Why Horror?

The enjoyment some people get from fear is likely not from fear itself but from “the
physical and emotional release that follows scary situations,” desire to feel fear is a
manifestation of an adrenaline-seeking personality.

factors that feed the attraction to horror entertainment.

Biological Reactions to Fear

For viewers to get enjoyment from a scary situation such as watching a horror movie, they
must also be aware that they’re in a safe environment. Horror entertainment can trigger the
fight-or-flight response, which comes with a boost in adrenaline, endorphins and dopamine
while viewers are in a safe space. The brain can process surroundings and conclude that
the experience isn’t a true threat. , it’s partially due to a phenomenon known as excitation
transfer. After the physical reactions associated with fear wear off (faster heart rate and
breathing, muscle tension and other involuntary responses), they are replaced with intense
relief. Positive feelings intensify and, in short, “fear floods our brains with feel-good
chemicals,”

some individuals “have a harder time screening out unwanted stimuli in their environment,”.

Things That Make Horror

Movies Scary
1.. Fear of Death. This is the ultimate fear, both existentially and
psychologically. It isn’t really a horror movie if people don’t get killed.

2. The Dark. From our earliest childhood we are afraid of the dark – not the
dark itself, but what it hides. It makes horror movies even scarier to watch
them in a darkened theater, or a dark living room, right?

3. Creepy, Crawly Things. Snakes, spiders, rats, and other crawling things are
scary in and of themselves, but when they touch the skin, in the dark, it
amplifies this common phobia.
4. Scary Places. Horror movies are full of scary places – graveyards, old
houses, overgrown forests, dungeons, attics, basements. These are dark
places, where evil things can hide.

5. Disfigurement. Studies in early development have found that young infants

will react with fear to asymmetrical or disordered faces.

6. Dismemberment. Fear of dismemberment involves loss of a part of the self.

The popularity (and horror) of the Saw movies involves self-dismemberment
as the only way to escape death.

7. Suspense (Anticipation and Expectations). The best horror movies are full
of suspense (think Alfred Hitchcock). Suspense involves creating anticipation
that something bad will happen, but not knowing when it will occur. Some of
the most shocking horror movie scenes, create anticipation, but then violate
the audiences’ expectations (e.g., the hero gets killed; the killer is the one the
audience least expects, etc.).

8. Spooky Music. Music can create moods and elicit emotions. The music
used in horror movies can be creepy, and can be used to accentuate the
actions seen on the screen. Music intensifies feelings of suspense and shock.
(nightmare instrument)

10. Fear of the Unusual. We know that young children are often afraid of
things that are different or unusual (such as a disfigured face), and highly
unusual-looking things are often sources of fear. But a common theme in
horror movies is to take something that is normally not scary (e.g., a doll, a
child, a clown) and make it into a feared object. In other words, making the
usual, unusual. This may explain the growing number of people who confess
to a fear of clowns and dolls.

11. but most importantly, horrors that are all too real, and way too close to home. .
Hereditary is currently one of the best psychological horror movies and also
one of my faves. it portrais grief on a very high and real level. even the most
supernatural scenes in the film speak to the raw realities of being a family possessed by
grief. It's horrific because it reveals just how mundane death really is. The true nightmare
of Hereditary is the sense that — demonic cult withstanding — this could happen to anyone.
Death does happen to us all.
 Ways You Didn't Even
Realize Horror Movies Are
Manipulating You Into Fear
1. Liberal Use Of Negative Space- In cinema,
negative space is everything in the frame that's not the subject of your focus. It's
meant to give your eyes a place to rest, and it can literally be anything: a wall, a
refrigerator, or just plain ol' underexposed black space. Non-genre films usually
try to create a perfect balance of negative and positive space because,
when there's too much negative space, the audience feels uncomfortable.

2.Nonlinear Sounds- Frightening visuals and a spooky

atmosphere are great, but they're nothing without a soundscape to bring everything
together. One of the greatest tricks for creating unease in a horror film is the use
of nonlinear sounds. Distressed animals, people screaming, the sounds of a clunking oil
rig, all of these have been used to create tension and a general sense of unease
amongst viewers.
According to researchers, humans are instinctively meant to feel danger when they hear
a high pitched squeal, and this kind of sound design is exactly why films like The
Shining and Suspiria are so unsettling.

3. Infrasound- infrasound is a tone that exists at 19 Hz or any lower

frequency. Such sounds can't be heard by human ears, but can be felt by the body.
Infrasound is a naturally occurring phenomenon created by wind, earthquakes,
avalanches, and anything that's rumbly. This kind of low frequency sound naturally
unsettles humans, especially when it's heard over a lengthy duration.

4. Tight Framing- Tight frames are used in horror to induce

anxiety in the viewer by not allowing them to see what's directly around the protagonist.
It could be nothing, it could be a hockey-mask clad psychopath carrying a machete. In a
tight frame, it's impossible to know. The Babadook uses tight framing excellently, in the
scene in which Samuel screams at an unknown entity while his mother drives. The
scene is unnerving and, thanks to the tight shots on his yelping face, it's impossible not
to feel a tingle of fear.

5. Jump Scares- Jump scares may be the most maligned trick in the
magic bag of a horror filmmaker, but when a jump scare is done well, it can be
incredibly effective. Christian Grillon, PhD, a psychophysiologist who studies fear and
anxiety at the National Institute of Mental Health, notes that when you're watching a
horror film you're already hyper-vigilant, thus more susceptible to a jump scare.

6. Irregular Movement This may be a specific, personally

unsettling trope, but when something or someone moves in an any way that's not
normal, it's incredibly unsettling. terrifying work appears in Mama. horror movie crab
walk is a real thing, the Japanese really have this technique on lockdown.
Ringu is likely the film most viewers think of when "irregular ghost walking"

7.Reflections And Mirrors Mirrors aren't just props to

fear in film; in the dream logic of horror, mirrors act as a tool to illustrate the "real" world
to the audience and reflect the duality of characters. When you see someone looking in
a mirror in a horror film, you know something creepy might happen, and you don't know
what, which makes you anxious.

8.Underexposure By underexposing an image, you can create a

mysterious feeling, accentuating shadows. This is effective when you're trying to hide
things from the viewer, or give them an overwhelming sense of dread by keeping them
from seeing everything in the frame.

9. Scenes That Are Longer Than They Need

To Be When horror directors use this technique well, they can

make something as mundane as a hallway, or an abandoned building,

terrifying. It Follows uses this technique pretty much constantly.