 Thanks for checking out this video. So this is one of my kind of opinion piece videos That's usually a lot less structured than my normal movie reviews But I do have notes for this one because there were certain things I wanted to make sure I really hit because this is kind of a Very important video for me because kind of goes along with my love of the horror genre And I'm sure that's why people are clicking on it because you probably also love the horror genre This is basically why five reasons I believe that horror is the best genre the most meaningful genre the most influential genre all those things rolled into one So let's just jump into it the first thing being that it is Innovative it is an innovative genre more so than all other genres in my opinion One thing that you can point to very easily is practical facts You know you look at how practical effects have been pioneered and a lot of it is done in the Horror genre, so that's something actually concrete You can really look at and say look at these practical effects, you know Tom Savini really did a Insane job in taking practical effects to the next level when he came back from the Vietnam War and Started modeling the viscera and everything that was being done practical effects wise after actual anatomy And what he saw on the battlefield, you know people like Rob Boutine as well and Greg Nicotero Plenty of people out there. I mean even thinking further back with this was kind of a mix of like sci-fi and Fantasy and horror, but you know Ray Harryhausen as well, you know even stop motion back then So just think about those types of things so practical effects part of the innovation Another thing to consider with the innovation comes along with the talent that's involved, you know directors and actors If you think about it, there are so many directors and actors who have gone on to do things other than horror But they got their start in horror from the director standpoint think of examples like Martin Scorsese You know he worked for Roger Corman doing horror films initially James Cameron he did the same obviously they went on to do other much bigger things a more current one probably James Gunn You know James Gunn is very well known for he just did the Suicide Squad Which I thought was good for DC and prior to that doing Guardians of Galaxy for Marvel And he's a big name, but he got his start doing trauma films for Lloyd Kaufman. I mean This is what I'm talking about. Also, then you look at actors How many actors can you find out there who had their initial big roles or their breakout roles in horror? You got people like Kevin Bacon, you have Jennifer Aniston, Leonardo DiCaprio You can go on and on and on with lists like that so many people get their start in horror because It's it's a more experimental of a genre people are more open to accepting more Experimental and low-budget films when it comes to horror. So it really is that kind of like starter genre for a lot of people So that's my category for the first one, which is innovation my number two It's versatile versatile in the sense that you can tell so many different stories You can tell them in so many different ways that you can't with other other genres like comedy It just has to be funny sure you could roll in some other stuff But it's a lot harder to get like a good dramedy, you know a comedy drama But it's it's also hard to do that from a horror standpoint of getting like a good horror comedy But the versatility comes from the fact that you really can mesh horror with everything, you know Horror goes well with every other genre, you know, whether it's comedy, which is one of my favorite meshes Drama thriller. I mean romance. You can even do a horror romance. What was the movie warm bodies? I haven't seen it, but I know about it like the zombie love story basically warm bodies You know, you can do this and you can even point to Regular films, you know other film films I mean films outside of the horror genre that have horror elements to it because Something I'm gonna talk about a little bit later Everyone experiences fear. Everyone has things that are fearful of everyone experiences horror in some way or another So naturally it shows up in all these other genres. Everything always comes back to horror in my opinion So that's why I say it's so versatile. Just think about that. Think about how many times you see horror mixed with other genres And it's good. It works really well. You can't do that with every other genre It takes The third one it makes us confront the worst of ourselves and this I'm talking from the standpoint of reflecting on kind of The ills of humanity and society and sometimes ourselves personally I'm saying that from the standpoint of horror specifically has Kind of held a mirror up to society over the decades and shown whatever Society's anxieties are whatever their ills are whatever their shortcomings are In the form of a horror film, you know, think back to all the different decades and it highlights different things, you know Like the giant creature movies like like them with the giant ants and there were a bunch like that And I had a leapus stuff like that Where was the giant animals like wreaking havoc that was all tied to fears of you know nuclear fallout or nuclear war Obviously, that's where Godzilla spawned from in Japan as well But it's those types of things throughout each decade There's a wonderful documentary called nightmares in red white and blue that goes through all the decades and breaks down What was going on in society at that time and how the horror films of that time really reflected that back to the viewers and That's just the way it is. So for that reason I'm saying it makes us confront the worst of Ourselves ourselves as a society and also think to one of the most popular horror TV shows ever to be the walking dead It's not about the zombies in the walking dead really. It's about ourselves It's about humanity and it's about how horrible and disgusting humanity really can be to itself So just saying That takes me then to my number four reason which is it prepares us Prime example being look at this situation with the pandemic once the pandemic was just gearing up in 2020 I remember I'm in a horror group on Facebook. I remember seeing people saying posting on there and saying look We've all seen the movies. We all know what to do. I saw that so much People saying other things that were very interesting like people who are getting COVID And not protecting others from it are the same people who would be in a zombie situation get bit Get bitten and hide it, you know those types of things It really does prepare you