The Nightmare of the Soul

Every good horror movie needs a skeptic. When the terrorized hero runs for help to the relevant authorities, someone is usually there to assure him—quite reasonably—that monsters don’t exist. The abominations that stalk through these films are dreadful not just because of what they can do, but because of what they are: they are the kind of thing that no one believes in anymore. And if no one believes in them, no one can stop them.