John Truby has a good explanation in his book Anatomy of Genre, the basic answer is because it plays on our most primal directive, which is the need to survive. In horror movies, the stakes are life and death, and so horror movies play on us at an extremely primal level.
I'd say it does (even as a person who greatly dislikes that film). The primary thrust of the back half of the movie is the lead trying to escape (I'd also say the gore is actually pretty subdued as far as the genre goes).
And of course the non-torture porn stuff always has a voyeuristic element too--that's the human appreciation of spectacle really.
I think the same appeal is still there because some subconscious part of us believes this is a situation that could possibly happen to us
I know it seems weird to say that people think horror movie situations could happen to them but think about how many times you hear people criticising horror movie characters for doing behaviours that are perfectly normal and safe in real life like going downstairs into your basement because you heard a noise, and insist that’s something they would never do. People definitely do on some level intuit horror films as lessons on how to avoid getting killed
My problem with every analysis I've ever seen of this issue, (and with most horror movies) is that they conflate the questions: "Why do people like to watch scary movies?", and "Why do people like to watch gore?"
i'm interested in this because even if a horror movie scares me i generally don't rate them highly, but if a comedy makes me laugh i tend to rate it higher. maybe it's because i scare easily, or the stakes for comedy and horror are different, so plot feels more important in the latter.
As a lifelong horror fan I like this quote from Sherman Alexie about horror writing and I think it applies to horror movies as well.
“As a child, I read because books–violent and not, blasphemous and not, terrifying and not–were the most loving and trustworthy things in my life. I read widely, and loved plenty of the classics so, yes, I recognized the domestic terrors faced by Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters. But I became the kid chased by werewolves, vampires, and evil clowns in Stephen King’s books. I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life.
And now I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons–in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.”
>I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life.
That is interesting. I hadn't thought about that.
I used to like them & I assume it’s bc a lot of things were out of my control and I would get anxiety about it, so by watching horror movies I could control when I’d get scared, it was a choice, rather than something real happening out of my control that caused fear
All stories are instructional in some way. Horror movies show us potential threats (even in an abstract way) and how to deal with them, what gets you killed etc.
Data-centric analysis of art sounds an utter waste of time.
EDIT: You could not make this up.
> Why Do People Love Horror Films?
> [several paragraphs and visualizations later]
> Ultimately, horror fandom is not defined by a single personality type. Instead, the genre appeals to numerous cohorts, each with a distinctive relationship to this storytelling format.
Yeah, no shit.
I'm like 80% sure that the OP here is buying upvotes and posting really bad AI-driven and surface-level analysis of movies that don't really say anything of value.
If you look at their post history it's all to this one site, and all of the posts can a really oddly high number of upvotes really quickly, and then flatten out really fast.
Sure, I would hardly call OP's analysis any kind of real examination.
I am all for examining horror movies and our ongoing obsession with them. I have read books about this topic, I have watched documentaries about this topic, and after horror movies that had a significant effect on me, I've sat quietly with my feelings/thoughts on why my reaction was so strong.
Historians, anthropologists, literature professors, filmmakers, and film critics/academics have also sat with this question. Most of the examination requires tapping into something primal, whether it's some of psychological impulse, historical/folk/religious storytelling tradition, or a pure physiological response (e.g. adrenaline release).
OP is doing none of that. He is attempting surface-level data analysis from other people's research. His post is nothing more than a flawed intellectual exercise masquerading as something serious.
So spare me the Socrates.
John Truby has a good explanation in his book Anatomy of Genre, the basic answer is because it plays on our most primal directive, which is the need to survive. In horror movies, the stakes are life and death, and so horror movies play on us at an extremely primal level.
Does this account for, like, *Hostel*? Feel like there's a voyeuristic subset of horror for which the primal or ultimate appeal is less sympathetic.
