It is intriguing how we as human beings are afraid of something. Yet when it comes to horror films, people all around the world are attracted to these type of films. The ones who can’t watch this type of genre film question people who enjoy it. They can’t seem to understand how people can get through watching the whole film or how people get excited viewing it.
Before I start explaining about the psychology of horror films it’s better to get a basic understanding of fear itself. Fear is a natural emotion that we humans have. Fear basically sends information to our brain about the consequences that can happen. When we are afraid we tend to feel anxious, sweaty, tightened muscles and our blood rises. There are different types of fears that
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Each having their own tests and hypothesis about humans being attracted to such graphic films. Neuroscientists believe fear is correlated by the Amygdala. The amygdala are a collection of nuclei in the medical temporal lobes of the brain and have been identified by many as a fundamental basis center for the processing of fear in the human emotional complex ( LeDoux & Muller, 1997). They study how fear and anxiety works in our brain. How we build up fear by having anxiety all the time. Saying that human beings and animals have the same brain circuit. Fear informs us of our surroundings and what could be the aftermath. Saying that you coalesce fear if you start interpreting things in another …show more content…
But often we fear situations that are far from life-or-death, and thus hang back for no good reason. Traumas or bad experiences can trigger a fear response within us that is hard to quell. Yet exposing ourselves to our personal demons is the best way to move past them” (psychology today). Psychologists like filmmakers know that people want to get frightened or they wouldn’t do it again. That’s why horror films gain huge revenue year by year. People want to be affected by the movie and filmmakers know that and try to show what the public wants. They know they should present suspense, eerie music, good plot or jump scares, something that affects them and makes them think.
What perplexes me is how people who genuinely like these type of films enjoys it. I honestly can’t watch these films by myself sometimes. At first ill watch the film perfectly fine but then I get paranoid afterwards. I would rather watch the film with someone else because I enjoy it more. I laugh every single time I get frightened or my boyfriend gets frightened by a certain scene. After the movie is finished I feel anxiety and paranoid having bad thoughts linger in my head for a good period of time. I can’t walk at night without feeling my muscles getting tight, especially when I hear a sudden
Everyday is a challenge and we experience things that we like and we don’t like. There are things we always want to leave behind and move forward; however, we cannot. As humans if we are told not to do something, we want to try it anyway to see the outcome. In the same manner, if we are told about a movie being scary we go out of our comfort zone to experience it and then later be frightened. Stephen T.Asma mentions,“Monsters can stand as symbols of human vulnerability and crisis, and as such they play imaginative foils for thinking about our own responses to mence” (62). When we watch horror movies, we force ourselves to imagine the wrong and undesirable. These thoughts in our head cause us to believe that our own obstacles are likely to cause a threat or danger to ourselves. In the same manner, horror movies can be represented as obstacles in our life that we don’t want to go through and we do it anyway to feel good about our own situations that they are not as bad as others. Stephen King also depicts, “We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality; the horror movie is innately conservative, even reactionary.”(King 16). Horror movies may put us in a mindset where we feel safe and more comfortable with our own situations but explore our options in worse situations. It gives us an example of what people did in their fright time and how we should confront each and every
The article Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King distinguishes why we truly do crave horror movies. Stephen King goes into depth on the many reasons on why we, as humans, find horror movies intriguing and how we all have some sort of insanity within us. He does this by using different rhetorical techniques and appealing to the audience through ways such as experience, emotion and logic. Apart from that he also relates a numerous amount of aspects on why we crave horror movies to our lives. Throughout this essay I will be evaluating the authors arguments and points on why society finds horror movies so desirable and captivating.
...is that isn’t always the case. Often, we either became the prey or the predator. Another reason is that we need to reassure ourselves our lives could be worse. We have this idea that what happens in movies only happens in movies and therefore we watch these films to guarantee our worst fears will never become our reality, regardless of how realistic it may seem. Lastly, we watch the genre of film that best matches our current mood or events that previously took place that day. Our emotions are key; if we’re depressed, we may be more likely to watch a horror film.
In classical Hollywood cinema, horror films were produced in the notion that as human beings we enjoy the concept of being scared and take it as a form of entertainment. This review examines five scholarly peer-reviewed
Often times I wonder if people go to see horror movies for enjoyment, or is it something much more than that? I have mixed feelings about the idea that, “the horror film has become the modern version of public lynching” (King 562). Horror movies do promote violence and can influence the mindset of the audience, but sanity people is not based on the excitement we receive from watching a horror film. Instead, it is based on what is already within us, not what we witness on a movie screen, but what we experience throughout our lifetime.
