Unit Objective:

  • Explore the psychological and emotional curiosity for and impact of horror art on individuals and society

 

The original blog post can be viewed here.

Unit 06 – Enjoying Horror Research

Article 1:

Sine, R. (n.d.). Why We Love Scary Movies. Mental Health Center. Retrieved August 2, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/why-we-love-scary-movies?page=3

Sine’s article “Why We Love Scary Movies” talks about the many reasons psychologically and physiologically people watch scary movies. I enjoyed reading this article because I am a Human Physiology major and this personally interests me. Sine talks about something called the “horror paradox” and how psychologically, it doesn’t make sense why people like to watch scary movies because “most people like to experience pleasant emotions” (Sine, 1). They can actually cause prolonged psychological trauma on people some time after watching them, especially with children. Sine asks the question if the feeling of fear and suspense you get when you watch horror films are the same as if you yourself were getting chased in real life. The specialist, Glenn Sparks, professor at Purdue University, says that physiologically, it’s not the same if you were actually being chased versus if you were watching it in a movie. Some physiological occurrences happen when watching a scary or suspenseful movie: increased heart rate and blood pressure, drop in skin temperature, sweating on the palms of the hands, and muscle tension. Surveys have showed that the scarier the movie, the more the viewers seemed to enjoy this. One theory for this by Sparks has to do with how it is still in our human instincts for boys especially would have their rites of passage and dealing with scary things was just a way into manhood. Another theory says that kids want to watch scary movies because adults frown upon it, but for adults who like to watch them, it may just be out of curiosity or “as a way of coping with actual fears or violence” (Sine, 2). Sine goes on to talk about the psychological effects that linger after watching scary movies. This is because memories from the movie are stored in the part of the brain called the amygdala which helps generate emotions, and watching scary movies may elicit the same reactions as with real trauma. The last thing Sine talks about is how it’s still unknown why people like to watch films like Saw with a lot of gore in them.

I think the main purpose of both the assigned reading and Sine’s article is why do people like watching horror movies? Part of what Sine says it’s most likely just curiosity, the assigned reading seems to mention as well when Carroll states, “it is not the tragic event in itself that imparts pleasure, but rather, the way it is worked into the plot” (Carroll, 277) and that “the horror story is driven explicitly by curiosity. It engages its audience by being involved in processes of disclosure, discovery, proof, explanation, hypothesis, and confirmation” (Carroll, 279). What they are trying to say is that, if it is worked into the plot cleverly enough, it sparks curiosity in the audience, and if there is enough curiosity, the viewers feel invested in the story and want to see the ending. In Sine’s article how they couldn’t find an answer for why people like to watch movies with gore in them, I think the assigned reading has a pretty good theory for it in 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 processes of revelation, ratiocination, etc” (Carroll, 284). The thing that is different about the two articles is that Sine’s article approaches the subject with a medical scope finding answers physiologically and psychologically while Carroll’s article approaches it theoretically and philosophically. Carroll always seems to the idea of curiosity.

Article 2:

Calvo, A. (2013, October 28). Filmmaker Magazine. Independent Filmmaker Project. Retrieved August 2, 2014, from http://filmmakermagazine.com/76622-so-you-want-to-make-a-horror-film-on-jump-scares-and-other-basics-of-fright/#.U9xrQvldVQA

The first thing Calvo gets into is that in order to make a good horror film, you need to learn about the psychology of it. He says, “to really scare our audience, we should focus more on understanding our collective fears and weaving them into our stories so we can exploit those fears with established cinematic techniques” (Calvo). People over time become desensitized, so one can increase shock value, however this could create more of a disturbing film rather than a good scary film. The atmosphere should be carefully set up in order to set up an interesting plot to make the audience curious. You can rely on isolation of the characters and good cinematography. This way, you set up an eerie tone in the film. In order to intensify the suspense of the plot, you can use dark lighting and shadows, seeing someone or something behind the character, having the main character go to a place that they shouldn’t be, or primal nightmares like not being able to scream or run away. Jump scares should be added where something pops out should be accompanied with non-diagetic sound. He goes through things like the basic jump scare, the Faux scare, and a variety of reveal scares that can all do the trick. In writing screenplays, you have to think about character-driven versus plot-driven stories. Plot driven stories seem to be more timeless.

This article is a lot different than the assigned reading article. The assigned reading talks a lot about why people watch horror films, whereas Calvo’s article talks about the essential things you should have when making a good horror film. When Calvo talks about how important it is to set up the atmosphere and write good plot-driven stories in the screen plays it is very similar to when Carroll talks about how “once a tragic, unsettling event is housed in an aesthetic context, with a momentum of its own, the predominant feeling response, in terms of pleasure and interest, attaches to the presentation as a function of the overall, narrative structure” (Carroll, 277). A lot of what Calvo says should be in a good horror film agrees with Carroll’s overall take home idea of the article in that if the audience is curious enough, they will enjoy the suspense and horror in a movie. Calvo stresses creating curiosity in the audience through many different methods in order to create a good horror movie.

 

Reflection:

I had never really thought about why people like horror movies before I did this assignment. I always personally liked scary movies, and for some reason the scarier the better…until I couldn’t sleep at night. People always told me they never understood why I liked scary movies, that it went against human nature. But does it really? Ancient Romans used to watch gladiatorial games because they liked the suspense. In the assigned reading, Carroll mentions over and over again how the basic psychological principle for why people like horror films is curiosity: “[Monsters thus] arouse interest and attention through being putatively inexplicable or highly unusual vis-a-vis our standing cultural categories, thereby instilling a desire to learn and to know about them” (Carroll, 281).

I would definitely say that curiosity applies to me when I say I like scary movies. But the main thing for me to like scary movies is if the plot is set up well. If in the beginning of the movie, there is a good hook and a good introduction of the characters, I will want to keep watching. If I fall in love with the characters from the get go, I will want to keep watching the movie and root for my characters to survive and watch through the most scary parts just to find out what happens in the end. This agrees with what Carroll says in that, “the desire to know at least the outcome of the interaction of the forces made salient in the plot” (Carroll, 281). I do think that horror films have desensitized many members of society, and some people have even watched so many scary movies that they just don’t find them scary anymore.

Future Intentions:

I think that in the future, I will pay more attention to the plot of scary movies. And whenever I get scared, I will try to think why I actually find it enjoyable. I’ll probably ask my friends why they think they like scary movies and see if they have the same answer I do.

Main Page

Table of Contents

Bibliography