Category: Unit 06

The first article I found was called “Why Do Some Brains Enjoy Fear?” In this article, Allegra Ringo discusses why some people enjoy horror, because of the fear associated with it. Ringo claims that people want to “challenge themselves and their resilience and dare each other to… face the scary scenes and abnormalities” that are related to horror (Ringo). Another reason Ringo believes people enjoy fear and watch horror films and enjoy art-horror is because “humans are obsessed with death; we simply have a hard time wrapping our minds around what happens when we die” (Ringo). This is similar to Carroll’s argument that people enjoy horror because it promotes curiosity. Carroll claims “we are attracted to… horror fictions… because that disgust is required for the pleasure involved in engaging our curiosity in the unknown and drawing it into the process of revelation” (Carroll 284). We enjoy horror because we, as humans, are curious about things we do not know. Since people as a whole are very interested in the afterlife, we use monsters and horror characters such as zombies, monsters and ghosts, to symbolize this uncertainty about what happens after we die. Carroll’s work also argues that “what attracts us to… horror… is the whole structure and staging of curiosity in the narrative, in virtue of the experience of the extended play of fascination it affords” (288). This is similar to Ringo’s argument because since most horror films and artwork are creatures that are related to death; this can show that death is something we are really curious about as a whole society. Finally, most horror characters are disgusting looking creatures, such as vampires, zombies, corpses, and ghosts. Neither is appealing to the eye. This relates to Carroll’s belief that “one wants to gaze upon the unusual, even when it is simultaneously repelling” which horror characters can be considered (286).

The second article I found was called “Why Do We Watch Horror Films?” This article summarizes Anthony Rivas’ perspective on why we enjoy horror. Rivas says that some people enjoy horror because it addresse[s] archetypal fears and takes them on a psychological ride. People that are “high sensation-seekers enjoy morbid curiosity in general and horror movies in particular” because it gives the body a sense of exhilaration (Rivas).  Carroll claims, “the disclosure of the existence of the horrific being and of its properties is the central source of pleasure in the genre” (Carroll 282). Both Carroll and Rivas agree that the story being told in horror is a crucial characteristic of the horror genre; the way the story is being told evokes a sense of anxiety and thrill in the audience, which is why horror can be so pleasing to some. Finally Rivas’ quotes Ph.D. Paul Patterson, who believes we enjoy horror because “it turns largely on the idea that something outside of our understanding [is] threatening us” (Rivas). This means that people enjoy horror because it gives a sense of thrill and genuine fear, in a safe and controlled environment. Because in the end, horror is not real. These monsters do not exist in real life and they cannot seriously put us at risk.

In conclusion, Carroll, Rivas and Ringo argue that people enjoy horror because of the curiosity associated with it and its psychological thrill that is causes in a non-threatening environment.

 Works Cited

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.

Ringo, Allegra. “Why Do Some Brains Enjoy Fear?” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 31 Oct. 2013. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.

Rivas, Anthony. “Why Do We Watch Horror Films?” Medical Daily. 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.

 

An example of diagetic sound is around 2:15, when the main character finishes kissing the boy in the classroom, the sun has gone down and these two end up all alone in the school when it started off in a full classroom. All of a sudden, you hear a faint girl’s voice whispering and singing in the background. The blonde girl gets up and starts to try to see where it’s coming from. The voice is kind of creepy because it is high pitched and coming from an unknown place. She also is singing about how a man or something is coming to take people away and he will kill them, and the victims will scream but will not be heard. This contributed to sense of horror in the video because my heart started to race when I heard the sound and could not find where it was coming from and then finding out it was a little girl who seemed almost haunted increased my terror.

An example of non-diagetic sound is around 15:00 the scary man in the building with the clock closes a box and takes what seems to be spirits or souls from six people. Then when they wake up, they try to talk, but nothing comes out. All the voices and vocal sounds have disappeared. The film uses background music full of string instruments to enhance the drama of how the town cannot speak. The music gets louder and louder as the people try to talk and become more animated when they try to speak. This is an example of non-diagetic sound because the music is not actual sound coming from the film, but rather in the background in order to make the audience more anxious. This contributes to creating horror because the music has a scary tone to it, which seems to mimic what the people are trying to say even though their voices cannot speak.

An example of mise-en-scene is around 22:30, when the possessed, evil characters arrive. They are in costume – wearing all black suits, but their makeup is an example of mise-en-scene. Their faces are wrinkled and their eyes are deeply shadowed. They have big, scary teeth that look almost fang like. Their hands are similar to the outline of skeletons, with bones really sticking out. The abnormal makeup and fixed facial expressions cause horror because they are frightening to look at. Their attire looks normal. But their faces are no. Because of this, it helps the audience feel fear and know that they are evil. So, the mise-en-scene I chose was the makeup on the evil characters because it allows the audience to be afraid and nervous of what the “evil gentlemen” are doing.