“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

Allow me to explain. You may not have realised, but if you are a typical person who watches most of the box office hits and television dramas – it is likely that your tolerance of violence and horror has increased. You have become desensitised. This is illustrated by the idea that things that we’re scary in 1970 are pretty mundane now, and things that are broadcast now would have been far too taboo for that era.

Take, The Omen (1976); This movie is psychologically thrilling, and not filmed in the dark. How many movies have been made like this one in this millenium? Film directors feel the need to use mindless gore and permanent night scenes in order to scare people now, they think that people want obviously scary ideas that they don’t have to think about – axe murderers or mental institution break-outs. The ideas mostly used now, however, are things that could technically happen (even with the smallest probability). The characters now seem to have put no value on their lives and will quite happily wonder into a wood where a murderer is known to live.

The Omen was clever, but the trailer made me laugh, it didn’t make me scared.

The Shining (1980) with Jack Nicholson is similar;

In this film Nicholson’s character goes insane because of cabin fever, because he had been living in solidarity (with his wife and kid) for the winter, and because a tale about a man going crazy in the same location had been told to him before he went there – almost like he was fulfilling the prophesy about himself. This film, again, is not about blood and guts and it does not use them as a formular to scare people. It’s just a classic thriller, and it’s brilliant.