve the Fulci movies until later.  If you show your student an Argento movie and he objects to the lack of narrative cohesion, fall back to horror movies with more linear narratives.  Don't force the issue.  There may be an opportunity to reintroduce Fulci or Argento later, but only if your student is still watching horror movies later.  Some directors, subgenres, and styles are acquired tastes.  I was only lukewarm on Argento's Suspiria (1977) the first time I saw it, and that's almost unfathomable to me now.  My tastes had to broaden and mature.  Your student will never get to that point if you insist upon beating him relentlessly about the face and neck with movies you think he should like.

     Use softer "gateway" horror like Gremlins (1984), Poltergeist (1982), or Arachnophobia (1990) first to get a feel for what your student might find tolerable, then branch out from there into thematically similar "hard" horror.  Take the time to build a foundation for your student's education.  We all had to walk before we ran.


5)  Recognize Your Student's Opinions Are Valid (Even If They're Wrong)

     You will inevitably show your student a horror movie you love that he doesn't care for.  Don't get discouraged.  Don't take it personally.  This is an opportunity, not a setback.

Angus Scrimm - Phantasm (1979)

     Ask your student to identify what they found unappealing about the movie.  Gently prod them into examining critically exactly why they didn't like it.  Resist the urge to tell them they're wrong and then proceed to explain to them why they're wrong for half an hour.  Instead, turn their criticisms back on them, and make this an opportunity for them to examine what in particular didn't appeal to them.  This will, in turn, prompt them to consider what they do like.  You've now made your student an active participant in his education, strengthened his own critical faculties, encouraged him to view a horror movie as a topic worthy of examination, and let him know it's o.k. if he doesn't like everything he sees.  You can deal with the fact that he's a nutcase for not enjoying Phantasm (1979) at a later date.


6)  Be Prepared For The Day The Student Becomes The Master

     If you've done your job well, this will happen.  You'll have another horror literate friend with whom to watch your favorites.  All of those years you spent amassing a wealth of useless knowledge about the horror genre will not have been wasted.  When you help your student develop her affinity for zombie movies and she later comes to you interested in watching The Battery (2012), you'll know you've succeeded.


     So what tactics have worked for you?  Post a comment below to share your own tips.  One final note:  I was just joshing with that Trekkie slur at the start of this post.  I like Star Trek.  Really.

Movies At Dog Farm Remembers: The Early Scares And Formative Horrors

"They're here."  Poltergeist (1982)

     I'm edging up on my 43rd birthday at the end of this month, and that means I've logged about 43 years watching genre movies.  I started young.  Of course, when I was starting out there were a lot less genre movies to watch.  They weren't quite as accessible, either.  You had your drive-in, your theater (not multiplex - a crucial distinction) or your thirteen channels of broadcast television.  One of those thirteen channels was PBS, and all the others were snow after a certain hour of the night - that would be snow like what Carol Anne watches on her family's sweet-ass tube television in Poltergeist, kids.  You see, back then television stations still ended their broadcast days at around 2:00 or 3:00 a.m.  Then you'd get "The Star Spangled Banner", then some sort of quasi-religious daily affirmation, then snow.  At least once a week, though, I'd get a shot of late night genre goodness delivered before the snowstorm.

The nameplate on Bowman Body's casket.

     Most of my earliest recollections of exposure to genre movies were tied to once weekly viewings of Shock Theater hosted by The Bowman Body.  I've written fondly of Shock Theater in the past here.  It was preceded each Saturday night by Soul Train.  As such, I was one of what I'm sure was a legion of surprisingly funky lower middle class pre-teens well-versed in the old black and white Universal horror movies and sci-fi B movies straight from the 1950s.  I watched whatever was on, but a few stand out.

Scary stuff, right?

     Many of the movies dealt with the traditional werewolves, vampires, and mummies.  Most of the others dealt with anthromorphic horrors of some sort, because a guy in a monster suit usually still pretty much looked like a guy in a monster suit.  Occasionally, though, something a little different would come along, and those were always the ones that had the most impact.  The Blob (1958) actually terrified me as a child.  If something with a more or less human form came after me, there were safe places to hide.  The Blob could get me anywhere.  The lyrics to the deceptively catchy Burt Bacharach song "Beware The Blob" that played over the opening credits said it all:  "Beware of the Blob! - It creeps and leaps and glides and slides across the floor - Right through the door and all around the wall - A splotch, a blotch - Be careful of the blob!"  Now where in the hell was I going to hide from a monster like that?

The monster challenging the world, one closet door at a time.

     The Monster That Challenged The World (1957) was another favorite.  I just rewatched this a few days ago, and giant prehistoric mollusks from the Salton Sea still hold up pretty well.  The movie actually builds up to some solid chills, and it boasts an impressive monster design that gets its fair share of screen time.  Secretary Gail MacKenzie telling her little daughter Sandy to close her eyes as one of the monsters tears through the door is still strong stuff.  I don't recall too many children being placed in harm's way in the old horror movies, so that moment really hit home for me.  Again, too, this was a monster that didn't possess a recognizably human form.  Apparently, I was just sophisticated enough a viewer to demand a bit more from my monsters in order to buy the premise.  So how about a monster that still keeps me from going into ocean water more than knee deep?

Easily one of the best movie scares ever.  Jaws (1975)

     Jaws (1975) is a seminal horror for a lot of viewers, and I was young enough to be completely gobsmacked by it. Jaws was a little too upscale for Shock Theater, and I know that first viewing was a prime time network broadcast.  I know this because I almost didn't see it.  You see, my mother had found some boogers wiped on the underside of the kitchen table, and when I was confronted about this I tried vainly to convince her it had been my father who'd left them there.  The booger issue was less serious than the fact that I lied about it.  I was punished for lying, my punishment being no TV for a month (seems a little harsh, doesn't it?).  I knew nothing of Jaws, but my father - God bless him - did.  He knew I'd want to see it, and he brokered a one night reprieve for me.  Because the network television premiere of Jaws was a special circumstance, he convinced my mother to let me off the hook for just one night.  Thanks, Dad.

     I've been thinking about all of these special movies because we old people always tend to wax nostalgic on birthdays.  I've also been thinking of them because I anxiously await the day I get to introduce my little baby Gunnar to genre movies.  Adrienne says I have to ease him into it because she doesn't want to be left to contend with the nightmares.  I envy Gunnar.  If only something as innocent as The Blob could still breed nightmares for me . . .  I'll get to see everything old become new again through Gunnar's eyes, though, and that's going to be pretty freakin' awesome.

     What movies gave you your first nightmares as a child?