Do Horror Movies Inspire Serial Killers?

Billy Loomis, a character from 'Scream' (1996) once stated "Movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative." which is something that I feel we should all firmly agree with. There's a very obvious fine line between what's moral and whats immoral in terms of what plays out in movies, people who can't tell fiction from reality should not watch movies involving violent serial killers or anything that could be blamed for their own self-corruption. To blame movies for someones actions would be turning a blind eye to some very obvious psychological issues. Death scenes in movies can be humorous at times (Hello, Buffy from 'Scary Movie'), but that doesn't take away the fact that this happening to a real human being is no laughing matter. I don't believe that horror movies create serial killers, I believe that wanting life to imitate art appeals to those who already have severe mental issues.

The James Bulger case from 1993 is a case about a 2 year old boy from Liverpool (Where I'm from!) who was murdered by two 10 year ol8d boys. Tabloids claimed that the two killers were inspired by 'Child's Play 3', specifically the paintball scene where Chucky gets splashed with blue paint, as the two boys seemed to have imitated the scene from the movie by splashing James with blue paint too. I do not agree with the opinion that this movie is what lead those two killers to do such a thing to a 2 year old boy, I think that they were already psychologically damaged before they watched the movie, if they even watched it at all because sources state that there is no evidence of them ever watching the movie. I love blood-soaked slasher movies, the gorier, the better... However that does not mean that I feel inspired to go around gauging peoples eyeballs out and skinning them alive. A director's genius should not be somebody else's scapegoat.

Furthermore, in 2004, David Gonzalez, also known as the 'Spree Killer' went on a murder spree which lead him to killing 4 people and injuring 2 others over the period of 2 days across Sussex and London. People believe that he was inspired by legendary slasher movies, 'Friday The 13th' (1980) and 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' (1984). I've binge watched multiple horror films in one night, countless times, yet you don't see me attempting to violently murder anyone. He was arrested at Tottenham Court Road Tube Station, after he purchased a tube ticket with a blood-stained £20 note. The thought of that blood-stained £20 note makes me shiver for some reason, it's as though he expected to get away with murdering multiple people and thought he could do something as simple as go on a train ride after taking peoples lives away from them. David killed himself in 2007 when he was 27 years old, and before his arrest was a drug user, didn't have a normal social life/friends and was just a borderline freak. In fact, before he went on his killing spree, his mother had desperately tried to get doctors and mental health specialists to try and help David, however she was brushed off by everyone she reached out to about David's behaviour. It is clear to me that he would have been severely mentally messed up without having watched any horror movies. Being a horror fanatic is not to blame for murder. Sure, he might have been a horror fanatic, but they are not the cause for his mental health issues.

Mario Padilla and Samuel Ramirez, two cousins, brutally killed Mario's mother by stabbing her 45 times in 1998. Their case is often referred to as the 'Scream Murder'. The two boys claimed that they were influenced by 'Scream' and it's sequel, 'Scream 2', they confessed to stealing money from Mario's mother in order to buy Ghostface/Grim Reaper costumes to wear whilst they slaughtered their future victims and a voice changer, just like what Ghostface used in the movies. They were planning on killing five other people, including Mario's stepfather, before they got caught and their plans were thwarted. Mario was sentenced to life in prison, and Samuel was sentenced to 25 years to life for his involvement in the murder. I do not think we should blame 'Scream' for this, I think it takes away the fact that the two killers were damaged enough to kill their own family members. I don't think that they would have been any better off had they NOT watched the movie.

One thing to consider would be what if horror movies are actually preventing crime, rather than causing it? It goes without saying that when somebody is doing an activity such as watching a movie, they are not available to do harmful thing to other people or cause mayhem because they're distracted by what they are doing. For example, if you are watching a movie, you are not getting involved in fights in alleyways or doing anything illegal (Unless you are watching a film that you are not of age to see yet... Kidding...). I believe that horror movies help to make people more aware of those that are psychologically damaged and helps prevent people from wanting to have the same fate that most of the killers have in movies.