The movie world is filled with controversy, but no genre of movies seem to catch nearly as much controversy as horror movies. Whether there is a problem during production, with the movie itself, or with the effect the movie had after release, horror movies frequently face scrutiny.

“I love horror movies,” sophomore Mckenzie Milam said. “Some of my favorite movies are ‘Scream’, ‘Fear Street’, ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’, and ‘Carrie’. I like them because they have a real plotline and a lot of them are based on true events which I think is awesome.”

A movie called “Cannibal Holocaust” that came out on June 19, 1985 was highly controversial. There were issues with animal abuse and even murder charges. The director Ruggero Deodato was actually put on trial after the movie to prove that the actors were still alive. The “Cannibal Holocaust” was one of the first “found footage” horror movies, coming out before movies like “The Blair Witch Project”.

“I think that found footage horror movies are probably way scarier than normal ones. They just feel more real to me,” sophomore Carlos Olvera said.

The biggest controversy surrounding this movie was the depiction of an on screen animal death. These scenes used real animals that were killed only for the purpose of the movie. The movie is also extremely filled with gore, and also has graphic scenes depicting sexual violence.

“I think it’s horrible that they used real animals and killed them. If they can make fake dead bodies for horror movies, why can’t they do the same thing in this one?” sophomore Sabrina Heldman said.

Another horror movie that caught a lot of controversy was “The Exorcist”, released on December 26, 1973. The movie follows the demonic possession and subsequent exorcism of a fictional character named Regan MacNeil. Not only did a lot of the scenes anger Catholics, but many people got injured during the production of the movie. The movie has scenes of medical procedures that were reportedly so realistic that people watching felt ill or just plain grossed out.

“The scenes of Linda Blair in the hospital getting all of those tests done were just so gross and realistic, like why did that need to be so creepy? I get that it’s a horror movie but the hospital scenes were more gross than the actual demon stuff.” Mckenzie Milam said.

The Exorcist also shows scenes of Linda Blair, the 14 year old actress playing Regan MacNeil, being violently thrown about her bed as the demon fights against the exorcism. In order to make this scene realistic, Blair was put into a harness that would thrash her around the bed. However, in one of the takes of the scene, the harness was loose, and Linda Blair was left with a fractured spine, and the scene that is featured in the movie is the scene in which she was injured.