Los Angeles, Aug 21 (IANS): Actor Michael Pena says horror films are like roller coaster rides, adding that he is a big fan of the genre.

Pena recalled falling in love with horror flicks as a child. "When I was a kid and I was younger, my mom used to take us to a theatre where we would pay two dollars and then be able to see multiple movies. We'd watch (legendary Mexican comedian) Cantinflas and then immediately afterwards it would be followed by an American movie. There would be a complete 180 of what we expected to see. I watched all these horror movies -- 'Nightmare on Elm Street', 'Rosemary's Baby', 'The Shining', 'The Exorcist', they were so scary," he said.

"But it was safe to me, like you wanted to be scared, you wanted to feel that same scare. It was like riding a roller coaster because for all intents and purposes, roller coasters are really safe and so when you are on a roller coaster, you know you are going to go really fast, but at the same time it's locked down and it gives you that extra safety net to experience something like this," he added.

It is a reason Pena enjoyed working in the horror film, "Fantasy Island".

"When I read the initial draft, it had a bunch of different storylines, so from the get-go I knew that it was going to have multiple fantasies. I think it also gives you a break when you are diving into someone else's fantasy. It gives you a little time to breathe," he said.

"As for the film, I mean I really liked what he did to be honest; I saw that on 'Truth or Dare'. You kind of want a little bit of everything, a bit of humor, even if it's dark, so that you can pace it up a bit and have breaks, or else it's kind of unrelenting," Pena added about the film, which airs in India on August 30 on &flix and Zee Cafe.