One day I was sitting with a friend, deciding what movie to see, when he began ranting about the danger of horror films. For the past five years, there has been a steady stream of horror movies, many of which claim a spot on the weekly top ten box office rankings. Amidst my friend’s diatribe was an interesting question: Could regular viewings of horror movies cause a sort of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome?
I’m not a good judge of horror films. Anything made after Evil Dead 2 seems derrivative and just plan disturbing. But that doesn’t change the fact that thousands of Americans buy tickets to horror films, subjecting themselves to imagery that’s enough to make a Vietnam War veteran squirm. Should we be nervous that a large percentage of the country willingly pays to see people sever their own limbs with a rusty saw?
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