5. Scare Tactics
Another SyFy network production, Scare Tactics is the ultimate practical joke show. People set up their friends to be absolutely terrified on camera only to come out, once the damage has been done, to reveal it was all a joke. Setting up very realistic situations, the Scare Tactics team of set designers, special effects make-up artists, and actors convince regular people that they are in the middle of a horror plot and keep it going as long as they can until the victim is a heartbeat away from keeling over or calling the police. When the joke is revealed, the victim takes time to regroup with a bottle of water and goes on to punch their friend in the arm and rethink their relationship. What makes this show torture is, not unlike Pitch Black, the fact that our imagination can turn an irrational situation into the absolute reality. There isnt a lot of time for our victims to overanalyze the plot they have found themselves in because of the supporting actors with them, pushing the idea that something is really happening. When we think we see an alien outside our window, we usually take a breath or two and convince ourselves that we didnt. With all of the hard work from the shows team, it is nearly impossible for the victims to do so. Audiences can watch the color drain from the victims faces, their knees start to buckle, and the horror that has taken over. It almost makes us feel bad. Except it doesnt. This show is entertaining enough on its own, but when we finish watching, the wheels in our heads start cranking and we often start plotting our own scare tactics against our friends. There is nothing better than scaring others. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PWH745MMMY