Category Archives: Unit 06

O’Brien, L. (2013, September 9). The Curious Appeal of Horror Movies: Why do we like to feel scared? IGN, Retrieved from http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/09/the-curious-appeal-of-horror-movies

Lucy O’Brien begins her article questioning how horror films continue to succeed at the box office. She writes mostly about the recent horror film, The Conjuring, which, despite opening at the same time as major blockbuster, Man of Steel, grossed over $240 million worldwide. She quickly refutes the idea that it is based on story line, citing that its plot is “not historically abnormal” (O’Brien, 2013). However, she then analyzes reasons in which horror does have unique mass appeal.

For O’Brien, horror is a way for people to confront the unusual. She believes that horror films allow us to feel catharsis at having “survived a brief brush with something dark and unexpected” (O’Brien, 2013). However, she makes sure to identify what makes horror films more appealing than non-fictional danger: they are inherently safe. In the readings for this chapter, Carroll discusses the curiosity of the audience, wondering “whether [the existence of monsters] will be confirmed in the story” (2002, 278). What O’Brien has to say about the viewer exploring fictional danger seems to be a product of Carroll’s ideas on curiosity. We watch horror films to experience the dark underbelly of our world, and prove to ourselves that we can endure that darkness.

Quoting Warren Ellis, O’Brien explains “fiction is how we both study and de-fang our monsters” (O’Brien, 2013). This idea suggests that we need horror films to deal with real world horrors that we are forced to deal with every day. Horror then is a coping mechanism for us to survive, and if we can survive two hours of the evilest of monsters at the theatre or in a book, then we feel better prepared to survive real horrors.

Begley, S. (2011, October 25). Why Our Brains Love Horror Movies. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/25/why-our-brains-love-horror-movies-fear-catharsis-a-sense-of-doom.html

Like Lucy O’Brien, Sharon Begley writes her article to explore the success of horror movies, especially horror movies with small budgets like Paranormal Activity, at the box office. She discusses why teenagers seem to seek thrills from horror films more than older generations, explaining that they “feel that real life is scary enough” (Begley, 2011). Begley touches on the idea of a cathartic experience, but argues that there seems to be much more at play than just the feelings of emotional catharsis, but rather a venue for young people to manage their terror.  She mentions that horror films tend to abide by a strict Victorian code, where teenage sex is almost always met with by death, and endings are normally happy.

Begley believes that, ultimately, horror films play on our knowledge of our impending doom. We all know we are going to die, but horror films dangle that fact, one that nobody likes to think about, in audiences’ faces. But Begley, like O’Brien, points out that audiences can be confronted with death, knowing that they will leave the theatre without “any holes in our head, and our hearts will still be in our bodies” (Begley, 2011).

The article also suggests that perhaps horror is appealing because it “traffics in ‘thoughts and feelings that have been repressed by the ego’” (Begley, 2011). In the History on Horror presentation, one of the things that are described as possibly appealing is horror’s ability to help the viewer “discover the possibility of something creepy within [themselves]” (2009). There is something eerie and invigorating about exploring our darkest thoughts and feelings, and horror provides us the vehicle to do so.

In this episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was particularly drawn to the use of non-diegetic sound through mood music. One thing the episode does particularly well is use pacing to create the mood. In high tense moments, the music begins to speed up, with more orchestral runs, simulating the quickening of the heart beat and the raise in stakes for the characters. In lower moments, the music slows and the audience is given time to breathe. In addition, the mood music plays with pitch to play with the mood. Notes increase in pitch and chords become more unharmonious in moments of high risk. During happier moments, the music becomes more melodic with lower base notes in the chords. This contrast distinguishes moments of imminent tension from moments where the audience can relax.

The most noticeable strategy of diegetic sound found in this episode is the use of creaking, sirens, and other interrupting sounds to break the lulls of silence. There is a moment early on where a glass is dropped and it shatters. This sudden disruption is an example of the chaotic environment that the characters are forced to live in. This feeling is also established with sirens and dogs barking in the background when characters are roaming around in this state of silence. The creaking plays an important role in giving a feeling of deterioration and the world seems to be decaying into total chaos.

The mise-en-scene choice made in the episode that I thought had the most important effect on the overall mood was the utilization of hallways. Many times we find the characters stuck in confined hallways where there seems to be only one way to go and no escape. This assists in making the audience also feel confined, victim to the voice-stealing vampires that now seem to have complete control over the audience as well. The hallways also have an interesting ability to produce long shadows and weird lighting.

All of this contributes to the horror by forcing the audience into a confined and chaotic environment. Anyone watching the scene can feel the monsters coming for them, while they see no way of escaping. Meanwhile, the music speeds and notes become more discordant, creating a sense of danger and random chaotic diegetic sounds portray a world where order is falling apart.