for a worst-case scenario Because think about horror films. It shows you worst-case scenario all the time it gets your brain moving as What this character is going through what would I do if I was in that situation talk to any horror fan? I know and you're watching this I guarantee you're a horror fan think about that like you I'm sure you watch these films and you're just like this is what I would do in this situation So it really does prepare us for things like that. I just mainly pointed to the pandemic because that's obviously something that has You know been more recent Another is it prepares us in the sense of handling each other and this kind of goes back to the Zombie situation with walking dead how best to you know Negotiate with each other how to live in a post-apocalyptic situation. Could that be needed? High anxiety situations like the pandemic it helps you cope. It helps you deal It gives you a good level of coping ability Especially because you've been through the anxiety and the fears and the horror of these films and internally actually experienced it and That kind of builds your resilience to a degree at least I believe I believe it does that for me And there have actually been some studies that I've talked about that There was a really great National Geographic article Yeah, I think if you just Google the National Geographic horror films and it'll come up and you can read it It's it's free online. There was a study done basically about horror and its role in Helping people with things like anxiety and depression and other mental illnesses Obviously, there's a documentary that's being worked on about that right now called mental health and horror Which I actually I backed on kickstarter because I believe it's a very important thing to talk about and at some point I might have a whole video about that, but that's just another aspect. So dealing with each other Horror really helps us with and then the other thing which is a really big thing for me personally, which is Teaching you how to handle death. You know, I Personally, I don't have any religious beliefs and for that reason if you if you can imagine if you are a religious person Not having your religion would make the prospect of death. Well, not the prospect the inevitability of death Very scary and I'll admit it's extremely scary when I think about what death means to me and what I believe death is It's nothing that's it's how you were from before you were born What do you remember there would there was nothing and that's what death is and it's impossible to wrap your brain around Not existing in that sense so horror has been a great way for me to look at death to experience death to get close to death and Deal with it to a degree, you know warm in a way warm me up to the idea of that one day I will be dead but also at the same time with seeing all these situations in the films and thinking I'll be dead at some point But it's not gonna be in a terrible way like that So it gives you this level of relief to that degree or at least it does for me I'm wondering if other people feel that way. So that's why number four was it prepares us for me And this final one is the big ah moment, which is number five for me is it bonds us Think about how cohesive and how well the horror community really comes together especially at things like conventions which I'm still not going to at the moment but I really hope to get back to because The the feeling of community that you have at those is wonderful And I've never seen people act so nice to one another in a packed situation Then when I'm at horror conventions, everyone is so nice even when you're bumping into each other Everyone's apologizing everyone saying it's okay. Nobody's mad. Nobody's in a rush for this side or the other thing We're all there for one reason and we're all sharing one love and you feel that so it really does bond us But the other way it bonds us is that everyone has fears and by Experiencing them together that brings us closer to each other You know when you talk to another person about your love for a horror film or your analysis of the horror film or how you feel about it and They engage in that conversation with you. There's a connection made There's a deep connection made right there and you start to kind of can kind of start sharing your fears Which is opening you up a little bit more than your typical day When you would talk to someone, you know, whatever level you would open up It's it becomes more when it's horror because horror it makes you vulnerable or at least it can make you vulnerable And what it talks about is a very vulnerable thing most of the time. So I Really think for that reason it really does help bond us plus, you know, if you're someone like me I love to experience horror films with other people whether I've already watched them And I really want to you know, introduce someone to them or I want to watch them with someone for the first time like The last drive-in experience with Joe Bob breaks There's so many people who love hopping on social media during his show in order to interact with each other and share the Experience and that bonds people and then look at what ended up happening with this jamboree that he had I saw nothing but love posted about that. I saw no negativity whatsoever Posted about what was going on there. Everyone was getting along wonderful pictures and experiences being told and Yeah, it bonds us. So That's my kind of coo by our moment to end this on so hopefully you enjoyed this Hopefully you agree with me, although there may be things I totally missed So feel free in the comments to put some comments down there about what else do you think makes the horror genre? So good in my opinion of the best of genres So yeah, and or just you know, whatever you want to say down there is fine But do me a quick favor I really would appreciate it if you could hit subscribe and kind of join this nerdy horror community I'm trying to build that's the reason I started this channel I don't really have people in my daily life or who live near me who I can get nerdy with about horror So this has been my outlet This is my way to reach out to people and build that community Create bonds as I was talking about so let's talk and join up with the community subscribe Hit the notification bell button if you want to know whenever I'm putting up new videos because I'm doing a lot of movie review videos and if you're into that you could enjoy enjoy it It's not just reviews. There's a lot of analysis involved to it as well But regardless, I really do thank you for taking your time to watch this and until next time keep it brutal