What do you like about horror movies?

[ahimsa36]

hey everyone,
sorry if i'm misusing this forum, but i'm really curious as to why you all like horror movies. i'm not judging you guys or anything, and i'm not trying to argue some sort of anti-horror movie point. i've just been thinking about it and i'm curious what people like about them. i find myself drawn to them for the rush of adrenaline coming from being held in suspense or scared, but also for the intrigue of facing my own fear of death (especially gruesome death). however, i get this sick feeling after the movie and the images of the deaths really stick in my head. i don't like this depressed sick feeling, and i feel like it makes me very conscious of the real life suffering and deaths of people all over the world. do you all feel this too? thanks for any of your responses!

[Posher778]

You just need to look at horror movies as all fun and no real. That makes any sick feelings go away. That's all it is. It's only a movie.

[crabapple]

I'm not sure how to answer this question. But I definitely notice that my tastes in horror have changed over the years--as I get older, I like the really disturbing, realistic, gruesome horror films much less, and I tend to gravitate towards enjoyably cheesy monster movies and things with a pronounced "fantasy" element. This is pretty easy to figure out...the older one gets and the more things one sees, the more one acquires an understanding that mortality is a real thing. When I was 16, I watched all the blood and guts movies in the world and it didn't bother me. Now, I tend not to watch that sort of thing very much.

I do think that horror with a heavy fantasy element can be very appealing because it allows the viewer to dramatize the trouble and trauma of real life within a somewhat softer, friendlier perspective. A part of your mind watches a Dracula film and thinks, "Ah...this is horror, so I'm confronting life and death issues. I imagine I'm honest with myself and this makes me feel brave and invigorated." And another part of your mind thinks, "Jeez, thank goodness vampires can be killed with a stake to the heart, because the thought of that comforts me."

In short, this sort of movie allows you to confront these issues philosophically, and it only gets as unpleasant as you would like it to get.

[crabapple]

Oh, and there is one more thing I thought I could add to this.

If you watch people suffering in a movie and it makes you think about real life pain and suffering in the world and you feel sick and disturbed, that's GOOD. That's a normal reaction to this type of material. Go out and do something to make the day better for someone out there, and be glad you care about the feelings of other people. It's a good quality to have.

[Disease]

hey everyone,
sorry if i'm misusing this forum, but i'm really curious as to why you all like horror movies. i'm not judging you guys or anything, and i'm not trying to argue some sort of anti-horror movie point. i've just been thinking about it and i'm curious what people like about them. i find myself drawn to them for the rush of adrenaline coming from being held in suspense or scared, but also for the intrigue of facing my own fear of death (especially gruesome death). however, i get this sick feeling after the movie and the images of the deaths really stick in my head. i don't like this depressed sick feeling, and i feel like it makes me very conscious of the real life suffering and deaths of people all over the world. do you all feel this too? thanks for any of your responses!


Is this the only post your going to make?

I hope you got what you wanted!

[Mictlantechutli]

Oh, and there is one more thing I thought I could add to this.

If you watch people suffering in a movie and it makes you think about real life pain and suffering in the world and you feel sick and disturbed, that's GOOD. That's a normal reaction to this type of material. Go out and do something to make the day better for someone out there, and be glad you care about the feelings of other people. It's a good quality to have.

Agreed.

part of the thrill is the potential of being sickened - if it did, it means the film was impactful, it had an impact on you, which is philosophically interesting. I find them a wonderful way to truly understand where my tastes and fears lay.

They are also sort of a boot camp for the psyche. It conditions a youth to understand death and violence (which are part and parcel to this world) in a safe environment, where the experience is still valid, but a safe step removed from reality.

The fact that you are being slapped out of your comfort zone is a good thing. Knowing that that death is out there is quite invigorating. Being reminded of it is refreshing. We only have so much time on this earth, we are born with a death sentence. So live it up now! And live a good life now! Because there really is no tomorrow.

[crabapple]

It's really a very good thread, one of the best we've seen recently, I think.

[ahimsa36]

To Mictlantechutli:

This question has come up in discussing this with my girlfriend....."As far as horror movies as a bootcamp for the psyche, what do you think about desensitization? Can horror movies ever become too much for the psyche to bear and then begin to have a harmful effect?"

Also, to everyone:

"What do you think about movies like Hostel or the Saw series?"

