Halloween’s right around the corner. And there’s only one thing more scarily ubiquitous than suggestive Halloween costumes — horror movies.

Every October, Hollywood studios dump their blood-and-guts fare at the multiplex, hoping audiences will need a scary thrill. Somehow, they’re always right. Last weekend, “Paranormal Activity 4” hit theaters and won the weekend.

So far, the newest segment of the horror franchise has brought in $29 million.

Although it seems like we’re obsessed with sexy vampires and mopey werewolves, that’s not the genre’s true cash cow right now. The real trend of the decade is the found footage horror movie.

Michael Meyers and hockey mask-wearing Jason are no longer the stuff of nightmares. Instead, it’s creepy unseen poltergeist and body-invading demons we have to worry about.

Growing up, horror classics were 1980s slasher flicks. There was a clear and present danger in the form of a masked serial killer. But, in the 21st century, it’s the things you can’t control that will hurt you the most. When our kids have a “classic” horror movie marathon, they’ll be shrieking at a much more mysterious threat.

Found-footage movies make the viewers question just how safe they really are. It’s all shaky camera angles, night vision and real-life fright. The scares aren’t seen through some overly polished studio camera.

These horror stories are told through the same flip camera you can get at Target or the Newhouse equipment cage. Found footage brings the scares home.

You don’t only have to fear the dark woods, abandoned mental hospital or lonely babysitting gig anymore. The things that go bump in the night are going bump while the sun is out. And the bumps will be in your room.

With all the underlying eeriness of found footage, it’s shocking that people love it so much. This year’s “The Devil Inside” made more than $33 million its opening weekend while “Paranormal Activity 3” took in more than $104 million total in the United States alone.

Audiences seem to be hooked on a genre that looks and feels the exact same. There are the constant cheap thrills like wondering which object will not-so-shockingly move. Eventually there’s a big outburst or collapse.

Remember the exploding kitchen cabinets in “Paranormal Activity 2”? In the next installment of the franchise it was the incredibly vanishing and crashing kitchen table.

There’s not a lot of earth-shattering storytelling in the genre, but it still gets the jumps and screams writers intended. All in all, this means we should expect to keep seeing movies like “Paranormal Activity 4.”

Since everyone keeps coming back for more, found footage isn’t going anywhere. If there’s anything Hollywood loves more than a good idea, it’s bleeding that idea dry.

Ariana Romero is a junior magazine journalism and political science major. Her column appears every week. She can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Twitter at @ArianaRomero17.

Published on October 25, 2012 at 1:00 am