The first point King makes in his story is, we watch the horror to show we are not scared, we’re brave, we can face our fears, and that we need to feel the adrenaline rush when we experience horror. Stephen King is right to claim that we crave horror to face our fears. He explains in his argument that, “... we are daring the nightmare...that we are not afraid, that we can ride this roller coaster.” (King, “Why We Crave
Does anyone know why people find an interest in decapitating someone or slowly watch them get eaten by the dead? In the story Why We Crave Horror Movies the author, Stephen King, quotes numerous lines about death, murder, spirits, and many other violent quotes that people could think of. The author does a good job at this because of the way the story is said that makes people feel inside where the story takes place. Stephen King correctly states that people are all mentally ill, people need horror movies to stay normal, and to watch movies for that weird sort of joy.
To begin with, some people would say they enjoy a horror movie that gets them scared out of their wits. They go see these movies once a month on average, for fun, each time choosing a newer sequel like “Final Destination” or “The evil Dead”. King says “When we pay our four or five bucks and seat ourselves at tenth-row center in a theater showing a horror movie we are daring the nightmare” (405). As a writer of best-sel...
Horror films are designed to frighten the audience and engage them in their worst fears, while captivating and entertaining at the same time. Horror films often center on the darker side of life, on what is forbidden and strange. These films play with society’s fears, its nightmare’s and vulnerability, the terror of the unknown, the fear of death, the loss of identity, and the fear of sexuality. Horror films are generally set in spooky old mansions, fog-ridden areas, or dark locales with unknown human, supernatural or grotesque creatures lurking about. These creatures can range from vampires, madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts, monsters, mad scientists, demons, zombies, evil spirits, satanic villains, the possessed, werewolves and freaks to the unseen and even the mere presence of evil.
People are addicted to the synthetic feeling of being terrified. Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned.
Would you rather be horrified beyond repair or thrilled to the point of no return? In horror, the main purpose is to invoke fear and dread into the audience in the most unrealistic way. Horror movies involve supernatural entities such as ghosts, vampires, teleportation, and being completely immortal. As thriller films are grounded in realism and involve more suspense, mystery, and a sense of panic. Though both genres will frighten the audience, it will happen in two different ways. Whether the horror thrills or the thriller horrifies, a scare is always incorporated.
A horror movie “makes people think, what if it was reality?” said by a thrill seeker person who was waiting to watch a horror movie. Experts also cite more various reasons about why people enjoy watching scary movies. For the thrill of it and also because it seems real for thrill seekers; these are some secretes reveled to show why thrill seekers enjoy horror movies. Feeling the sense of evil and being curious about understanding humanity’s dark side makes horror movies a perfect way of enjoying these feelings, and relieving the tension of curiosity about violent, blood and terrorism. Moreover, experts said that not only desirability to blood and fear could consider as an attraction to whose ...
Through out of its development, horror movies contributed a great part in not only the film industry but also further, the society. They expose many things to audiences by giving them opportunities to experience mysterious things without worrying about physical danger. They influence other entertainment genres, and they can be used to portray the worst in society. From cult classics such as Dracula to game-changing filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock, the Horror Film Genre spews out a great deal of talent and material for society from the best and the worst of society. Horror movies, nowadays, becomes more and more popular.
People who prefer horror films obviously like to be grossed out or like to be frightened. The horror fans probably tend to enjoy suspense and anxiety. One might suspect these people love to go on frightening roller coaster rides or do other things that would cause suspense and anxiousness. People of this nature might enjoy things that most people would not, considering the amount of gore produced in many horror films. For example, some people watch surgeries on TV. These shows contain blood and things disturbing to others. It would make sense to say that the person who has no problem with the gore in the movies could probably watch and enjoy a surgery on TV.
Filled with twisted ideas, blood, gore, and supernatural occurring’s, I can understand why a lot of Americans do not crave putting in such a film. What I do not understand is why a lot of them don’t enjoy a good scare here and there. I dont see the mass majority of people watching for the pure pleasure of the ideas and images a film provokes. Most horror movies show possibilities with a real risk factor, diving into a world filled with killers, clowns, and your skilled boogie man. We’re not watching because we feed off the violence and twisted scenes, but were craving the feeling and adrenaline that is triggered by such images and ideas. Watching from a safe place such as your couch, offers an out of body experience simply by putting on a movie. For me, there was nothing more exciting that really could happen late at night, especially when you’re in middle