So, let me begin by saying that I have spent many hours (likely way too many hours) watching all types of horror movies. There are so many categories from basic slashers to gore porn to mood horror to snuff-like monstrosities. We can watch them at home on a small screen by ourselves in the dark or in theaters in a crowd of anxious victims. Which is better?
I was thinking about this question while watching The Crazies last Friday (which I must say was surprisingly well done... though, of course, the bar has been greatly lowered these days). There were many a moments when being in the theaters with others amplified the experience... in a good way. As the suspense builds, you can hear the popcorn crunching slowing and the people straining to anticipate the moment of shock. When the axe falls, everyone screams and then giggles, and the experience is complete. Similarly, as a hero finally stands up and takes action, someone cheers, someone claps, and the audience’s resonance makes the experience.
Yet, I am immediately reminded of when I watched Paranormal Activity in theaters. I still wish that I hadn’t…. watched it in a theater that is. I thought that the movie was a rarity of the genre these days and would have loved to experience it properly. Alas, that was not to be. In the theater, the girls giggling next to me during the moments of unbearable tension, the couple making irrelevant and stupid comments behind me whenever they were confuse (which was often), and the audience generally lacking in focus and cohesion ruined all the great parts of the movie: the subtle build up, the phenomena that are meant to remain unexplained, and the gentle hand which nudges but does not whip the crowd into action.
So, which is it? I think the answer obviously lies in the category of horror. An action-filled horror which aims to elicit direct reactions in the crowd ought to be seen in theaters. Frankly, these are often the entertaining but bad horror and typically fall into the categories of gore porn, slashers, zombie movies, American supernatural horror, etc.; so, examples are Hostel, Saw, Land of the Dead, Scream, etc.
On the other hand, horrors which are more subtle and driven by developing an ambience of unease or are concerned with particularly disturbing content are probably better on your own screen watched in a dark room by yourself. In a crowded theater, someone with a low threshold for unease is likely going to release the tension for everyone by giggling or commenting, and, once the mood is ruined, the movie has no chance. Now, do you really want to waste a perfectly well made horror like that? Most Asian horror movies fall in this category. Examples are Ringu (not The Ring 2, American version… that one was hilarious in theaters and fall in the former categories), Suicide Club, The Tale of Two Sisters, etc.
Finally, there are movies for which where you watch them doesn’t matter because they are good either way; they are dependent neither on audience resonance nor on intense unease. I would consider movies like 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, Thirst, etc., to fall in this category.
