Hey everyone. My name is J.D. Gravatte. I have been a huge fan of horror for most of my life. I grew up in the ’90s, so things like Are You Afraid of the Dark?, the Goosebumps books and the TV show, and a slew of Disney Channel original movies were really influential gateways into horror for me. My parents were also somewhat into horror, so things like The X-Files and Stephen King were popular in our house as well. As I have grown older, and now have kids of my own, I have really started to look at what shows, movies, and books were so influential in creating and cultivating my love of horror. I also think a lot about what I can share with my oldest son, Ellis, and when it is appropriate to show him.
This column is going to be the journey that Ellis and I take as we watch gateway horror movies and shows together. I want to get his perspective on what we watch and why it works or doesn’t for him with a little Q & A at the beginning of each column. We will explore things that were part of my journey from the 1990s and 2000s and investigate if they are still effective to a kid now, or if my memories are clouded by nostalgia. We will also explore modern gateway horror, again seeing if it is effective and why, but also exploring my response and reaction to it as someone who isn’t in the target demographic.
To introduce Ellis a little bit: He is 8 years old (and will be 9 in December) and really loves movies and TV and is starting to get into books as well. He loves superheroes, comedies, action movies, anything with The Rock, and has recently gotten really into Kaiju movies. He has already started to delve a little into horror as we have watched some episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Goosebumps, as well as both recent GOOSEBUMPS movies and he really enjoys them. But he can also get scared very easily. We tried watching the second season of the reboot of Are You Afraid of the Dark?: The Curse of the Shadows, but it scared him so badly that he had nightmares and still hasn’t slept without a source of light in his room since then.
For the first Journey Through the Gateway column, I decided to pick something that is less scary and more fun, but still has some great horror tropes and is one of my nostalgic favorites, the 2000 Disney Channel Original Movie PHANTOM OF THE MEGAPLEX. For those who haven’t seen it, PHANTOM OF THE MEGAPLEX follows Pete Riley (Taylor Handley), a hardworking, movie loving teen who is an assistant manager at a local movie theater. On the day that the theater is hosting a premiere for a new monster movie, things start to go wrong all around the theater and Pete must find and stop the fabled Phantom of the Megaplex to save the premiere. Here’s how our conversation went:
Dad: Did you think that this movie was scary? Why or why not?
Ellis: I didn’t think it was scary. It was funny and cool. You should work at a movie theater.
Dad: What was your favorite part of the movie?
Ellis: I liked the movies with the tornados where the giant fan made it seem like there was actually a tornado in the theater. I also liked when he jumped on the giant dinosaur balloon and stabs it with the sword.
Dad: Would you watch this movie again?
Ellis: I think I would watch it again. I liked that they were at a movie theater the whole time. And I think it would be cool to fight the Phantom.
Watching PHANTOM OF THE MEGAPLEX with Ellis was a lot of fun. It does a great job of switching scenes between different movies playing in the theater and multiple Phantom shenanigans. Pete also has younger siblings, and the younger brother is close in age to Ellis, so he was invested.
I have to agree with Ellis that PHANTOM OF THE MEGAPLEX isn’t traditionally scary. Apart from a few glimpses of the phantom with sinister laughter, I don’t think the movie is trying to be scary. But, the PHANTOM OF THE MEGAPLEX is about scary movies. The movie premiering at Pete’s theater is a star studded monster movie called Midnight Mayhem. Pete’s younger sister Karen (Caitlin Wachs) wants to see a horror movie called University of Death despite their mom protesting that she is too young. And the movie opens with shots from PHANTOM OF THE OPERA as Pete explains that it was the first movie to ever play at their theater when it opened decades ago.
Part of why I chose PHANTOM OF THE MEGAPLEX for this first column was because it does such a good job of introducing horror ideas as well as integrating them into the actual plot. The idea of monster movies, teen campus horror, and the classic PHANTOM OF THE OPERA are all mentioned or hinted at throughout the movie. Alongside those examples, Pete goes through the journey of a final boy in this horror whodunit. Pete has to find out who the Phantom is and stop them and he is partially motivated by the prospect of impressing the girl he likes. The stakes aren’t as high as in a traditional slasher (no one is going to die here), but Pete’s job and the reputation of the theater are on the line.
As a gateway horror movie, PHANTOM OF THE MEGAPLEX is extremely successful. It is high energy and the movie theater setting, along with the horror themes throughout, make it perfect to capture the attention of most kids. References to specific movies like PHANTOM OF THE OPERA give kids reference points that they can recognize as they work their way further into the genre. PHANTOM OF THE MEGAPLEX will leave viewers wanting to go to the movies, and chances are they are going to be looking for titles like Midnight Mayhem so that they can experience the magic that this movie was all about.
Tags: Blair Treu, Caitlin Wachs, Carlo Rota, Columns, Corinne Bohrer, Disney Channel, Mickey Rooney, Ricky Mabe, Sarah Gadon, Stu Krieger, Taylor Handley, TV Movies
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