On Sept. 22, at 2:19 p.m., the fall season officially started. While many students across are excited to take part in dozens of seasonal activities, such as pumpkin carving and Halloween, others are excited to cozy up and watch their favorite movies this autumn. As the leaves shift from green to brown, students are excited to watch everything from romance movies to horror flicks.
This year, many new movies are releasing this fall, such as “Predator: Badlands” set to come out Nov. 7 and “Black Phone 2” on Oct. 17. It seems students are planning to watch older films this fall.
Jasper Kern, a freshman studying psychology and social work, said he’s planning on watching lots of horror films this season.
“I’m a big horror movie fan,” Kern said. “Which I feel is very typical.”
Kern plans to watch films like Jordan Peele’s 2022 horror movie “Nope” this autumn.
Horror movies and fall seem to have a shared connection. Films like “Halloween” and “The Blair Witch Project” not only take on a horror aspect, but also take place during autumn.
“It's spooky season,” Kern said. “I get into it. I love Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday for sure. I feel like horror movies are just a part of that culture.”
This so-called spooky season is a key facet of why people watch horror movies in the fall. The cultural impact of Halloween leads people to watch more horror movies and thrillers, seeking the adrenaline and tension the genre provides. As the nights get longer and the days shorter, people want to be scared.
Other movies, such as “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Dead Poets Society,” are also popular during the fall season. Lila Mederer, a freshman studying marketing, believes there's something about fall that makes these movies more popular.
“I feel like fall is a time where you get really into your emotions,” Mederer said.
In her eyes, fall is when emotions become more prevalent in your mind, leading to you wanting to watch more emotional and intellectual movies.
“There's something about it getting colder and getting sadder,” Mederer said. “You don't look outside and you don't see happy flowers. You see sad brown leaves. You feel more sad. You feel like staying inside more because it's colder. You feel more like in your own bubble, where it's like movies that make you have that emotion. You want to watch something that makes you feel something.”
Mederer’s thought process tracks with actual psychology. Studies have shown the fall season leads to feelings of nostalgia and reflection. These feelings lead people to want to watch movies they’ve either watched in their childhood or ones that lead to emotional contemplation.
Mederer shares what she believes is the ultimate fall movie.
“I think if there's one movie that, if you were to poll everybody, they would say it’s the ‘Dead Poets Society,’” Mederer said. “It's not only set with the fall aspect, but it is the same thing. You have the intellectual and the emotional, and you merge them into one movie. I think they did something with that.”
Although many students are watching films to match the season, those like Paige Best, a sophomore studying political science, are sticking to their favorites, watching their usual comfort media. Best, who enjoys watching true crime documentaries, said that she prefers more recent true crime stories.
True crime media have been a staple in modern media. Although many watch true crime for their respective careers and hobbies, the reason it remains prevalent in modern times is similar to why we watch horror movies. People love being scared without being in any actual danger.
From emotional classics to horror spectacles, Ohio University students are looking forward to watching a wide variety of movies this autumn, with the common thread being heightened emotions. Whether they laugh, cry, scream or reminisce, students plan to watch films that draw out emotions during these cold months.