[stubbornforgey]

Oh, and there is one more thing I thought I could add to this.

If you watch people suffering in a movie and it makes you think about real life pain and suffering in the world and you feel sick and disturbed, that's GOOD. That's a normal reaction to this type of material. Go out and do something to make the day better for someone out there, and be glad you care about the feelings of other people. It's a good quality to have.


nicely put.. 'clap clap clap clap'..
I like the thrill of the uncertain as well..
yes ..an adrenalin rush'
I loved being scared out of my mind.

[crabapple]

This may be a surprise to everyone, but here goes: I haven't seen Hostel or any of the Saw movies! You know how you see an ad for a movie and get intrigued and think, "Hmm, I want to see that!" Well, that didn't happen when I saw the ads for these films.

I do want to see Dead Silence, however. I like creepy dolls and puppets, a lot.

At home, I will watch horror like The Howling, oh, maybe some Paul Naschy movies, maybe some Mad Doctor of Blood Island... These are all real horror films, but they all have a certain amount of fantasy cushioning that softens them a little. Interview with the Vampire, same thing. It's horror, but very fantasy-oriented and that allows me to be a little bit detached.

The question of whether entertainment can harm us and help us: Well, I look at it this way. It is not absolutely, endlessly harmful. But neither is it totally inert. You might say that we watch what we watch because it affects us. So while neatly sidestepping the issue of whether we need more, or less, censorship, I can say that we might as well be aware of what we watch and what it is saying to us. These are modern myths and they present us with views of reality; interpretations of reality. They are one of society's teachers and before we make a movie, I believe we should think about the ideas and views we are presenting.

[stubbornforgey]

I find gore and slashers go a little overboard.
Its like directors are trying to outdo each other on new ways for the build up of someones guts being ripped out..etc.
Its too 'i dunno' blase' in my book...too predictable.
As soon as the movie has started..i can look at each actor and tell
you who the 1st victim is going to be..whose the hero
whose the killer..etc.
Too predictable.

Movies i do like i could watch repeatedly ..
movies i don't like..i walk out maybe 10/20 minutes into it..
or i will watch out of sheer boredom and never see watch again.

[foottoot]

I like what Crabtree said about side-stepping censorship and how its up to the individual to determine how the movies affect them. Let me know if i'm paraphrasing incorrectly.

[stubbornforgey]

Is this is some kind of survey or are you 2 actually interested in
our thoughts on this topic.?

[crabapple]

Well...these experiences are things you can walk away from. You can leave the theatre or turn off the DVD player.

I kind of wish I never finished watching "Fargo" because it was truly one of the most disturbing things I ever saw, but, a friend had brought it over, and I felt obligated to see it all the way through. But jeez. Did anyone else find that movie just profoundly horrifying??

[foottoot]

We're actually interested. He asked me... "why do people like horror movies" I said "I dont know. let's see." That's pretty much how it went.

[crabapple]

Well, this is the WORST place you could go really because we're all a bunch of clowns here.

[foottoot]

In any case, I feel like I've learned something. Thanks guys!

[stubbornforgey]

FINALLY..
I totally agree with you my friend on Fargo'

That movie disturbed me so much as well.

[Demonique]

I agree that there is a fantasy aspect to watching horror movies. They remove you from your everyday world into a place where ghosts can be seen and curses play out before your eyes. I also feel, for myself at least, that there is a strong cathartic aspect to them. Horror movies are a socially acceptable way to deal with stress. Idiots in the real world stress me out so I go home and watch idiots go back in the house and get themselves killed. I can't really explain why but horror movies are a great stress reliever for me.

[Amphibious Wretch]

When speaking of Saw and Hostel, I'm assuming you're trying to gauge why people would want to watch movies with belligerent depictions of torture and the such. There are much worse out there, the Guinea Pig series being the most infamous of them (which you can find discussion on in the J-Horror forum)

Horror (or exploitation in particular, if you'd like) can also serve as a personal litmus test. Just like some people like to test their physical limits, whether that be physical fitness or pain, horror movies can test the boundries of the psyche. How much can you take before you have to look away?

