Here’s how to get paid to watch horror films from your couch
The perfect job doesn’t exist— but wait! For horror film fanatics, it looks like it might.
Whether you start displaying your pumpkin and skeleton decor in September or watch a horror film for each of the 31 days of October, there are plenty of ways to get into the Halloween spirit. But what if you could get paid to celebrate the scary things that go bump in the night? Casino.org is looking for a Halloween Horror Movie Tester. The gig pays $2,500 and asks viewers to determine which of the following films is the scariest: “The Exorcist,” “Hereditary,” “The Conjuring,” “Insidious,” or “The Ring.”
Interested parties can apply at casino.org, where one winner will be chosen to participate in a study that monitors their heart rate while watching each film. Applications are available only to US and Canadian residents over 18 years old and close on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 9 a.m. Once the winner is selected, they will be awarded $500 to purchase snacks, a heart monitor and any streaming subscriptions required to watch the films.
The winner will need to rate each movie by considering the pace of their heart rate, jump scare counts, scream counts, eye-covering and goosebumps frequencies per film. They will also be asked to rate their sleep disturbance after each watch from one (slept like a baby) to five (kept the lights on). All films must be viewed by November 30, and ratings must be submitted by Dec. 5 to receive a $2,000 payment.
For more information and to see the full terms and conditions, visit casino.org . Here is a quick synopsis of some of the films included in the paid study.
The Exorcist
The 1973 film, “The Exorcist,” is a classic in the supernatural horror subgenre and kicked off the six-movie franchise and other films centered on demonic possession. The original film was based on the 1971 horror novel written by American writer William Peter Blatty. The film centers on Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), a visiting actress in Washington, DC, who notices a dramatic change in the behavior and physical makeup of her 12-year-old daughter Regan (Linda Blair). When it’s clear that these issues are nonmedical and a sign of demonic possession, they call in a Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) to perform an exorcism, but the demon has other plans for the priest.
Hereditary
No movie studio captures trauma like A24; certainly, nobody comes close to trauma horror like director Ari Aster. His directorial debut with “Hereditary” combines psychological horror and sprinkles in the supernatural to deliver a brutal and relentless presentation of suffering. The film is not for the faint of heart and definitely has some gut-churning moments. The story begins with a funeral of the mother of Annie (Toni Collette) and grandmother to her son (Alex Wolff) and daughter (Milly Shapiro). The family copes in varying ways as they grieve, including Annie and her daughter, who both begin dabbling in the supernatural. The family starts to have disturbing experiences that uncover a generation of secrets haunting the family.
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The Conjuring
Another one of the most successful horror franchises in the last decade begins with “The Conjuring.” The first two films were created by James Wan, who had also started the “Saw” franchise. This film has less to do with gore and instead focuses on the supernatural. The film follows demonologists Carolyn (Vera Farmiga) and Roger Perron (Patrick Wilson) in 1971, three years after fighting off a demon who possessed a doll named Anabelle. The family moves into a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, with their five daughters, where they soon encounter a malevolent spirit who seems to be getting stronger each night.
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Insidious
Before “The Conjuring” franchise began, Wan also directed “Insidious” and later the film’s sequel. There seems to be some overlap in Wan’s exploration of the supernatural in this franchise and “The Conjuring” universe. It even includes Wilson in another fatherly role. If you’ve never seen this film, imagine a modernized version of “Poltergeist.” When the Lambert family moves into their new house, everything seems normal until their son Daulton (Ty Simpkins) falls into the attic and slips into a coma the following day. They begin to experience a series of hauntings and move to a new house, only to realize that it wasn’t their home that was causing the problem.
The Ring
One of the most iconic horror films, “The Ring,” is an American adaptation of the Japanese supernatural-psychological horror film, “Ring,” directed by Hideo Nakata and written by Hiroshi Takahashi. The original film was based on the novel “Ring” by Koji Suzuki. While the ’90s were full of slasher horror films, “The Ring” challenged the imagination of viewers rather than focusing on gore. Its debut helped put Japanese horror on the map for Western audiences. In the American film, a reporter, Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), must investigate why four teenagers all die mysteriously exactly one week after watching a mysterious tape that is said to predict the death of the viewer. In her curiosity, she watches the tape and finds herself unraveling.