If you are walking through the fine arts building and hear blood-curdling screams, don't be alarmed - the students in Cine 344: Genre- The Horror Film are just studying for their midterms.

This semester, the cinema department chose the genre studies course to focus on a type of film that many are literally too afraid to look at. "Genre-The Horror Film" was integrated into SF State's curriculum in summer 2007, and has only been on the class schedule a couple times since then.

Scott Boswell, the course instructor, has only been a teacher since the beginning of last fall. This is his first time teaching a class that concentrates on horror films.

"I have to prepare for this class as much as the students do," said Boswell.

Although he now teaches the genre, Boswell was never allowed to watch scary movies growing up.

"The first time I saw 'Halloween' and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' was in college," he said. "I think that not seeing the movies is what made them scarier for me though."

He recalled a time in his childhood when his older sister described in detail the plot of "Halloween 2", and he was terrified of the character Michael Myers without ever seeing the film.

Boswell went to the University of Wisconsin and came to SF State to get his master's degree in cinema. He is now the production coordinator for the cinema department in addition to being a part-time instructor.

"I want to eventually become a full-time instructor and teach what I know best, which is writing and directing," said Boswell.

The class is in the Coppola Theatre of the Fine Arts building, where 100 students file in to discuss film theory for an hour and then view a feature film. Last week's screening was of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

The class is made up of mostly male students, which Boswell attributes to the entire field of cinema. "It is a male-dominated industry, but it is possible that there are fewer females because the class is about horror," said Boswell.

Some students in the class said that they are not fans of horror movies. Connor Davis, a senior and cinema major, said that if it were not for the units he needs, he would not be taking this class. "I hate horror films," said Davis. "Scott is a great teacher though."

Cinema major Eric Duke said he doesn't like the films because they are too disturbing. "I wanted to gain appreciation for the genre, but we watched 'The Descent' and it really got to me," said Duke.

Boswell gets a lot of the film theory in his lectures from professors at UC Berkeley, such as Carol Clover and Noel Carroll, cinema professors and friends of Boswell's.

An introduction to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" invited Clover to offer her opinion on the one of horror's most snubbed sub-genres: "At the bottom of the horror heap lies the slasher film," said Clover.

In addition to Roger Ebert, many film critics believe that the slasher film is just a bunch of teenagers getting murdered, one by one.

Boswell, on the other hand, says he appreciates all horror for what it is. "Even the most low-brow films serve a function in society," he said.

He mentions "torture-porn" horror movies like "Hostel" that are only there to show boobs and blood. "While most people prefer to be scared in a horror movie, some people just enjoy seeing gore," said Boswell.

His favorite horror film, which he surprisingly did not include in the syllabus, is "Psycho".

"It's a truly great film that I like everything about, even the music," said Boswell. "But out of the 25 films I chose to play, I had to narrow it down to only twelve."

After his lecture, the lights grew dim until the theater was completely dark and several students tripped over each other to make it back into their seats. While the film played, many students laughed and during a gory scene, there were sounds of disgust and the shadows of heads turning away.

"What I find most interesting about film is the physiological reaction to what is being watched on the screen," said Boswell. "Some people laugh and some people scream -- it all depends on the way our emotions deal with stress."

Cine 344: Genre-The Horror Film meets every Thursday from 9:10 a.m. to 11:55 a.m. Films to come include "Ginger Snaps", "The Exorcist", "Carrie", "Teeth" and more.