Why Do People Love Horror Movies?

[Alana]

I'm kinda surprised that you guys didn't mention The Exorcist, that is imo one of the scariest movies out there , I seriously could not sleep for 3 freaking days.

That is the scariest movie ever for me too. I did not mention it, as i try to be in denial of ever watching it :) That one, and the Exorcism of Emily Rose, which i watched few years ago, and is based on a true story.

 

[ScioAgapeOmnis]

I'm curious tho, how bad can a real exorcism get? For me exorcism is still kinda on the border of reality. Like, in that exorcism podcast, Laura had to hypnotize the personality to get access to the attachment. But are there cases where somebody is literally "taken over" and all you can talk to is whatever took over? And what about making the body do things that generally bodies can't do - 360 head spins and other joint-related tricks? That seems more like hollywood than reality.

And do the beings that possess people ever really pretend to be demons or Satan or whatever? Like, do they actually say biblical quotes and play along with the religious exorcist? This would imply that they'd do the same thing for any religion, or whatever beliefs the exorcist has. I'd think that this could be a useful strategy by the being to lead the exorcist into powerless rituals that will have no effect. So if it can pretend it really is Satan and conform to the beliefs of the exorcist, the exorcist is less likely to improvise and more likely to stick to the religious dogma to try to get the being out, which might be exactly what that being wants. "Oh yeah, I'm uh Satan, just repeat the phrase on page 350 of your religious book, that should do the trick for sure!"

 

[Z...]

Indeed, these questions fascinate me too

is there any well documented case of full take over by demonic entity?

 

[shellycheval]

Very interesting responses! My original post was not asking the question "Why do people love horror movies?" but was a response to the Signs article that began with the title "Why Do People Love Horror Movies? . . ." which is why I originally posted it to the Signs News Discussion section. The article discussed research that says people can experience opposing emotions simultaneously--like fear and pleasure, and this is why we can enjoy horror films--but it did not answer the question for me of Why? we choose to watch them in the first place. This Sign's article reminded me of research I read somewhere explaining that we are drawn to scenes of horror, whether it is in movies, live news coverage, car accidents, shark attack at the beach etc., because a morbid facination with horror and monsters forces us to observe and gather knowledge on potential life threatening experiences in order to protect ourselves from harm in the future. I found this to be a reasonable explanation for most peoples' facination with horror movies.

I personally am very selective about my horror (when I have a choice!) and do not not watch movies focused on slashing, sawing killing raping and maiming etc. and general violence against any entities. I agree, I think the purpose of these movies is to desensitize us to violence.

I liked campy sci-fi "horror" when I was a kid ("The Killer Shrews") and I loved Dark Shadows after school too! I think "Jaws" probably scared me the most (showers only for months) and the "Exorist" was deeply disturbing to me--even then it appeared to me to be fear mongering. Recently, more or less, I really enjoyed the remakes of "Nosferatau" and "Godzilla." "Shawn of the Dead" is halarious. "Phastasim" is a creepy classic that I need to watch again, and "Jacob's Ladder" is a must see. I'm sure there is more . . so little time . . .
shellycheval

 

[aurora]

No, thanks for the bloody horror movies for me.

http://www.bowdoin.edu/news/archives/1bowdoincampus/000817.shtml

Susan Burggraf Explores the Appeal of Horror Movies

Story posted May 15, 2000

"Why do people enjoy watching movies designed to terrify and disgust them and why do they pay for this opportunity?"

That question was at the center of several studies performed by Susan Burggraf, a visiting professor in psychology, and was the question she attempted to answer at a recent faculty seminar.

The two major types of theory Burggraf investigated were "relief" theories and "continuous reward" theories. Relief theories would explain participating in something that caused unpleasant feelings by the idea that the stimulation of fear, or unpleasant emotion, intensifies the feeling of relief, a pleasurable emotion, once the fear is gone.

Some ways relief theories relate to horror movies are as follows:
* There is a relief at the end of the movie from empathic distress (seeing the protagonist as a friend in trouble.
* There is an excitation transfera

 

[Azur]

In short: chemical body signals produced in the form of a "roller coaster".

The study doesn't much go into what causes particular thoughts, which would be dependent on the subject's "value" system, and the contrast that produced those thoughts (which kick off the chemicals "ride").

To be fair, if such a study were to be undertaken, it would have to be pretty much deep. And even then, the objectivity of the surveyor would be in question.

