Horror Movies
The Psychological Exploration of Why We Love Horror
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The uses and gratifications theory explains why people continue to go back and see horror movies, whether they like the genre or not. Exploration into this theory and analysis of many different movie viewers resulted in the discovery of six viewing factors.
1) Gore Watching
2) Thrill Watching
3) Independent Watching
4) Problem Watching
5) Peer Motivations
6) Entertainment Motivations
These are the primary reasons that people seek out fear.
1) Gore watching is watching for the violence. People want to see blood and guts, especially boys. It seems unusual that people would want to see people who were blown to nothingness but after analyzing our society, it makes sense. Television shows, books, and movies have distanced death from the average person. Death is something that takes place on television and not in real life. People appreciate the gory scenes and a person's last breath. Even in horror movies, the knowledge that a person will not make it to the end is what draws the audience in. They are literally waiting for people to die and guessing who will die next. People enjoy the fear that they experience while watching a horror movies because they expect the fear.
2) Horror movies are thrilling to the viewer because violence keeps the plot action packed. Who wants two people in love kissing when you can get two people shooting each other to bits? The wait for death and the wait for a gun shot keep the audience on the edge of their seats. After an initial fearful scene people except the fear but they do not know when it will occur. Many film makers put a spin on this by giving viewers a time when they feel they should be afraid but nothing happens, then after the viewer has opened his or her eyes the monster pops out. This is thrilling to the audience because they never know when fear will strike.
3) Many children or teenagers watch horror movies because it makes them feel brave or mature. This is called independent watching. Children feel that being brave enough to sit through hours of scary footage marks their transition into adulthood. This mentality has been put into the back of kids minds because they believe that adults are brave and scared of nothing. Kids may not actually want to watch a horror movie but are willing to do so to seem cool and brave.
4) Some people watch horror movies because they are lonely and have many family issues. These people tend to close themselves off and watch horror movies simply because they wish to feel something. These kids are drawn towards the fear and the violence because they wish to be lost in the adrenaline rush and exciting plot. Fear draws these kids in.
5) Friends are one of the major reasons that people watch horror movies. If your friend asks you to watch a horror movie you aren't going to say no because that makes you seem weak and afraid. The fear of social judgement pushes kids to watch horror movies filled with fear.
6) The last reason that people watch horror movies is the most obvious, it's entertainment. Many people and most people watch horror movies because the movies are funny and they can laugh at them. Fear, when done incorrectly or when its done stupidly, can be funny. but when its done to scare it can make a grown man cry. The fear in horror movies draws people in not only because they want to feel the adrenaline rush but also because they can laugh at themselves and the poorly done acting afterwards. This is what makes horror movies so appealing.
The uses and gratifications theory explains why people continue to go back and see horror movies, whether they like the genre or not. Exploration into this theory and analysis of many different movie viewers resulted in the discovery of six viewing factors.
1) Gore Watching
2) Thrill Watching
3) Independent Watching
4) Problem Watching
5) Peer Motivations
6) Entertainment Motivations
These are the primary reasons that people seek out fear.
1) Gore watching is watching for the violence. People want to see blood and guts, especially boys. It seems unusual that people would want to see people who were blown to nothingness but after analyzing our society, it makes sense. Television shows, books, and movies have distanced death from the average person. Death is something that takes place on television and not in real life. People appreciate the gory scenes and a person's last breath. Even in horror movies, the knowledge that a person will not make it to the end is what draws the audience in. They are literally waiting for people to die and guessing who will die next. People enjoy the fear that they experience while watching a horror movies because they expect the fear.
2) Horror movies are thrilling to the viewer because violence keeps the plot action packed. Who wants two people in love kissing when you can get two people shooting each other to bits? The wait for death and the wait for a gun shot keep the audience on the edge of their seats. After an initial fearful scene people except the fear but they do not know when it will occur. Many film makers put a spin on this by giving viewers a time when they feel they should be afraid but nothing happens, then after the viewer has opened his or her eyes the monster pops out. This is thrilling to the audience because they never know when fear will strike.
3) Many children or teenagers watch horror movies because it makes them feel brave or mature. This is called independent watching. Children feel that being brave enough to sit through hours of scary footage marks their transition into adulthood. This mentality has been put into the back of kids minds because they believe that adults are brave and scared of nothing. Kids may not actually want to watch a horror movie but are willing to do so to seem cool and brave.
