Scary movies getting popular

Ace Fitness Organization reported that a large-scale survey of about 13,000 Canadians found physical activity has a positive effect on the mental health of the general population. The respondents who were moderately or highly active reported less than half the level of "generalized distress," a measure of feelings of hopelessness, sadness and nervousness, than those who were sedentary.

Why do people want to be scared in movies? Don’t we have enough blood and violence in the real world? Well, some psychiatrists claim that watching a horror movie is a fine way to release tension, a harmless way to let go of pent-up emotions. Does this means that a scream or two is good for mental health? There must be other reasons why scary movie sells.

Today’s young moviegoers enjoy provocative, and edgy horror movies that are also silly, something what Italian filmmakers did in the ’60s by Dario Argento. Today’s young audience want the genre sicker, more twisted and disgusting, so unreal that it takes the viewer back to reality. They want to be upset when they leave the theater, feeling that they got their money’s worth. How these upsetting but entertaining movies can affect those with emotional and psychological problems is another matter altogether.

Blood and guts and really scary movies are alive and well and doing great business at the box-office. Surprisingly, the most popular horror films to date have been financed by Canadian producers/investors. Celluloid gore seems to attract cash not only in Canada but in different parts of the world. Some of the B-grade horror movies were even filmed in British Columbia though the setting were supposedly in the USA or Europe.

The current leader of the pack is Lions Gate Films who managed to outdo expensive Hollywood productions with low-budget movies with no grand special effects. These are B-grade, no-star, gut-level but visceral horror movies.

Shining examples would be Saw I, made for $1 million and grossed over $55 million and Saw II, made for $4 million and grossed over $87 million in their theatrical releases. There’s more money in DVD sales.

The current big hit of Lions Gate is "Hostel" and is the talk of American producers because it grossed $20.1 million during its first weekend opening. The film in my opinion is the goriest I’ve eve seen. It pushed the envelop of the gut-level horror movie. It is part of the noveau genre built not around fictional situations but rather based on real stories borrowed from the headlines. Thus, the added selling point of "based on a true story."

A leading bank economist predicted that the Canadian dollar will continue to rise to 90 cents US or more. The Canadian dollar will be buoyed by the nation’s resource factor, particularly in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The future of British Columbia in 2006 is excellent and in all probability will continue up to 2010, barring any major setback.

When the popular TV series X-Files was being filmed in British Columbia and was the most popular program worldwide, the province was named the best place to see a UFO. Now that X-Files has been replaced by Desperate Housewives, and can only be seen as fillers or re-runs there are less UFO sightings.

The skies of B.C. is no longer congested with flying objects. There were only 247 UFO sightings reported last year, down from 304. It seems that more aliens are focusing on Ontario where 254 mysterious flying objects were seen or reported. All told, Vancouver maintained its top ranking as the Canadian city with the largest number of sightings (80). Are we really alone?

A report titled "Population Projections of Visible Minority" published by Statistics Canada projected that the Filipino population at 308,575 in the 2001 census, would grow to around 540,000 by 2017, topping the half-million mark in four of the five scenarios.

It was predicted that about one-half of all visible minorities in Canada would belong to two groups: South Asian and Chinese. Meanwhile, it also indicated that roughly one out of every five people in Canada, or between 19 percent and 23 percent of the nation’s population, would be a member of a visible minority by 2017. About one-half of the population in Toronto and Vancouver would belong to a visible minority.