What I've learned from the 31 Horror Films in 31 Days Challenge

I've learned that I'm kind of bored of horror films. I'm just not as interested in them as I was in my teens. Maybe I'm just boring. Maybe I've matured and now I find it harder to just accept what's happening on screen. Instead I realise how problematic violence on screen can be, particularly violence against characters of colour, queer characters and women. I think there are only so many horror films you can watch before they become kind of stale. Western horror films are kind of lazy. So many of them resort to the same sort of tactics again and again and therefore they become predictable. I think I'm at the stage of my life where I'm happier with a good drama and I'm OK with that. 

I think this may be my first and last time doing the 31 Horror Films in 31 Days Challenge simply because it's hard to find the time to do the challenge and it takes a lot of self discipline. There are, on occasion, films that fall under the horror genre that I enjoy. I don't particularly enjoy watching gore. I don't like cramming so many films of a single genre into such a tight space of time. Sorry folks, that's just me... If I want horror, I want it in moderation. I had to sort of scrabble around to find and review films when I could so I didn't necessarily watch films that were all good. I got such a strange cross section of the genre which I guess is a good thing. I watched some classics and some total unknown flops.

With the storm I was put behind. I could've been merciful with myself and given myself the first two days of November for the two days I was without electricity due to the storm. Instead I just crammed movies in and got it done. I'll be happy to watch soppy romance films for the next week or so. Almost anything I watch now I'm almost waiting for the killer to step out.

Which films did I enjoy most whilst doing this challenge?
I liked Truth or Dare. It had conventional horror elements but posed an interesting setting: people being forced to face each other and they, along with us as the audience, must try to work out who sent a rather fateful postcard.

I also really enjoyed re-watching Signs. It's horror, it's sci fi but it's also a more interestingly profound film than I previously realised. It's not going to join the other DVDs on my shelf but it was certainly interesting to sit back and review the underlying religious subtext.