How to Make Horror More Horrifying – Immersive D-Box Seats?

My teen and I love horror movies. We see an absolutely absurd number of them every year. Everything from Jordan Peele’s newest deeply thought provoking and scary in an oh-god-this-is-an-accurate-treatise-on-societal-issues type of horror to teens-enter-scary-location-and-are-systemically-killed-but-I-don’t-really-care-because-they-are-all-kind-of-awful type of horror and everything in between. This has led, especially me after many years, to become a little jaded. I know the tricks of trade and while the occasional jump scare does get me, for the most part, I can’t say I’ve gotten scared in a while.

This is what I was thinking about when I bought tickets to Smile 2 this past weekend. Smile was a fine movie. It had a few moments of tension and relied heavily on jump scares but was still fun to watch. Nothing really to write home about. The only thing of note was the absurd monster (demon?) thing. They let us look at that for far too long and it took all the swagger out of its step. It wasn’t scary, really, just weird. Like looking at Jason sans hockey mask (or potato sack for those in the know). At some point I’m not scared, I’m just concerned.

I expected more of the same from Smile 2, probably not as good, but with more creative deaths. It does delivery on that creativity, FYI. There was a new option when I went to purchase tickets for our show this time. D-Box seats. I’ve never had them before, but they move with the movie. Yes. This is how we up the game. Jump scares don’t just pop on the screen anymore. They shake your seat! Now this is, of course, going to cost you. Like twice as much as a standard seat. I wouldn’t get these for anything other than action and horror because they would not be worth it. They are nicer, bigger seats and still have the heating and reclining options.

I would not buy these often because of the cost, but they were so much fun. The music builds and the seat shakes with it. Then, as usual, the music suddenly stops. So does your seat. It makes that moment of silence before the inevitable loud yelling scary thing appears more intense. On screen, someone gets stabbed and the seat jumps around like you can feel it. Very intense. I loved it.

As for Smile 2, it is pretty much what you are expecting it to be from the previews. A lot of jump scares. A lot of misdirection. A lot of musical numbers! Those are actually pretty good and we even listened to the album on the way home. There’s some commentary on the pressure we put on ourselves and the impact of mental illness and trauma, but I don’t think it fully lands. The trichotillomania scenes are a tough watch. I think they are probably the most realistic display of mental illness I’ve seen. Not in how they’re shown, but in how they feel. Anxiety inducing.

Every year horror does more to be more real and tangible. Sometimes, it is with an uncannily accurate understanding of society. Sometimes, it’s with shaking seats.