Horror fans rarely embody the malevolence they love to see onscreen. Just ask Svengoolie! Every time Sven gets the chance to interface with his audience, he comes away with a positive thing to say about the folks he's met. That's because those of us who love horror are typically nice people. It's just that we happen to get our jollies watching chainsaw-wielding maniacs running around in the woods. No big deal. 

This phenomenon recurs throughout so many industry interviews. Plenty of horror professionals profess that their fans are likable, and nowhere near as frightening as their preferred media. 

So, why, then, are otherwise seemingly well-adjusted people drawn to horror? Further still, why would anyone in their right mind choose to proliferate the genre, spreading darkness and spooky vibes to the masses? Well, money for one. Horror movies have always proved bankable, at least from a studio's perspective. But there are plenty of personal reasons for a filmmaker to direct a horror film, too. 

Takashi Shimizu is the legendary figure behind Ju-On, better known to American audiences as The Grudge. Shimizu brought the centuries-old tradition of Japanese ghost folklore into the 21st Century with his deeply haunting series. And, in a 2004 interview with Hollywood Gothique, Shimizu broke down exactly why he was drawn to the genre.

“There are no particular personal meanings, but since I was a kid I loved to scare people,” Shimizu explains. “When my brother went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, when he left the room, I was sleeping in the bed, but when he came back I was not in the bed; I was hiding somewhere, to scare my brother. I look back on that stuff I did when I was a kid to use in the movies. Also when I’m writing scripts, I sometimes hide myself underneath the bed, thinking, 'Oh, this might be scary.' I have to be careful, because sometimes I fall asleep hiding under the bed!”

In the same interview, Shimizu mentions that he also fell asleep watching the Hollywood blockbuster Spider-Man, which is hilarious considering that movie's director, Sam Raimi, produced the American remake of Ju-On. Shimizu was one of the very few Japanese filmmakers who stayed on board as director when their movies were imported for American remakes during the J-Horror wave in the early 2000's. However, he had concerns about being pigeonholed as a master of horror.

“I also love to make people laugh, but since my first hit was a horror movie, I am already labeled as a horror director in Japan. So even if I want to make a comedy, it’s hard. But I’m going to start making my comedy series in Japan, for a TV show.”