4) Some people watch horror movies because they are lonely and have many family issues. These people tend to close themselves off and watch horror movies simply because they wish to feel something. These kids are drawn towards the fear and the violence because they wish to be lost in the adrenaline rush and exciting plot. Fear draws these kids in.
5) Friends are one of the major reasons that people watch horror movies. If your friend asks you to watch a horror movie you aren't going to say no because that makes you seem weak and afraid. The fear of social judgement pushes kids to watch horror movies filled with fear.
6) The last reason that people watch horror movies is the most obvious, it's entertainment. Many people and most people watch horror movies because the movies are funny and they can laugh at them. Fear, when done incorrectly or when its done stupidly, can be funny. but when its done to scare it can make a grown man cry. The fear in horror movies draws people in not only because they want to feel the adrenaline rush but also because they can laugh at themselves and the poorly done acting afterwards. This is what makes horror movies so appealing.
What Directors do to Increase the Horror
There are thirteen classic movie techniques that directors use to scare viewers. These techniques draw the viewer in while making them scared out of their mind. As the source above says, there are many reasons that people watch horror movies and many of those reasons involve the combination of spontaneity, fear, and predictability that horror movies contain. At different points in a movie directors use specific techniques that play off a viewer's fears, sometimes following what a viewer expects to see and other times changing it up. In a way these are the rhetorical devices that directors use to scare the audience and draw them in.
The first technique that directors use is light and dark. As most people know horror movies tend to have scenes that take place at night. Directors use shadows to make the actors and the viewers think that people are there when they may or may not be. Some horror movies even solely show the monsters shadow until they wish the monster's true face to be revealed. The lighting has a way of putting an audience on edge because they know that a change in the shadows is only the beginning of the horror.
Another technique or idea that directors use is the idea of crossing into evil. Once characters cross into evil there is no easy way out. When characters let out the darkness or let out the spirits there is no going back. Many horror movies end with everyone thinking that the horror is gone but the last scene always seems to change that. Once the darkness has been let out it is NEVER truly gone.
Above we talked about the shadows being used to hide a monsters true face, well one of the largest decisions that the author has to make is when will the monster be revealed. The best and most horrifying parts of movies are when the monster will be revealed. This moment is what the audience waits for and is most afraid of.
Another technique that directors use is having monster intrude on the ordinary. This technique has an ordinary person doing an ordinary task when it is interrupted by a horrifying event. This technique can have one of the most long lasting impacts on an audience because it changes a safe place into an unsafe place. If an audience member views on the screen a monster attacking a person doing laundry, they may be scared that a monster will attack them doing laundry. Horror movies have a way of tricking the mind. People know that what they are viewing is unrealistic but the fear that they've experienced sticks with them.
Two other techniques are long cuts and short cuts. Both of these techniques can cause fear but they do it in different way. Long scenes build up the tension. There is this feeling that viewers have when they know that something bad is about to happen. Short cuts are abrupt and change the point of view. They show without showing too much. Both techniques are explained more below.
The first technique that directors use is light and dark. As most people know horror movies tend to have scenes that take place at night. Directors use shadows to make the actors and the viewers think that people are there when they may or may not be. Some horror movies even solely show the monsters shadow until they wish the monster's true face to be revealed. The lighting has a way of putting an audience on edge because they know that a change in the shadows is only the beginning of the horror.
Another technique or idea that directors use is the idea of crossing into evil. Once characters cross into evil there is no easy way out. When characters let out the darkness or let out the spirits there is no going back. Many horror movies end with everyone thinking that the horror is gone but the last scene always seems to change that. Once the darkness has been let out it is NEVER truly gone.
Above we talked about the shadows being used to hide a monsters true face, well one of the largest decisions that the author has to make is when will the monster be revealed. The best and most horrifying parts of movies are when the monster will be revealed. This moment is what the audience waits for and is most afraid of.
Another technique that directors use is having monster intrude on the ordinary. This technique has an ordinary person doing an ordinary task when it is interrupted by a horrifying event. This technique can have one of the most long lasting impacts on an audience because it changes a safe place into an unsafe place. If an audience member views on the screen a monster attacking a person doing laundry, they may be scared that a monster will attack them doing laundry. Horror movies have a way of tricking the mind. People know that what they are viewing is unrealistic but the fear that they've experienced sticks with them.
