Horror 101: A lesson on all things horror

Welcome to the first class of Horror 101, the class where we discuss everything horror. My name is Ethan Vandop and I will be your professor for today’s lesson. This week we will be studying a number of different horror films and how they offer a realistic feel that differs for each film.

Before we begin, let me provide a bit of backstory about myself. I’m a new professor at the school of horror but as you may have already guessed, I am obsessed with all things horror. My passion for horror has brought me here today, as it’s my favourite genre of movies, without a doubt. If you share the same passion about horror as I do, you are in the right place.

When I think about why I like Horror films so much, I think back to high school when my friends and I would get together to have our own “horror movie marathons” . We would sometimes watch entire trilogies of movies in a single night. We usually ended up getting very little sleep and sometimes we even had arguments over who had to sleep closest to the door, incase whatever villain or anomaly we had just spent the last few hours watching kill people decided to come for us next.

As far as horror movies go, the ones that have a more realistic aspect to them are just that much scarier to me. When I’m watching a horror movie, iIf I find myself thinking “Wow, this could really happen to me”, it instantly makes it ten times scarier. When I spend the next three days in fear hoping what happened in the movie doesn’t happen to me, that’s how I know I’ve watched a good horror movie.

Part 1: The Purge

For the first part of today’s lesson, let’s begin with my favourite horror movie franchise, The Purge. What I like about The Purge is that of all the horror movies out there, it’s one of the most realistic movies. Of course, I’d never wish for a Purge-like event to happen in real life, but it’s far more plausible than most other movies, which makes it more appealing to me.

I’d be lying if I said I haven’t imagined what I would do if I found myself in The Purge. I like to think I wouldn’t participate, but when chaos and murder is going on around you sometimes you may not have a choice but to partake if it means protecting yourself or your family.

For those of you who don’t know, The Purge is a fictional (but uncomfortably realistic) annual event in the United States that allows citizens to exercise their “patriotic duty” by committing any crime for a period of 12 hours. Most participants of The Purge chose to exercise their homicidal tendencies by killing as many people as they can. Murder and all other crime is illegal all year round and crime rates have dropped to below 5%, except for on the day of The Purge.

There are currently five Purge movies ranging from 2013-2021 starting with The First Purge which follows the story of the Sandin's, a rich suburban family who are forced to fight for their lives after their son unknowingly lets a fugitive into their house during The Purge.

When I think about the Purge, one of the biggest questions I ask my students is “What are the morals behind The Purge”. In the movies we start to see a trend emerging where the rich people view the Purge as a game, often hosting “purge parties” in which they exploit less fortunate folks to be hunted down as game. Everyone has the opportunity to participate in The Purge, but when you think about it, rich people have a substantial advantage, as they can afford to host eloquent events at the expense of less fortunate people. Not to mention they can afford to hire personal security and install high tech equipment to keep them safe during the events.

Why is it okay that the rich get to be protected, while the poor are hunted? Is purging really meant to create a better America, or is it just an excuse to get rid of poor people?

Now before I get into why I think The Purge could happen in real life, let me preface by saying I don’t think (or hope) it could happen in the modern day United States, but I think in a semi-distant society where crime has run rampant and overpopulation roams the street, it could become a tool for the Government to use to combat these issues.

There’s a lot about The Purge that leads me to believe it could possibly happen in real life. For starters, it happens in the United States, a country that has a strong belief in liberty, freedom, patriotism, and the founding fathers. Without getting too political, we know how a lot of people in the United States feel about the second amendment, so I don’t think it's too far-fetched to see an event like The Purge take place when everyone has access to weapons.

Secondly, the families featured in The Purge are normal families with normal lives who, aside from the night of the Purge, get along with their fellow neighbors. To me it shows that if a nation truly believes in the motive behind something like the Purge (and with enough Government conditioning) it can become normalized.

The Purge is a completely fictional event, but if it was a real life event, what would you do? Would you feel obliged to fulfill your patriotic duty to participate? Or would you try and avoid the purge all together?

Part 2: The Conjuring

The second part of our lesson will focus on Conjuring movies, which, unlike The Purge, are based on real life people which makes the reality aspect evident. The Conjuring franchise is based on real life paranormal activity investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The newly announced addition to the franchise, Conjuring: The Last Rites goes in depth on the thousands of investigations the Warrens have conducted throughout the years.

Whether The Conjuring seems realistic to you really depends on your beliefs. If you believe in the presence of paranormal entities or not, it's probably has an added scare factor, if you don't believe in them, then it's probably not the film for you. I’m Catholic, so personally I believe in the presence of paranormal entities and the presence of the devil.

It could be my mind playing tricks on me, but I swear I’ve had moments in my life when I’ve been in the presence of paranormal spirits. They aren’t always out to harm me, but I’ve been home alone and heard a door open or the floorboards creak. I even remember hearing someone call my name when I knew no one else was home.

There’s been numerous reports from across the world about exorcisms, which have inspired many movies that display the realistic aspect of film’s like The Conjuring.

One of the most notable examples would be the exorcism of Emily Rose, which inspired a movie titled just that.

I love movies like The Conjuring, because not only does the realness of paranormal spirits add an extra creepy factor to the films for me, I also enjoy seeing the adventures of those who try to tame the unnatural. Knowing that there are people who have in real time faced the reality of paranormal activity is very important to horror because it adds that feeling of “oh shit, this has actually happened before, who's to say it won't happen again?” rather than it just being some made up or exaggerated story.

The trailer for The Last Rites alone gives me chills, I would never be brave enough to explore the dangerous realm of paranormal activity myself, so at least I get to explore it through the lives of Ed and Lorraine Warren from the safety of my couch.

Part 3: Final Destination

As we wrap up today’s lesson, we conclude with yet another movie franchise that encroaches numerous aspects of reality is Final Destination. The whole premise of Final Destination is that death is coming for you, and when it’s your time to go, it will stop at nothing to find you. If you avoid death it will continue hunting you down. The Grim Reaper never sleeps.

To me, it’s the most realistic of the three because it literally shows real ways in which people have died before. A bridge literally collapsing as people drive over it is a real fear some people have, just like going on a rollercoaster (speaking from experience), driving behind a truck with logs on it, or even flying on a plane.

Death is inevitable, we all know that, but when and how it comes for us is something out of our control, which makes it so terrifying and what makes movies like Final Destination send fear slithering down your spine.

Whenever I drive over a bridge, the scene from the fifth Final Destination of the bridge collapsing creeps into the back of my head, which shows how realistic these movies are that they make me worry that the bridge I am on is gonna fall down and I am gonna be sent free falling into the water.

Final Destination Bloodlines comes out on May 16th, 2025, so as homework I expect you all to watch it and report back to me with a three page review.

I can’t wait to see how scared I get when the theatre lights dim down and the chaos begins. I don’t think I’ll be brave enough to sit in one of those seats they are advertising that allow you to feel everything the characters in the movies are feeling, but I’m excited nonetheless.

The most important aspect of horror is that it has to be realistic. If I’m watching a movie and I’m not in constant fear for the next three days that someone's death is gonna catch up to me or that there’s paranormal activity in my house, then the movie didn’t cut it for me.

So with that, concludes our lesson, but before you go I have a question for you all. Would you rather a horror movie be so realistic that it follows you for days, or would you rather a horror movie so absurd that it’s disconnected from reality? I know my answer.