 

[Zadius Sky]

I think I want to add movie "High Tension" (2003) to this list. I just brought this movie for $5.00 at Walmart, and just finished watching it...and it is freaky. It sure did scared the hell out of me, heh...but in the end of the movie, I was shocked and it 'fits' with all I have learned. Now, I know why some reviewers called it "a true horror classic."

I won't spoil it here. You can watch it if you dare. =)

 

[Lydion]

I'v

 

[spyraal]

One of the movies that scared me as a kid was "The Omen" (1976). It was about a very rich family which owned a huge corporation giving birth to a kid which was the Antichrist. The evil is omni-present in the movie, and the music is adds a lot to the ambience. What scared me most is to see evil residing in a kid, controlling animals as "agents" and manipulating various "coincidences" to get rid of anyone who would stand in it's way. No monsters, claws, blood and the lot. Just powerfull yet subtle and penetrating evil. Today's rich in visual effect movies, do not "work" for me anymore, one of the reasons being my job and interest in computer graphics which spoils the "suspension of disbelief" as i am always deconstructing the scenes in my mind to figure the techniques used... Not that i mind that is. There are enough real horrible things and possible futures to keep you up "exited" in a cold winter's night.

Anyway, in my opinion there can be nothing scarier than the connotation implied from a simple shadow moving in the dark. Where our own imagination is called to "fill the gaps" the "monster" is always more frightening!

 

[dantem]

What about 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose'? Allegedly it's a movie (2005) based on the real story of a German woman named Anneliese Michel:

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anneliese_Michel

September 21, 1952 – July 1, 1976) was a German Catholic woman who was said to be possessed by six or more demons and subsequently underwent an exorcism. Two motion pictures, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Requiem are loosely based on Anneliese's story.

Anneliese experienced what is recognized by medical professionals as severe psychiatric disturbances from the age of 16 to her death, at age 23, as a direct or indirect result of an exorcism ritual. Both priests who performed the exorcism and Anneliese's parents were convicted of negligent homicide. The Catholic Church, which had authorized the exorcism, reversed its position and declared Anneliese Michel a case of mental illness. Many people believe she was genuinely possessed by demons, and her grave-site is a destination for pilgrims to this day.

Though anesthetized by Dario Argento's horror movies and stuff like Alien, The Thing, Altered States and many others on my early teens, I've jumped on my chair at least trice with this one!

 

[dantem]

I would add that to me horror movies were once meant to say something interesting - or so it seems - about the 'world of the unknown' often inherited by novels i.e. Der Golem, Nosferatu, Frankenstein, and later on movies like The Exorcist, The Entity... while most of today's 'horror movies' should be labeled as 'splatter movies' and nothing more. You know, spilling blood aplenty, fire and destroy everything and all that. With exceptions of course.

(Dario Argento's was mainly splatter, even if with some useful introspection on the world of psychopaths

 

[GRiM]

I had a "morbid fascination" with horror movies but a few years ago - imo very much related to getting more aware of objective reality I stopped enjoying them. I never liked gore as growing up with the internet and seeing war-victims and accidents was a bit to real for me. I still remember a video clip I was sent of a Russian solider who got his throat cut by another solider, the sound still makes me fill nauseous.
I really liked a few horror movies but found the majority of the movies in the genre to predictable and somewhat simplistic, you don't have to watch many before you see the/a pattern emerging, also remembering that its a movie breaks the tension too, at least for me.
However with the view of reality I have now I think horror movies is a bit redundant.

 

[D69]

I never liked gore as growing up with the internet and seeing war-victims and accidents was a bit to real for me. I still remember a video clip I was sent of a Russian solider who got his throat cut by another solider, the sound still makes me fill nauseous.

Well , that movie you just mentioned is worst and most cruel movie i saw. I remember that someone sent it to me via email with note "You will finish like this if you fail at math exam".
If it comes to horrors , hmm I think I almost never enjoyed watching them simply because I always considered it as waste of "time".
And also I totally agree with GRiM "you don't have to watch many before you see the/a pattern emerging"

 

[Beau]

A movie I saw a few weeks back really tripped me out. It was Awake. I've always been a little squeamish in regards to hospital stuff but this one took the cake for me. It's not that it was overly gory or anything, but just the idea that one can be awake and feel everything during an operation yet unable to talk or move makes me want to never have surgery with anesthesia again!

 

[Hildegarda]

I've always wondered, too -- I personally can't stand any suspense in a movie...