The Horror Of Horror Films

Other people experience fear in different ways. For example, scary movies make millions in Hollywood. Many people pay to watch a movie that will not only scare them, but also give them nightmares. The viewers enjoy the little rush they get when something pops out or someone screeches in fear of a murderer.

Horror can be defined as a genre meant to psychologically trigger individual fear with the presence of certain supernatural or abstract characteristics. The genre is dependent on people’s fascination with unrealism and the sensation that comes from experiencing fear personified into tangible elements on a screen. Horror films have thrilled audiences for decades, revealing stories of the more sinister parts of life. The popular allure that stems from the genre comes from the tension moviegoers experience when aroused by specific stimuli uniquely present in these cinematic features (Walters). Over time, as the genre progressed, the standardized elements found in a typical horror movie began to shift in different directions primarily due to changing societal circumstances and increasing consumer demand for cinematic innovation. The expansive nature of the different codes and conventions within the horror genre, coupled with the evolution of society’s fascination with these characteristics, has led to the mutation of the genre itself in order to allow for unique approaches to a familiar style in response to both economic developments and taste shifts within the consumer industry.

Human craves horror to face our fears and experience an adrenaline.Not everyone enjoys being afraid, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that no one wants to experience a truly life-threatening situation,But there are those of us who really enjoy the experience.After all, anyone who has heard of Stephen King will automatically know that reading one of his stories may result in a thrill. Most of us spend our entire lives avoiding our “hysterical fear” of death, and allowing us to read such a description really is “daring [our] nightmares” everybody has different emotions and feels a different way when it comes to scary, or horror movies. Some people watch them to reveal their not scared or afraid no more. I feel like when people are able to watch the movies and read the stories , they define the realness of them, and are able to be themselves.

They aim to elicit responses of fear or revulsion from their audience, whether through suggestion and the creation of mood or by graphic representation. Horror paradoxically provides pleasure, providing a controlled response of fear that is presumably cathartic. Stories of fear and the unknown are timeless. The biggest aim is to make money. But they play on basic concepts of good vs. evil. They make a formula out of promiscuity equaling a form of badness that ends in death while virtue and virginity means probable survival. They love to use basic themes that get exaggerated to create fears that are familiar and creepy.

Horror stories draw off of our primitive fears as people, and in that way they can plant fears in

For century human are fascinated with the concept of death and the creepy crawlers that wonder through the night. As years progress the art of scary storytelling has stayed the same but, in modern day, film producers makes it more enjoyable for all people. The concept of horror movies and scary thing intrigues people for some reason, making it strange that people can actually enjoy these type of things. In 1981 Stephen King wrote an article called Why we crave horror movies. He described the people who enjoy horror movie are the mentally insane, the deep dark void in the back of your head secretly wants to come out.

We all need an excitement in our lives and experience the adrenaline rush. Horror genre fills up that empty spot. In today's society us teens go to amusement parks to pay to get scared by the serious tense the rides give us. Roller coasters keep us guessing what will happen next and scream at various parts of the ride. Stephen King states it himself “we are not afraid, that we can ride this roller coaster” (King, “Why We Crave”1). King says that on that surface level, we watch horror movies for that level of fun. Even knowing horror movies can give us this frightening feeling King says “we are daring the nightmare” (King, “Why We Crave”1). Horror movies are innately conservative, even reactionary. If the brain knows there is no risk of really being harmed, it experiences the adrenaline rush as enjoyable. This is the obvious option. Wondering what is going to jump out as us at a haunted house. As in who will get slashed next or who is this mystery killer in the horror movie. When you put yourselfs in the victim's shoes, your reaction can be true fear, but once you leave the theater, you are in no real

A girl runs frantically through the woods trying to escape an axe wielding villain. The defenseless victim suddenly trips and collapses to the ground. The villain laughs wickedly as he lifts the axe above his head. The girl releases a final scream as the weapon quickly ends her life, causing the audience to go silent as they watch the villain drag away the lifeless body. Death, blood, guts, suspense, screaming, and terror are all just a few things to expect when watching a modern day horror film. What is horror? Horror can be defined as an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. (Wilson) The description of horror is not very pleasant, but for some reason horror films are extremely popular. Why is this so? People are addicted to the

Horror is designed to scare, cause alarm and dread, while also entertaining the audience at the same time in a cathartic experience (Dirk, 2016). Horror films are meant for a specific type of audience that enjoy scary films. Dirks (Tim, 2016) approach to genre horror, is that films went back as 100 years ago, from the earliest days our vivid imagination in seeing ghosts in the shadows to be connected emotionally of the unknown, and fear things that are improbable. You watch a horror film, it makes you aware of the scary surroundings, the essence of fear itself, without actually being in any sorts of danger. Dirks argues that there is a fun and thrill factor in being frightened, or watching something disturbing. It gives you that feeling of an adrenaline rush, as well as having that feeling someone is actually next to you lurking in the dark (Dirk, 2016).

Horror films are movies that aim to elicit a strong physiological reaction in the viewer, such as raised heartbeat and fear. Three horror films by the names of Psycho, Scream and The Messengers will be analysed and compared to an episode of the popular children’s show Shaun the Sheep. Five elements will be addressed in this analysis, those being camera techniques, Mise-en-scene, Editing, Lighting and Sound.

It has come into question as to why as a culture we gravitate towards such a taboo genre where things such as torture, supernatural beings, and psychic phenomenon abound? Stephen King (2014) poses that since horror is so violent and insane, that it appeals to the worst in us all, bringing out or inner insanity. However, others have posited that there are functional reasons as to why we love horror such as fears and scary stories having evolutionary qualities, releasing emotions through catharsis and even providing a fictional space to master stressors in

Most, if not all of us, have experienced intense emotions when watching films in these categories. Modern society, not only in America, but elsewhere, has become addicted to intense emotions and almost immune to the carnage and terror found in many horror films. Long gone

Horror is tricky thing, there are so many subgenres and it can come in many different forms. There are slashers, thrillers, psychological horror, gore and many more. Most people can watch one genre and not watch another. For example I can watch horror films where the bad guy is an actual person but paranormal horror is too much for me. There are aslo many different mediums that can person can express horror through. Most if these were introduced after Carroll and Guat’s time and I think their respective theories fit better for each Medium. Carroll’s fits better for films and video games but Gaut’s fits better for horror theme attractions.

Horror fiction is designed to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere which can be either supernatural or non-supernatural. Sometimes in the form of unseen paranormal things and sometimes presented in the various forms of a very human kind of evil, such as serial killers and psychopaths. These scary stories are designed to frighten, scare, and/or startle readers by provoking a response that's either emotional, psychological, or physical to cause them to react with fear and induce feelings of horror and terror. Most of our horror fiction has its roots in local folktales and religious traditions which usually focus on the unknown, death, and all things that we simply depict as “evil” beings or acts. These stories evolved and

Horror for years has put people on the edge of their seats, begging the audience for more, even while scared out of their minds. Horror is an intense emotion that shows disgust and fear. This feeling is something some people might seek out for entertainment purposes–movies for example. The most interesting horror movie genres are serial killer, demon/ghost, and alien films.