Two other techniques are long cuts and short cuts. Both of these techniques can cause fear but they do it in different way. Long scenes build up the tension. There is this feeling that viewers have when they know that something bad is about to happen. Short cuts are abrupt and change the point of view. They show without showing too much. Both techniques are explained more below.
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This is a scene from The Shining (1980). This video explains a little bit about how the author uses the long clip technique. Basically the viewers know that something bad is going to happen, it is a horror movie after all. When the viewer first sees the two little girls they have a feeling of dread. They know that the little girls are only the beginning, especially because they are so far away. As the camera gets closer to the girl a new image appears, one that is even worse than the two scary girls. The little boy then closes his eyes and the camera turns away from the girls. When he opens his eyes the camera turns and the girls are gone. This director is showing us the movie from the boys point of view. We see and experience the same fear that the boy does. By keeping us waiting and by introducing a little bit more fear at a time, the viewer is drawn in. I hate horror but the expectation drew me in. I wanted to know what would happen next. This feeling is what directors count on.
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This scene is from Psycho (1960). This scene is one of the most famous movie scenes in history. What makes it so famous is the way that it is filmed. The viewer never actually sees what is happening. The director suggests what is happening without actually depicting it. The short cuts build the fear. The viewer feels like they experienced the brutality of Marion's murder even though they never actually saw the knife strokes. The quick cuts from different angles give a full scene view. When the long cuts above made us feel like the little the short cuts cause us to experience the horror of the murder. Marion is the main character but all along the movie has been about the brutal killer. This technique gives viewers a full picture without giving the much at all.
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Another technique that some directors use is the chase. This means that very little of the monster is shown which makes its appearances even scarier. In these movies the heroes run and run but can never escape the dark forces. This technique is commonly used in movies because it builds off of a viewer's deepest fears. Horror movie directors love to tap people's deepest fears and a common nightmare is being chased. However, sometimes directors do the opposite and show a lot of the monster. This builds off of viewer's fears as well, but instead of not knowing who's chasing you, you know exactly who is chasing you.
Sound can also be used to draw in and scare viewers. Noise, especially scary or unexpected noises can cause fear for the viewer and for the character in the movie. Scary sounds are unexpected and foreshadow something bad to come. Silence can be just as effective. If a scene starts with silence and normal noises then escalates to ghost sounds or a climax, it can be just as terrifying as a noise filled scene. Silence is often a key technique used in horror movies because it builds suspense.
All these techniques are devices used by directors. There are subtle changes that they make in camera angle and sound that alter the movie in some way. These techniques build on and build off of a viewer's fears. Directors purposely design scenes that build off of people's nightmares because nightmares often contain people's deepest fears. Directors also design scenes that will draw viewers in. They balance showing too little and showing too much so that viewers feel drawn in instead of overly terrified. It is a careful balance.
Sound can also be used to draw in and scare viewers. Noise, especially scary or unexpected noises can cause fear for the viewer and for the character in the movie. Scary sounds are unexpected and foreshadow something bad to come. Silence can be just as effective. If a scene starts with silence and normal noises then escalates to ghost sounds or a climax, it can be just as terrifying as a noise filled scene. Silence is often a key technique used in horror movies because it builds suspense.
All these techniques are devices used by directors. There are subtle changes that they make in camera angle and sound that alter the movie in some way. These techniques build on and build off of a viewer's fears. Directors purposely design scenes that build off of people's nightmares because nightmares often contain people's deepest fears. Directors also design scenes that will draw viewers in. They balance showing too little and showing too much so that viewers feel drawn in instead of overly terrified. It is a careful balance.
Horror Movie Trailers
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This preview uses mainly suspense to draw the viewer in. There are no true horrifying scenes, instead there is a feeling of suspense through out the preview. There is this lasting feeling that something is going to happen. Of course, the movies is also using its cast to draw in viewers. It has a group of well-known actors that may draw people to watch it. However, the director is choosing to use a more suspenseful trailer than a terror filled preview because he believes that the suspense will draw in more viewers.
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This trailer takes a different approach. It uses short quick clips with lots of horror. Instead of not showing the monster there are lots of clips of her. This may be due to the fact that the director is trying to sell the DVD instead of the original movie. Either way, this film draws people in who wish to be scared and want to see what happens in the end.
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