I used to love horror movies.

Every time I was hunkered in front of the television and some corny horror film was about to come on, like Child's Play or Halloween XLI, I would grab some popcorn and get the living crap scared out of me. And although the stories were completely absurd, as well as the acting, cinematography, gore and just about everything else, I still enjoyed every moment of it.

The problem was that I always knew while I was watching these flicks that I would probably have nightmares that very same night. Lo and behold, the moment the lights went off in my bedroom, the thoughts would come creeping into my head. Soon I began to think that Chucky was in my closest, or that Freddy Krueger was hiding under my bed. It was just a matter of time before I would end up snuggled between my parents, finally feeling safe from the horrors that lived in my bedroom.

That was about my sophomore year of high school.

Cut to today...

I hate horror movies.

I don't even bother watching them, because I know I'll be so disgusted by the end that I won't want to eat meat or travel to Europe anytime soon. I don't know when my hatred began, but if I had to guess it would be around the release of Scream.

Don't get me wrong: The movie did a lot of things right, like poking fun at most horror movie clichés and even having the whole whodunit suspense ending. Yet at the same time, it opened the door to a new age of horror films that would become obsessed with ultra-gore rather than just scaring people.

Recently, the horror film industry has taken a turn for the worse, turning its movies into two-hour torture videos that look like they're straight out of a snuff film or something. We're forced to sit through minutes of slow and agonizing scenes with limbs getting severed, heads being halved and the occasional gouged out eyeball.

And it's not that this is occurring in select horror films. This has become a vital part of every horror film that comes out these days. Hollywood has this silly idea in its head that when something new and cool comes out, they have to milk it for everything its worth. As mentioned above, Scream really brought a whole new twist to the genre, which is why Hollywood had to make two sequels and subsequently kill Wes Craven's career.

Then a couple years ago you had the release of Saw, which featured some extremely disturbing scenes and a twist that left everyone in the dust. Of course the big execs saw their chance and decided to puke out two more, with a Saw IV one on its way this Halloween. Furthermore, you've had a slew of spin offs like Hostel and Turistas, all of which have tried their best to make you want to regurgitate your dinner.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that scary movies aren't trying to scare you anymore, but rather disturb you to the point of nausea. It's sad too, because over the years some directors have proven that you don't need gore to make a scary movie. For example, The Sixth Sense barely featured anything remotely disgusting and still scared the living daylights out of me. Same goes with The Ring.

So please, Hollywood, stop pushing the envelope. I go to the movies to get scared, not vomit. There's a difference. g