Horror is one of the most-watched genres of film. There's something about the thrill of being scared out of your seat which causes people to want to see more movies that cause the same sensation. However, in more recent years, horrors have began to get a bad reputation, as their audience has began to familiarize many of their films' concepts. This action has caused most audiences to claim that horror movies are no longer scary. As a horror movie fan myself, and in exaggeration, I've watched every scary movie in the book, and I think I understand why some movie goers have become so desensitized to horror.

1. Sex Is irrelevant.

Many horrors, even dating back to the classic 80s slasher film, have included sexual activity. I feel this is a detriment to a good horror movie because in the film, it fails to add an element that is important to the story. In reality, if you show your audience sexual activity, their attention becomes more fixated on that moment in the movie rather than the concept that most directors fail to establish: the movie is supposed to be scary. Sex is an emotional connection between two people, and while this might be important for character relationships and chemistry, it usually is not germane to the story. I watched "It Follows" which was a horror movie centered around sexual activity. Although this movie didn't make me jump out of my seat, I still enjoyed it. It was suspenseful, and the concept of the movie was dependent upon the sexual decisions of the character. In this film, sex was relevant.

2. Concepts have become predictable.

Many horror movies have become more of the same rather than anything original. I would be willing to bet that if I asked people like myself to name a common theme among horror movies, they'd spit out answers in the moment that the question was asked. Concepts like "sadistic killer In the woods," "teenagers on vacation," "kids at camp," or even "haunted house" have all been reciprocated throughout the history of horror films, making the genre less favored in comparison to others. I think I can speak on behalf of all horror fans when I say that I'm tired of seeing the same situations in scary movies, and knowing what to expect before it even happens.

I recently became very interested in a new movie coming out in August, entitled "Don't Breathe." This movie caught my attention, because for the first time in a couple years, this movie has an original concept and a story which can turn out to be really scary. In the film, three people plan to rob a blind man, only to be held captive in his house when he discovers they've broken in. The tables turn as they soon discover he has secrets and he's more dangerous than they ever assumed he could be. I am waiting in anticipation for this film, because I feel that this will be a movie which will help to usher in new concepts and ideas which can make horror movies scary again.

3. Scares replace a good story.

Let's revisit the haunted house concept. Typically in this scenario, the movie will include a lot of jump scares, as well as moments which terrify the viewer. The only problem I find with this situation is that the movie will become so focused on scaring the viewer, that they will fall short of developing a scary story as a whole. I believe that it takes more than jump scares and disfigured faces to scare a viewer. I also believe that if horror directors built up scarier characters and backgrounds, they wouldn't have to worry about putting so many cheap scares into the movie. The story itself will scare the viewers and the jump scares will compliment what has already been established.

I've never been a movie director, but as someone who's seen hundreds of movies, I would like to think that I have a good idea of what a real movie should look like. I have always enjoyed scary movies, and I give credit where it is due. However, with today's horror movies, I can't say that I am satisfied. It is my hope that the horror genre will be innovated, because the repetition of the same "scary" movies over and over is the only thing that's frightening as of right now.