Are movies like "Hannibal" and the remake of "Halloween," which serve up murder and mutilation as routine fare, actually making the United States safer? A paper presented by two researchers over the weekend to the annual meeting of the American Economic Association here challenges the conventional wisdom, concluding that violent films prevent violent crime by attracting would-be assailants and keeping them cloistered in darkened, alcohol-free environs.

In the interest of public safety Hollywood should churn out more violent movies to keep the bad guys off of the streets. Doesn't conventional wisdom tell us that violent movies make people more violent? Should we start showing these movies to our enemies?

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