The Horror Of Horror Films

My grandma once told me, “If you stay up too late at night, the boogeyman will get you”. I never believed her but I knew I wouldn’t want to see the Boogeyman if he actually existed. Most people would actually want to watch these horrible beings. In this case, they would want to view a horror movie such as “Friday the 13” or “Nightmare on Elm Street”. It is part of our Human Condition to be attracted to the films and asking for more. Stephen King’s claims in “Why we crave horror” asserts us that humans crave horror to face our fears, to re-establish our feelings of normalcy, and to experience a peculiar sort of fun.

We pay the amount to get into the movie and prepare our minds for the thriller that's ahead. Just as Stephen king says in why we crave horror he says that; When we pay our four or five bucks and seat ourselves at the tenth row center in a theater showing a horror movie, we are daring the nightmare. This proves that we leave for the movies to have that thrill of being scared and feel normal once again. We as humans need something like a creepy movie(thriller) to feel reconnected to life. In some ways horror helps us humans out in many

In essence, we might be inclined to believe horror films in fact create a sense of gray. To take this a step further, there’s documented facts proving how people are inspired by horror films and actually carry this out in real life. However, King’s suggestion that horror films are like roller coaster was more persuasive. When I think of riding a roller coaster, I recall all of my experiences of watching horror movies. The emotions are similar, almost always leaving me with an adrenaline rush, sense of fear, rapid heartbeat and at times sick to my stomach. It’s terrifying watching someone on the “big screen” being harmed or murdered and yet I’m always relieved when the bad guy or gal receives pay-back in the end. I guess that would be my sense of excitement?

Do you enjoy watching murder, the paranormal, and any other morbid scene which makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, your palms sweat, and your adrenaline surge? Why people enjoy watching murder, tragedy, and carnage in their spare time has been a mysterious phenomenon. If these gruesomely horrific scenes would not be enjoyable in real life, why is watching a recreation of it so riveting? Stephen King, a world-renowned horror novelist, wrote “Why We Crave Horror Movies” to give insight as to why horror movies, although gruesome and morbid, captivate audiences. King also aims to persuade readers to continue to watch horror movies, arguing that they are a crucial part of keeping sanity. King delves into this psychological aspect of humans and believes that the desire to watch horror films is a normal tendency of humankind. “Why We Crave Horror Movies” includes appeals to emotion, logic, and author credibility in order to convince readers of the positive, normal desire to watch horror films, why it is important to watch them, and why the reader should believe what the author is saying. King utilizes the rhetorical devices—pathos, logos, and ethos—in an effective way through the use of metaphor, logic, humor, and emotion to persuade readers that watching horror films is normal.

Why do people watch horror movies when they know they are going to experience negative emotions? Why do people want to put themselves through that? Furthermore, Stephen King, an author of many horror books, has his own opinion on this, this referring to people and the need to watch or read horror. He wrote an essay, “Why We Crave Horror”, that explains why people want to experience those emotions that are a part of the Human Condition. Stephen King rightfully claims that people crave horror to show that they are not afraid, also to re-establish their feelings of normality, and to have some fun.

“The mythic horror movie, like the sick joke, has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to al that is worst in us” (King 398). Stephen King illustrates that scary movies are there for the sole purpose of people releasing the inner demons, and in a safe way finding an adrenaline rush. Without these horror movies many people would have a difficult time finding new ways to release stress and to escape the realities of the world surrounding them.

The emotion of fear injects the sense of dread all throughout our body, causing our muscles to tense up, pupils to dilate, body to sweat, stomach to clench, and to breathe heavily. Fear’s main intention of doing so is to warn ourselves of any potential danger we might be in and prevent any future harm done to us. (Dayton) So, for what reason might we humans want to experience fear; such as watching horror movies, when it is so closely associated with pain?

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.

I can appreciate the mystery and shock that I get when watching a horror film. Steven King goes on to say that I watch because I want to show I’m not afraid. He goes on to say that it’s like a roller coaster. A good horror movie would get a good scream out of me like a roller coaster. I agree with him on this analogy. Also, that horror films are made to get a reaction out of me. It’s true depending on how scary the film is I might hide my face or leave the room and come back when it’s over. “We go to have fun” he goes on to say it’s a certain kind of fun.

Stephen King’s essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” explains how horror movies are important to keep one’s sanity. King starts by saying that everyone is a little mentally ill, even in a subtle way. By seeing horror movies younger people test themselves and prove that they aren’t afraid, as well as to confirm that they are much more normal than the people shown in these movies. We also go to have fun. In a slightly morbid way we find these movies entertaining. King says that perhaps horror movies allow us to let go of certain morals and maturity and give our emotions free reign for a few hours. He also illustrates that sanity is possibly only a matter of degree: one is not simply insane or not insane.

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.

As a society, there is a lot of excitement placed upon horror and horror films; ask anybody and they could recall what the first horror movie they saw was and when they saw it. In fact, there were 322 horror films release in 2015 alone. However, during the 1950s there were only approximately 117 or so horror films released throughout the whole decade. During the 1960s, that number double from 117 to 273 (IMDB). This sharp incline could be attributed to many different things, but it would ridiculous to deny that the works of Shirley Jackson didn’t have an affect on the popularity of horror, and the increase in demand for horror to be put on screen.

After watching both scenes, I had a different perspective about one each scene. The first scene that I watch give me a sense of a horror movie just by the sound effects. The sound was not bad, but there is some that I would have used a different effect. Therefore, I would have added squeaking to the floor to add a little more suspense. The music that was add was a good fit for a horror was a nonlinear sound. I Like the swipe sound toward the end because without seeing what was pulled out you still had a sense that it was a knife. The scream was more of a scared scream which fit the concept of the scene.