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Horror This or That
May. 8th, 2024 06:05 pmI found a horror-themed "this or that" questionnaire and thought it might be fun to do here. It was formatted as a photo to be posted on an Instagram story, but I don't use Instagram or Facebook, so I'm just going to answer the questions in good ol' blog format!
Slasher or psychological? I love a good slasher film, like the Scream series or the original Halloween, but psychological horror just barely wins this one. Jacob's Ladder and Get Out are two of my favorite films, and that's largely due to the fact that they have a creeping kind of fear. Their type of horror slowly permeates your mind and makes you question everything you know about the characters, their situations, and even your own reality.
I don't think slasher films can't be deep, and Scream is an excellent commentary on the horror genre and the film industry, but psychological horror tends to make you examine your own life and the world around you a little more deeply.
Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees? I'm a Halloween person, through and through. Michael Myers is the ultimate evil, and he's one of my favorite horror villains. I love the original Halloween best, when you don't understand much about him or the reason behind his bloodlust. He just is.
Paranormal or sci-fi? I choose paranormal here because I'm a huge fan of ghosts. While I love stuff like Alien and The Thing, stories revolving around ghosts tend to be my favorites. I immensely enjoyed The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. Often, in ghost stories, it's not so much about the ghosts but what they bring out of the people they haunt, and they can make for fantastic character studies.
Werewolves or vampires? Werewolves! I like vampires, but media is over-saturated with them, whereas we really don't get enough interesting werewolf stories. I like how werewolf narratives can be commentary on our discomfort with our own bodies and our desire to break free of them, or dealing with some sort of major life change, whether it be physical or emotional. My favorite werewolf movie? It's gotta be Ginger Snaps.
Witches or possessions? I'm not a huge fan of possession movies, to be honest. I'd definitely go with witches here. Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic are two of my Halloween staples. Since I was a kid, I've wanted to be like the Owens sisters.
Home invasion or haunted house? Haunted house, for sure. There are some gems in the home invasion genre, like You're Next and Hush, but this kind of falls in line with the "paranormal or sci-fi" question. Ghosts are always going to win for me, along with their creepy homes.
The Grudge or The Ring? Ultimately, I would choose the original Japanese Ring, or Ringu. I never saw Ju-On, the original Japanese version of The Grudge, so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage with this question. If we're talking strictly the American remakes, I prefer The Ring.
Tim Curry or Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise? No disrespect to Bill, but Tim Curry will always be Pennywise to me.
Goosebumps (TV) or Ghost Hunters? I grew up reading the Goosebumps books, but I haven't seen the TV series, so I have to go with Ghost Hunters here. I actually really enjoy watching ghost-hunting shows, even if I take them with a healthy dose of salt.
Found footage films or anthology horror films? A hard choice, to be honest, but I'll go with anthology, mainly because Creepshow is one of my favorite films of all time. I don't share the distaste that many people seem to have for found footage films. I have good memories of seeing the original Paranormal Activity in the theater, even though the series has been overdone since then. And I really enjoyed Spree. Found footage is a difficult genre to get right, but if it's done well, it can be really effective.
Slasher or psychological? I love a good slasher film, like the Scream series or the original Halloween, but psychological horror just barely wins this one. Jacob's Ladder and Get Out are two of my favorite films, and that's largely due to the fact that they have a creeping kind of fear. Their type of horror slowly permeates your mind and makes you question everything you know about the characters, their situations, and even your own reality.
I don't think slasher films can't be deep, and Scream is an excellent commentary on the horror genre and the film industry, but psychological horror tends to make you examine your own life and the world around you a little more deeply.
Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees? I'm a Halloween person, through and through. Michael Myers is the ultimate evil, and he's one of my favorite horror villains. I love the original Halloween best, when you don't understand much about him or the reason behind his bloodlust. He just is.
Paranormal or sci-fi? I choose paranormal here because I'm a huge fan of ghosts. While I love stuff like Alien and The Thing, stories revolving around ghosts tend to be my favorites. I immensely enjoyed The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. Often, in ghost stories, it's not so much about the ghosts but what they bring out of the people they haunt, and they can make for fantastic character studies.
Werewolves or vampires? Werewolves! I like vampires, but media is over-saturated with them, whereas we really don't get enough interesting werewolf stories. I like how werewolf narratives can be commentary on our discomfort with our own bodies and our desire to break free of them, or dealing with some sort of major life change, whether it be physical or emotional. My favorite werewolf movie? It's gotta be Ginger Snaps.
Witches or possessions? I'm not a huge fan of possession movies, to be honest. I'd definitely go with witches here. Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic are two of my Halloween staples. Since I was a kid, I've wanted to be like the Owens sisters.
Home invasion or haunted house? Haunted house, for sure. There are some gems in the home invasion genre, like You're Next and Hush, but this kind of falls in line with the "paranormal or sci-fi" question. Ghosts are always going to win for me, along with their creepy homes.
The Grudge or The Ring? Ultimately, I would choose the original Japanese Ring, or Ringu. I never saw Ju-On, the original Japanese version of The Grudge, so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage with this question. If we're talking strictly the American remakes, I prefer The Ring.
Tim Curry or Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise? No disrespect to Bill, but Tim Curry will always be Pennywise to me.
Goosebumps (TV) or Ghost Hunters? I grew up reading the Goosebumps books, but I haven't seen the TV series, so I have to go with Ghost Hunters here. I actually really enjoy watching ghost-hunting shows, even if I take them with a healthy dose of salt.
Found footage films or anthology horror films? A hard choice, to be honest, but I'll go with anthology, mainly because Creepshow is one of my favorite films of all time. I don't share the distaste that many people seem to have for found footage films. I have good memories of seeing the original Paranormal Activity in the theater, even though the series has been overdone since then. And I really enjoyed Spree. Found footage is a difficult genre to get right, but if it's done well, it can be really effective.