To answer the main question of this thread. I think it's maturity and exposure. I was going to Horror movies whilst in the womb. My family(dad, mom and myself) went to the Drive-In double horror feature EVERY Friday night until i was 17 years old. at the end it was just dad and myself. I saw 2000 Maniacs at the age of three, Night of the Living Dead the summer before I went into first grade. My first remembered erection was while watching Rosemary's Baby sitting in a lawn chair next to the car with my own speaker. They scared the shit out of me and I had bad dreams but I was always up the next Friday. My folks saved a shit load on baby sitters. Horror movies have always been a part of my life. My tastes are more sophisticated, but my love of horror remains. If it's sick and original dish it up. My fork's in my back pocket.
As a kid, horrors scared the crap out of me. And I didn't even see the scariest of them. My dad loved his horror movies and I would watch some with him, seeing that he would just laugh (the farmer in Motel Hell wielding a chainsaw with a pig head on his head). Plus, parents always tell you that movies aren't real. With that in mind, as I matured, I stopped being scared by them because I know they're just movies. Freddy isn't gonna kill me in my dreams. The Wolf Man isn't gonna jump through my window under a full moon. Now I laugh with my dad about the farmer.
As of today, only the original TCM and Hellraiser have been remotely scary to me. Imagine falling asleep to Hellraiser, and wake up the next morning to the DVD menu, Pinhead giving his speech "We'll tear your soul apart!" LOL!
Im 14, and the only film that ever scared me was Texas Chainsaw, purely because it was disturbing.
Most mainstream horror films feature well known actor/actresses, so cant pull it off. Look at Scream... Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Drew Barrymore... everyone recognised at least one familiar face.
Another point is that you shouldnt really be scared by moving images on a TV set, unless your watching the news.
i think there are different elements to a movie to make it "scary"
i think reqium for a dream is far more scarier than any horror film if you just take into account the word scary. But i think horror movies can play on different types of "scary".
you have gross out
jump out of your seat
eerie
(i am sure you can add more)
these are examples of things that could be "scary"
gross out is when its trying to make your stomach churn. Like at the end of evil dead when those monsters are decomposing in front of ash's eyes. that would be a gross out.
jump out of your seat is when suddenly out of nowhere the monster attacks and the music makes you do a jump
eerie is when you have some kind of concept like when you fall asleep the boogeyman will come and you'll be helpless.
these are differnet ways to make a movie "scary"
there are some more recent films that take these ways to make a film "scary" and do quite well with them. I jumped a couple times in ring and the concept is pretty eerie. So what if it wasn't a blood bath? not everything has to be severed arms and all that. But there still is gross out elements in horror movies like for instance there are some pretty gory parts in 28 days later.
And yea of course as a kid you are going to be more scared by movies. My friend for instnace cried and cried when he saw star wars as a little kid because darth vader and had nightmares about him for weeks. But as an adult you watch it and you don't have to be scared by darth vader to find him a interesting character i think. Thats how i am with horror, it doesn't have to give me a intense feeling of fear or terror, as long as its interesting well written and well directed
They don't make 'em like they used to. The only horror movies i'm scared by are the 'Friday the 13th' series. The rest are funny. Chucky- he's so damn cute. Leprechaun- it's funny how he walks. Candyman- makes me want candy. Freedy- would be a good gardener. Mike Myers- white mask and kinky hair enough said. Leatherface- it looks like he made his face in the dark. Jason- now that is some creepy shit, that's why I hate hockey.