Horror in Jurassic Park

It's finally Halloween so I figured it would be cool to write a bit about the horror aspects of Jurassic Park and how the experience left a mark with me personally.

When I was younger my Mother never really had any problem with me watching horrific or violent movies, some call this bad parenting, others (like myself) call it awesome parenting. Obviously I wasn't desensitised to what I was watching by any means, whether it was seeing Alien at the age of 4, Candyman at the age of 8, or The Thing at the age of 10, I was terrified yet inspired and curious about these horrible movies and the situations these characters faced. Jurassic Park fuelled this obsession too, in a big way.

The thing is, when you're a kid superman doesn't hold a candle to your parents, uncles and aunts, grandparents etc, and this was true for me as well, yet when I was younger I never really liked movies where children were the protagonists. (Home Alone, The Goonies, and Problem child 3 being exceptions.) I was far more interested in more horrible movies because I felt more involved with what I was watching. This was because movies with 15+ ratings had adult protagonists and for me it was far more interesting to see adults in trouble. My parents were never in danger so I was curious to see how my fictional adult heroes, Grant & Ellie for example, could overcome the threats they faced.

"But what about Lex & Tim? Kelly? Or Eric?" I hear you cry. Well for me they were along for the ride but the three JP movies all have adults carrying the weight on their shoulders. They're the ones who are also vulnerable to the dinosaurs of Nublar or Sorna just as much as the kids. When I was young I was scared for their lives and being so young and naive I never knew who was going to bite the dust next. I never thought Eddie Carr was going to be ripped in two! And I wasn't educated enough to guess that blood sucking lawyer was going to get it, they were adults!

So like horror movies that is why Jurassic Park really nailed it for me, adults never got scared but in these movies they were, plus it had dinosaurs! This exploded exponentially when I saw Alien but that is another story I'll save for another time, blog, podcast maybe.

It's also interesting to note John William's score from the original movie. It has some terrifying moments that sound like they belong in a hard hitting horror not a family film! Like this...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVcsyUK0alU The other scores have their moments too without a doubt, but the original has some of the crucial moments inspired by horror. This is a huge part of why I love this franchise.

Happy Halloween everyone! 

Life finds a way

- Jack x

@Jack_Ewins