Money Monsters: The Scary Economic Truths Behind Horror Movies

Earlier this week, American Student Assistance, a nonprofit group that works to help college grads deal with debt, released "In the Red," a seven-minute horror film that explored the terror of college loans. While it was probably the first movie to transform student debt into a monster, the film was only the latest in a long line of movies that connect ghastly terrors to economic miseries.

With that in mind, I decided to put together a list of horror films that draw a direct line between the monster in your closet and the hole in your wallet. In some, like "The Amityville Horror," the underlying economic terror is clear; in others, like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," the connection is a little more tenuous. Overall, though, one thing is clear: In America, having an empty bank account is one of the most frightening things imaginable.

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Bruce Watson is DailyFinance's Savings editor. You can reach him by e-mail at bruce.watson@teamaol.com, or follow him on Twitter at @bruce1971.