The topic of horror films is interesting topic to research as this genre is not one of my top preferences. The resource that I found is a secondary resource that identifies, why are people intrigued with horror films. This is was very interesting read as I too am interested in why people so fascinated with the horror film features, contrary to a comedy where people get the pleasure from laughter. According to a psychology study, It is our survival instinct that triggers us to be feared. According to a research study from Christof Koch, when our right side of brain is developed, our minds “…fear learning, responds more vigorously to images of animals than to images of people, landmarks or objects even though those are much more dangerous in our civilized world” (FilmmakerIQ), which explains why we are more scared of snakes or animals with large teeth, even cannibalistic movies as well. This article I believe relates back to Carrol’s article, because of explaining the nostalgia that people get when watching something horrifying. It answers Carrols question, “how does it give us pleasure or why does it interest us?” (carrol 276).
The next article I found was an interesting ‘ehow’ on how to analyze horror films. I found it interesting how the article gives detailed ways to analyze films and what to keep an eye out for. As a non-horror film fanatic, I was pretty interested in reading what the article had to say and the different types of horror films. For example, the first step to look out for when watching a film is to determine what type of horror will it. Will it be natural, supernatural, or human or not, you’ll then be able to explain what kind of horror is happening,” (eHow). This article supports Carrol when he states “Thus, to a large extent, the horror story is strictly curiosity driven.” (carrol 279) By the reading through the rest of the eHow article, you’ll be able to analyze and better critique the next horror film you watch.
Reference:
FilmmakerIQ.com., (2014). ‘Psychology of Scary Movies’ . Retrieved February 16, 2015, from http:http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/the-psychology-of-scary-movies/