Media Analysis-The horror of horror movies...

I have been one of those people who have watched horror movies since i was about 8. I am not sure whether i enjoyed them or whether it was just the thrill of rebelling against my parents when i watched an 18+ movie. I have become more aware that the older i get, the harder i find it to watch these movies. Whether this is my own personal complex or the fact that movies have become ten times more gruesome in recent times is still something i am trying to work out, probably a little bit of both i guess. Last week i went to see Saw IV, admittedly i've seen the other three and when you buy tickets to the Saw movies you know that you're not going to see a Disney film, however from the opening credits i watched about half the film through my fingers and for the other half i had to cover my face with my scarf. I think the plot is very clever but i cannot help but wonder who comes up with these barbaric ideas of how to disfigure and destroy the human body. On another level im sure anyone who came out of the cinema was secretly looking over their shoulder hoping someone had not taken any ideas from the film and was hoping to test them out! Other films that have received a lot of speculation about the level of gore and violence is Hostel one and two. Creator Eli Roth who came up with the sick plot said he based the film on real life events such as what is going on today in Iraq, a scary comparison but probably true.
The genre of horror has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. There is no comparison to todays horror films with those of a few years ago. The old classics like The Exorcist and the Alfred Hitchcock films are childs play compared to films today. The studios have started to remake horror films such as Halloween and The Texas chainsaw massacre with noticably more blood and violence.
It has been scientifically proven that watching horror films do have an effect on children whether it be having defficulty sleeping after viewing a scary film or avoiding or dreading a dipicted situation in their own lives. However as much as i hate watching these movies, I do sometimes indulge and enjoy the anxiety while being surrounded by friends. The situation quickly turns when i have time to think or i am on my own driving home-my imagination goes into overdrive and before i know it i imagine there is someone hiding in my boot. The appeal of these horror movies is not something i can pinpoint personally; some people like the plot, others the gore, others the suspense. Whatever the attraction they are hard to resist and i find myself always going back for more.