Horror movies are a common form of entertainment. The directors of horror movies often rely on jump scares, violence, and gore to create a sinister atmosphere. Students have diverse opinions about the most important factors that make a horror movie worth watching.

According to Senior Bryan Granados, blood and violence in a horror movie is a must. Granados said, “I recently saw ‘It: Chapter Two,’ and even though I do not like horror movies a lot, I enjoyed seeing all the blood and violence because it helps create action and it made the movie worth watching.” 

For those unfamiliar with the film, “It: Chapter Two” follows the malicious clown, Pennywise, and the Losers’ Club, a group of childhood friends (now grown-up) who are set to destroy the evil clown after being terrorized by him in their youth.The movie is rated R and is not suited for those under 17 years old due to violent, sexual content, and the use of alcohol and profanity. 

When asked if being scared is the best part of a horror movie, Granados stated, “ Yes. I think that’s the best part. Though I hate jump scares, I usually enjoy them because it feels nice getting scared.” 

Though some people might think that blood and violence are essentials in the horror genre, others like Senior Eric Ramirez might disagree. Ramirez said, “To me, horror movies do not need to have blood, gore, or to be violent. To me, all of those elements are extra and act more as shock factors that make the movie more scary and suspenseful.”

It can be argued that the majority of films of any genre contain some kind of positive message that resonates with the viewer, however, the same cannot be said about horror movies. 

According to Granados, horror movies do not necessarily need to have a positive message, “It depends. For example, despite ‘It: Chapter Two’ having violence and gore, the positive message that friends need to stick together is present.” 

Conversely, Ramirez begged to differ about the importance of positive messages in horror movies. Ramirez stated, “I think horror movies are primarily entertainment before anything else, so a positive message is not at all that important.”

In the end, horror movies will always be a way to keep us entertained. Whether you like horror movies for their gore, frightening scenes, or jump scares, we cannot deny their impact they have to scare us.