[bloody_ribcut]

What i like about horror movies is that their horror movies, and that it's a way to to escape reality to become more creative.(inmyopinion)
I like the gore, the suspence, the actors, the directors, the lighting, trailors, writers, producers, the creature effects, the cool posters they always come up with, the title's, in and out credits, and the music.
i like the dark feel that i can only get out of the horror genre.(inmyopinion)

[Mictlantechutli]

To Mictlantechutli:

This question has come up in discussing this with my girlfriend....."As far as horror movies as a bootcamp for the psyche, what do you think about desensitization? Can horror movies ever become too much for the psyche to bear and then begin to have a harmful effect?"

It's a tricky subject and I'm sure my answer is an over-simplification of the subject but...No.

Sure I'm desensitized to (and actually quite titillated by) screen violence but that's where it ends. I saw a real dead body not too long ago - terrible car crash, lots of blood and a few easily identifiable body parts detached from their hosts - and I was truly upset.

I feel those who use this argument about the desensitization have either lived a coddled life, free of talk about death, intentionally turning a blind eye to the real horrors of the world; or they have a pre-existing mental imbalance which is the true root of the problem.

Art cannot hurt you, but it certainly can affect you.


And about the Saw movies - they're morality plays. Sure the morality is twisted, but they are simple stories with complex devices. Very good stuff in my book. The Killer in Saw wants people to step outside of themselves and address just how much they really want to live. I find the movies tremendously life affirming.

Hostel was just torture-porn. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I dig it for how it wallows in its sleaze and the very clear statement it makes about the "ugly American" and how the rest of the world thinks of us as a pestilence.

[stenchofdeath]

Horror movies are the ultimate escape. Nothing pushes you to the brink of insanity like watching these types of movies. When you watch a movie with alot of heavy content (Saw 3) a non stop attack on the senses. You finish the movie and your mind is in a "i can't believe that i just watched that" and you're saying fuck to yourself over and over again. That's when you know you've seen a great movie. So, to answer the question i watch them to test my mind and stretch my imagination, to challenge myself mentally. When you've had a really hard day sit down and watch horror and, chances are you will forget about your cruddy day pretty quickly.

[bleeding_angelgirl]

What i like about horror movies is that their horror movies, and that it's a way to to escape reality to become more creative.(inmyopinion)
I like the gore, the suspence, the actors, the directors, the lighting, trailors, writers, producers, the creature effects, the cool posters they always come up with, the title's, in and out credits, and the music.
i like the dark feel that i can only get out of the horror genre.(inmyopinion)

i agree with you that dose it for me

[Kane_Hodder]

There's nothing like watching a cool slasher or hardcore horror film to escape the realities. It helps me out as being a great stress reliever, and I enjoy my viewing of any sort of horror film, be it slasher, gore or a haunting. The films of the 70s and the 80s hold a special place in my heart because most of them were original ideas and others were purified better efforts of the earlier decades. The fantasy of being a part of the surreal atmosphere only adds to the quality of the film, and any such film which succeeds in doing that with me ends up in my love-to-watch list.

[Hotep]

I like horrormovies who are realy scary, with a good story. Like House on Haunted Hill, Pet Sematary, Virus, ...

I also like som oldies :) like the haunting from 1963 and the dracula movies with Cristopher Lee.

[Vodstok]

It's a tricky subject and I'm sure my answer is an over-simplification of the subject but...No.

Sure I'm desensitized to (and actually quite titillated by) screen violence but that's where it ends. I saw a real dead body not too long ago - terrible car crash, lots of blood and a few easily identifiable body parts detached from their hosts - and I was truly upset.

I feel those who use this argument about the desensitization have either lived a coddled life, free of talk about death, intentionally turning a blind eye to the real horrors of the world; or they have a pre-existing mental imbalance which is the true root of the problem.

Art cannot hurt you, but it certainly can affect you.



Very good points. Even as a kid I had a clearly defined idea of real and imaginary. I was very into sci-fi and action movies, love3d violent games, played d&d....


Adn as entertaining as I found all of that, I hated the vietnam documentaries where they showed people being executed in the street. There is no fun in death, but death in entertainment is often a catharsis; it almost never happens to the undeserving in horror, so ther eusually is a sense of justice in it.

[ferretchucker]

I like the way...they go.

[hacelikewhoa]

I like the intensity and how anything can happen. Kind of like a dream. Fantasy horror or even realistic horror I think it has the same effect on me. My imagination runs wild and that's probably why I have nightmares.