Wednesday night, I ventured off to see a free advanced screening of the latest horror film, “The Haunting in Connecticut.” It seemed easy enough: get to NorthPark Center and watch a free movie before anyone else. Fun, right?

Well, sadly, my evening did not go quite as planned, though it did work out in my favor in the end. I, along with an equally enthusiastic friend, rode the DART and, after several bus/train changes, arrived at the magnificent NorthPark.

After being dragged to the dreaded Apple store (yes, I’m a very loyal PC user), we finally decided 30 minutes before the movie to head over to the AMC Theater. To our dismay, the movie was sold out. Apparently, the way the whole deal works is that they hand out more tickets than they have seats for and just hope to fill up the theater, which they most definitely did.

So what were we to do? We had already made such a grand effort and were not going to just ride the DART back to campus (not to mention we were afraid to run into the drug dealer that said he had been stabbed seven times on the train not more than a year ago.)

So, we did the next best thing- we watched “The Last House on the Left,” a horror film we had never heard of.

My expectations were not high, I’ll admit. After all, I hadn’t even heard of this film. Further, my experience with recent horror films hasn’t exactly been wonderful. I missed having genuine fear instilled in my very being. Now, all that I ever get out of horror films is a sense of unfulfillment. “The Last House on the Left” took care of that problem.

Throughout the film, my mind wandered to the thought, “What is so different about this film that makes me about to pee my pants?” My conclusion was actually simple: it was realistic enough that it could have happened to me.

Without giving away too much about the film, I will say that there are no demons, no witches, no variations of Satan, no zombies, and the film lacks creepy-looking girls with greasy black hair. The film took place in a realistic setting with realistic characters and, well, a semi-realistic plot.

Perhaps it’s just me, but in order for me to be genuinely scared, I need to feel like it’s at least a tad bit realistic. Don’t get me wrong, movies like “The Ring” are great for a bit of a thrill and a whole lot of gore, but when it comes to fear, I have none.

“The Last House on the Left” had me gripping my friend’s hand and, more than once, burying my face in my sweatshirt. Often this was because of my refusal to bear witness to the gore that had me thinking, “Really? So much?” But it was all part of the movie that, for the first time in a long time, gave me just enough fright to jump in my seat.

Nureen Gulamali is a freshman advertising and sociology double major. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].