SABARI GANESH

Lately, after watching horror movies in consecutive weeks I can’t refrain from appreciating the Indian moviegoers whose minds are satiated with hilarious sense of humor that comes out only in cinema halls.

Even though horror movies come with different plotlines, the template for jump scares remains all the same across the languages. And only during these spooky jump scares and jolts does the cinema hall bursts into laughter. Gone are the days when we are terrified to watch horror. But today we enjoy them with a heart full of humor.

I watched IT, the latest adult Hollywood horror film with children as principle characters uttering sexual jokes. Each time a scary thing happens in the movie, it was comforting to witness the entire hall whistling, clapping and shouting.  The audience is no longer scared of ghosts but they enjoy jump scares with jokes and healthy satires. For me, The Conjuring series, Insidious chapters, Ring, Pizza, Demonte Colony and many more amusingly  horror movies along with recent  IT turned out to be best popcorn entertainers.

However, when I watched Annabelle alone at midnight in my laptop computer in complete darkness, I had my body draped with a blanket and cuddled a pillow. That was really a horrific experience. But if I watch the same movie in midnight with my friends, how much ever scarier it may be, the room will definitely turn into a laughter club.

As the latest movie IT drives the point, Unity is strength in any kind of situation.  Here a bunch of kids with appreciable sense of humor can defeat the evil only when they are united.

This holds true even in real life while watching any horror movie. If we watch with friends it would be a roller coaster ride of entertainment, but if we watch it alone it can be very frightening.

After watching a horror movie alone in midnight, can we enter the washroom alone? Can we open the refrigerator door to have water without fearing of what would jump upon us from inside? Can you go to sleep without fearing what is lying beneath the bed and behind the door? Can you at least dare to switch off the lights?

I confess here that I experienced above things when I was a kid.

Feature image by BagoGames, CC by 2.0