Most people can remember being sick at home as a kid watching a movie marathon on television. Madison College Professor John Opel first fell in love with movies in 1972 while battling swine flu.
“It’s a little strange, but I got very sick with swine flu. I was allowed to watch television, but it had to be PBS. So, they had a two-week run of “Ivan the Terrible Part 1” (1944), “Through a Glass Darkly” (1961), and a few others and I don’t know if it was being in a fevered state or just those films, but it was a real fascination,” he explained.
As an escape from school life, Opel had taken to writing one-act plays throughout elementary school. He had written five of them, all inspired by horror movies he had seen, and one even included a tub of acid in a basement. In college, he worked for the student newspaper, and he would write a short story every week while also continuing to write even more one-act plays.
At one point Opel considered joining the Marine Corps but decided against it to pursue other opportunities. He attended the University of Southern California and became a lawyer specializing in Acquisition Finance and Environmental Litigation.
As a lawyer, he even got an opportunity to live in London for a year before returning to the United States.
Opel has been teaching at Madison College for over 20 years now. He teaches in the English department as well as teaching film classes. He started part-time teaching in 2000 and began full-time teaching in 2003.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, teachers across the world were left scrambling to try and figure out how to teach their classes online, and in Opel’s case, with less than a month to prepare. Opel had to work 14-hour days, and he says his wife would have to tell him to stop and take breaks during those crazy times.
Continuing from his childhood, in his spare time Opel enjoys writing. He has completed a few books such as “Endos.” “Endos” is about a war photographer whose wealthy father dies and leaves him Endos which is this estate in upstate New York with all sorts of mysterious things happen.
The process of writing can be difficult as Opel discovered. “I think the law stuff knocked out a lot of creativity. One time for a case I had to write a 170-page document in only two weeks.”
A famous line from the iconic movie “Scream” (1996) is, “What’s your favorite scary movie?” Opel’s favorites are “The Haunting” (1963), “The Exorcist” (1973) and “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968). While there are so many more he loves, these three come out on top.
These are not the gore-fest slashers of the 80s or of today, but instead more restrained classic psychological horror movies that pique Opel’s interest.
For as long as horror movies have been around, people have debated the value of this genre. From the Satanic Panic of the 1980s to more recent movies like “Terrifier 3” (2024), many people have gone as far as to protest the release of these horror movies.
“I think that the serious ones are appreciated now. They have prestige and I think among filmmakers they certainly do. The attitude of ‘Oh it’s going to poison the children’s minds’ stuff has dropped away.” But this comes with a contrasting side as well, Opel explains.
“There’s this split yeah of just nonsense so I think that it’s always been the case, horror has always hovered between respectability, and you know kind of smut,” he said.
Despite the hate that horror movies still get, there is value in these films. The adrenalin rush they can provide, and the distraction they can provide from everyday life. Horror movies are a form of art, and sometimes art is scary.
“They’re this reflective surface and what scares you is important to understand. We’re attracted to it because it scares us and we like it, more importantly when it reflects our society and culture,” he said.
A great horror movie, novel, or television show will always reflect the current state of the culture it’s created in. Facing the truths of reality can often be the most terrifying thing of all and that is what makes horror great.