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Horror is a funny genre isn't it? Well, for the most part, it isn'tusually but then that's the rub: why do we like horror movies at all? I mean, there's usually an element of gore; there's often a dose of terror and the whole exercise is designed to frighten the bejesus out of us. But why? Well, it appears that we react in the same way to a horror movie as we do during a fairground ride or any other strenuous activity that gets you excited. Adrenaline kicks in, endorphins (the body's happy drug) start to spark and we generally get excitable/aroused during the horror phenomenon. I guess there's a lot of psychology in there and as long as it's controlled enjoyment then fair enough. I can only really speak for me in terms of explaining why I like horror movies and what makes a decent horror flick in my eyes but then that's the beauty of debate; you can agree or disagree as appropriate.

I started watching horror movies when I was a young boy - maybe 7 years old or so - can't recall exactly. In those days, Hammer horror movies were all the rage and the kings of the genre were Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. It was notable then how influential the British movie makers were in adapting classic works like Dracula and Frankenstein for the big screen and just how well studios like Hammer did on such small budgets. I fell in love with the thespian style of the male entourage above. Christopher Lee was always magisterial as the Count Dracula with close up shots of him draining some poor maiden's neck of blood often curtailed by a swish of his cloak as the virginal victim disappeared beneath his garment. Vincent Price with his velvety vocal chords was always the man to bring the latest Edgar Allan Poe tale to life with him in his pomp in movies like "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Pit and the Pendulum". And Peter Cushing forever known as Professor Van Helsing spending much of his time pursuing the deadly Count Dracula and, more often than not, catching his man with a wooden stake in one hand and a wooden mallet in the other. When I reflect on why I loved these movies so much, I start to realise that they were great theatre in the spirit of the demented Dr Phibes and all those other camp characters that verged on a Rocky Horror but retained some credibility without stumbling into out and out parody. Movies that were influential in those early days open to suggestion included other classics from a bygone era like Lon Chaney in the werewolf movies,

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