In having a discussion the other day I realized a friend of mine does not like Horror movies. He thinks they're all stupid and about some girl running downstairs when she should be running out the front door kind.
After further discussion I realized he's only ever seen modern slasher movies. Myself now understanding the problem and being determined to prove that he was merely ignorant of the genre set out to widen his field of vision.
The movie that started the conversation was myself and a different friend discussing Tod Browning's "Freaks". Since he had heard us talking about it, I decided it was good a place as any to start out.
He really liked it and found it genuinely creepy. The DVD has the special feature on the "making of Freaks" which he was then extremely interested in viewing. He found it all fascinating and asked me what else I had.
I then dug out the grandaddy himself, 1931's "Frankenstein" knowing that it was an image he knew from pop culture but also knowing he was oblivious to what the actual film was about. He was shocked at how sad the story of the monster was. He thought it was going to be about a monster that then chased down women like your typical slasher movie. He was very surprised to find out it was nothing of the sort. Again he was impressed and finally admitted that he had indeed judged the entire genre based on a few slasher movies he had seen and was interested to see some more of my favorite picks.
Next weekend I plan to show him Bride Of Frankenstein. I already know he's going to love it!
