The topic of horror has led to some similarities and common traits of what researchers not only consider “horror”, but also what they believe draws in the audience to this genre. In Carroll’s article, Why Horror, She explains the dynamics and elements that contribute to the topic of horror and why  audience members find pleasure in watching them. As I researched the topic of horror, I found that many other people have similar views on what makes these things of interest to the audience/viewers. I chose two sources that explained the ideology of horror and how they compared to our reading for this week.

For my first source, I found a book written by Jennifer McMahon. The book is titled, Aesthetics and Material beauty: Aesthetics Naturalized. There are many topics covered throughout her book, and one of them is the structure behind the horror genre. McMahon agrees with Carroll in many ways. Similarly, she points out that, horror films are designed to attract the audience’s attention by stimulating their curiosity (p 168). She explains, that throughout the film, “We fear the creature presented but the film only reveals aspects of the creature incrementally throughout the film. We want to know more because we are intrigued by the unknown quality of the monster. It is in the way the film is structured that holds our attention and pleases”. She also illustrated how the monsters have features, which violate our conceptual categories by combining features that correspond to elements of various concepts. She demonstrates this by giving the example of, “a liquid that is self-bounded and moves about freely drowning people”. This is a perfect example of how horror films take a concept that is frightening, yet also defying out conceptual categories. Carroll touches on things such as this as well as she explains that, these violations of our natural categories are what drive our imagination and curiosity throughout these works (p 168).

My second source was an article by Filmmaker IQ titles, The Psychology of Scary Movies. Throughout the article there are eight incomplete theories of why we are attracted to horror. One of these theories is the excitation transfer. This is the idea that we enjoy the feelings created by horror because they actually intensify the feelings of triumph at the end by the hero. Viewers also enjoy the curiosity and fascination with these works. This is similar to Carroll’s points where she explains how the audience enjoys being involved in the process of discovery throughout the film or story. She states that, “…we are attracted to, and many of us seek out, horror fictions of this sort despite the fact that they provoke disgust, because that disgust is required for the pleasure involved in engaging our curiosity in the unknown and drawing it into the process of revelation, ratiocination, etc.”(p 284). There are many other theories explained throughout the article that had to do with gender, society fears, and other attributions that play into our interest in this genre. There were also four categories of horror watching that were discussed. A study by Deirdre D. Johnston in 1995, found that motivations fell into four general categories. These were, gore watching (low empathy and high sensation seeking-males), thrill watching (high empathy, high sensation seeking-motivated by suspense more than identification with the victims), independent watching (high empathy for victim with high positive effect of overcoming fear), and problem watching (high empathy for victim but characterized by negative effect-sense of helplessness). These all show the complexity of the brain and how that can play into an individuals desire for the motivation they have for these types of films. Carroll mentions this idea in her criticisms as she explains her central approach being that horror is “fundamentally linked with cognitive interests, most notably with curiosity”(286). In the article it is also stated that overall, “Horror movies require us to face the unknown-to understand it and make it less scary. They allow us to see our fears and put them into context, to play what if, and in doing so, they shape our belief systems, how we see each other and individuals”. Carroll also touches on this idea as she explains the idea of Hume that explains that the tragic “affection” comes from the narrative expectation. “..it is not the tragic event itself that imparts pleasure, but rather, the way it is worked into the plot” (p 277). She goes on to later explain, that what causes the hypothesis, distress, disturbance, and disgust, can also be the source of pleasure, interest, and attraction”(287).

 

McMahon, J. (2007). Aesthetics and material beauty: Aesthetics naturalized. New York: Routledge.

The Psychology of Scary Movies. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/the-psychology-of-scary-movies/

Carroll, N. (2002). Why Horror?. In Neill, A. & Riley, A. (eds.) Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2nd ed., Chap. 17). New York, NY: Routledge.

While watching the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I found many appealing elements which made this show thrilling and attention grabbing.

Non-diegetic sound:

In the clock tower the music and the noises set a very frightening tone. When the different components (voices) come out of each individual at night and they are all collected in the box in the clock tower the music increases in pitch (which increases the fear of the viewer). Then one of the “villains” or “monsters” is revealed and the music hit a peak, which sets a thrilling tone and a moment that draws you in. I chose this scene because it was appealing for the audience and also left you interested in what might happen next. This same type of music is also present when all the “floating villains” come by the window and float into the apartment building or rooms. It is also seen as Buffy fights them at the end of the episode. I think this creates the added effect of the thrill and horror you are supposed to feel when they are present.

Diegetic Sound:

Since most of the episode is silent in terms of diegetic sound (due to their voices being taken). I found that the most appealing and intriguing diegetic scenes at the beginning and the end of the episode. Buffy’s dream in the beginning had the little girl singing in her little voice, which set a mood for the rest of the episode. Her little voice is creepy and catches the viewer’s attention. In terms of voice, I also found this dramatic appeal as Buffy screams when she finally gets her voice back (and that is what finally kills the villains) at the end. Their voices were both used in different ways that kept the viewer interested.

Mise-en-scene:

One scene that created a scary and exhilarating feeling for me was the scene with the two villains floating into the apartment and strapping the guy down to his bed. The angle of the camera gives you the feeling that you are actually in the scene with all of them. When they first arrive, you get the feeling of shock and fear that the man must have felt when opening the door. Also, when he is on the bed and they are ready to cut his heart out (if that’s what it was), the angle of the camera makes the viewer feel as if they are in his position and they are looking down on you. Also, when they add the jar with the heart to the others, it is dim lit (which illuminates their scary faces and sets a dramatic tone). This scene had an aesthetic appeal for the horror theme. It tied into emotion, fear, and also attention (through lighting, dramatic effect, and music choices).