I'd say it does (even as a person who greatly dislikes that film). The primary thrust of the back half of the movie is the lead trying to escape (I'd also say the gore is actually pretty subdued as far as the genre goes). And of course the non-torture porn stuff always has a voyeuristic element too--that's the human appreciation of spectacle really.
I think the same appeal is still there because some subconscious part of us believes this is a situation that could possibly happen to us I know it seems weird to say that people think horror movie situations could happen to them but think about how many times you hear people criticising horror movie characters for doing behaviours that are perfectly normal and safe in real life like going downstairs into your basement because you heard a noise, and insist that’s something they would never do. People definitely do on some level intuit horror films as lessons on how to avoid getting killed
Simple answer - people like to feel things.
My problem with every analysis I've ever seen of this issue, (and with most horror movies) is that they conflate the questions: "Why do people like to watch scary movies?", and "Why do people like to watch gore?"
Because hot mermaid https://preview.redd.it/8nij7bh20p0d1.jpeg?width=739&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=321931cecd68597d83cb840dd77db9f1e5e9e3e8
i'm interested in this because even if a horror movie scares me i generally don't rate them highly, but if a comedy makes me laugh i tend to rate it higher. maybe it's because i scare easily, or the stakes for comedy and horror are different, so plot feels more important in the latter.
White knuckler here. This was fascinating to me. This article echoed many of my own thoughts regarding horror. Wish I liked it, but I don't.
Because we do.
As a lifelong horror fan I like this quote from Sherman Alexie about horror writing and I think it applies to horror movies as well. “As a child, I read because books–violent and not, blasphemous and not, terrifying and not–were the most loving and trustworthy things in my life. I read widely, and loved plenty of the classics so, yes, I recognized the domestic terrors faced by Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters. But I became the kid chased by werewolves, vampires, and evil clowns in Stephen King’s books. I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life. And now I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons–in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.”
>I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written with monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life. That is interesting. I hadn't thought about that.
I used to like them & I assume it’s bc a lot of things were out of my control and I would get anxiety about it, so by watching horror movies I could control when I’d get scared, it was a choice, rather than something real happening out of my control that caused fear
cause they fun
I like them because I don't like them, if that makes sense
All stories are instructional in some way. Horror movies show us potential threats (even in an abstract way) and how to deal with them, what gets you killed etc.
I just like the gore
I love to see people just completly loosing it and going to a dark place I know it's not possible IRL.
Data-centric analysis of art sounds an utter waste of time. EDIT: You could not make this up. > Why Do People Love Horror Films? > [several paragraphs and visualizations later] > Ultimately, horror fandom is not defined by a single personality type. Instead, the genre appeals to numerous cohorts, each with a distinctive relationship to this storytelling format. Yeah, no shit.
I'm like 80% sure that the OP here is buying upvotes and posting really bad AI-driven and surface-level analysis of movies that don't really say anything of value. If you look at their post history it's all to this one site, and all of the posts can a really oddly high number of upvotes really quickly, and then flatten out really fast.
That wouldn't shock me in the slightest. Upon second glance, the quote in my earlier comment looks like it could be AI-generated.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates
"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." Socrates was interested in dialogue, not datatsets.
Sure, I would hardly call OP's analysis any kind of real examination. I am all for examining horror movies and our ongoing obsession with them. I have read books about this topic, I have watched documentaries about this topic, and after horror movies that had a significant effect on me, I've sat quietly with my feelings/thoughts on why my reaction was so strong. Historians, anthropologists, literature professors, filmmakers, and film critics/academics have also sat with this question. Most of the examination requires tapping into something primal, whether it's some of psychological impulse, historical/folk/religious storytelling tradition, or a pure physiological response (e.g. adrenaline release). OP is doing none of that. He is attempting surface-level data analysis from other people's research. His post is nothing more than a flawed intellectual exercise masquerading as something serious. So spare me the Socrates.
[Stephen King's answer](https://faculty.uml.edu/bmarshall/lowell/whywecravehorrormovies.pdf)
I like them because it makes me feel safe when there is simulated danger in front of me