Director Claims Bush Responsible for Horror Movie Rise

April 15th, 2006 6:46 PM

Just when you thought Hollywood had reached the limit of things they could blame on President Bush, along comes the director of “Hostel”, Eli Roth. Roth was a guest on Friday’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto”. When asked why horror movies were resurging in such troubling times, Roth pointed directly at the Bush Administration (video link to follow).

Roth claimed that people wanted to scream because of the “things going on in the world” and the government’s failure to help after Hurricane Katrina. He explained that horror movies offered a safe environment which allowed people to scream. Roth went on to say the seemingly “never ending war”, fighting people that do not care about our money, our “disorganized army” with “scared kids” for soldiers and the generals calling for Rumsfeld’s resignation were specific reasons for the need of an emotional release offered by horror movies.

Roth also blamed the Vietnam War for the popularity of movies such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. He then claimed that because “things were calm” during the Clinton Administration there were fewer horror movies.

Cavuto attempted to show Roth the error in his thinking by noting that “Psycho” came out during the Kennedy Administration. Roth brushed it off by blaming the popularity of “Psycho” on the real-life murderer, Ed Gein.

A cursory review of the CarFax Abbey Horror Movie Database debunks Roth’s claims on all levels. There has been no appreciable increase in horror movies over the past 10 just an increase in blood and guts spatter in the movies. In 1997, the movie “I Know What You Did Last Summer” was released. Using Roth’s line of reasoning, can we relate it to the Clinton Administration? The year 1998 brought us “Disturbing Behavior” and “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” – also during the Clinton years. How about “American Psycho” released in 2000?

It is ridiculous to attempt to tie President Clinton with the horror movies released during his 8 years in office. It is just as ridiculous to blame the Bush Administration for an increase in the popularity of horror movies. Roth’s explanation had nothing to do with facts. It was simply another overt attempt by a Hollywood liberal to beat up on the President and his administration.

Video Link Courtesy of Expose the Left