Frightening Little Question

When I watch a movie, I enjoy it more if I can empathize with one of the characters. I imagine myself in his or her situation: solving a crime, falling in love, wearing a leotard while battling injustice, and whatnot. It’s hard to enjoy a movie if I can’t relate to how the characters are feeling, even if they are different from me. That’s normal, right?

So how the f*ck do you explain the popularity of horror movies?

There are only two kinds of characters in a horror flick: the victims who are dying horrible deaths, and the psychopaths that are doing the killing. My problem with those movies is that I automatically empathize with the victims, and I can feel their pain. When a character gets impaled with a sharp object, I imagine what that would feel like. I think it would hurt. So I steer clear of horror movies. Yet millions of people enjoy that type of entertainment. Here’s your frightening little question of the day: Who are horror movie fans empathizing with?

By process of elimination, I assume fans of horror flicks are imagining themselves as the killer, thinking how cool it would be to disembowel attractive teenagers. Jeezus-frickin-christ! There are millions of these psychopath movie-goers. And they look just like normal people.

I wonder how many times in my life I’m at a store, for example, swiping my debit card, and the cashier is looking at me and thinking “It sure would be fun to drive a spike through his forehead and make a vest from his skin.” It probably happens more often than I’d like.

Do you enjoy horror movies? If so, what the f*ck is wrong with you?

Comments

[sir jorge]

this is a great thing

[Ed]

I am an avid horror movie (and Dilbert) fan who feels no repulsion at many acts I am aware are fully staged and completely inauthentic. I have also seen multiple web movies or pictures of 'terrorists' decapitating people, white villagers in the 1800-1900's hanging black people, or real-time tape of people dying in horrific accidents that disturb me (and generally make me physically ill) as a visual copy of an actual event. I'm afraid of needles and surgery, but watching someone be dismembered by a horror director or show producer under completely inauthentic conditions (backed by law (and were I to find out that a few scenes slipped by legislators, and every viewer who watched the movie in question's eye would in retrospect disturb and make me feel ill (as well as keep me from viewing in the future))) does not bother me. The reason? Simple:

Like you, I sympathize with the victim (if any character at all). Like in many drama movie or action movie (though to a lesser degree), this character is put in a position that is either visually, ethically, or morally (immediately) abhorrent to their world view. The thing I sympathize with is another individual (serial killer), a group (zombies, or dumb people), or a political system (such as in the fountainhead) are subjecting these characters, who I side with, not only to the obvious (and easily distinguished) physical pain, but also the emotional torment of being forced to cooperate (always coerced by their immediate predicament) with the situation. A few horror movies result in the victim (usually) sided with (the obvious bastion of (relatively general and straw-manned)) ethical practices is the most likely to escape, or put an end to the oppressive aggressor (so he can do no more harm). The horror movies that don't result in this conclusion are enough to justify the people sitting it through without knowing that's going to be the foregone conclusion.

Especially in these circumstances of an oppressive (yes, American) authority, this is simply a case of hyperbole (which you certainly understand) over a natural human instinct, and a very real political and social fear.

[Mason]

Posted by: Jeff | July 24, 2007 at 10:56 AM

" Man lives to kill hope and enjoy the dark; light is
blinding. "

Jeff, i think you need a hug.

[Faye Evans]

i can see how you might find this disturbing but in my opinion when i am watching a movie it depends what genre the movie is, in which i choose to respond. Say for a romance i relate emotionally with the pair of people and when they are sad i feel sad kind of thing. Although when it comes to an action movie, of which i don't generally enjoy i tend to think boy what that person is doing is really unrealistic so it is hard to relate. Comedies are just plain funny so you know if you have the humour you laugh throughout and laughing is a sign of enjoyment. Although i have to say horror movies tend to be a mixture. i like the thrill that i get when something bad happens, like it makes you jump and gets your adrenaline pumping and then there is the whole idea that most of it is ridiculous and would never happen in life at all, so you know it makes your mind alert and makes your blood pump round faster than usual which all in all gives a good feeling. So no i am not disturbed or a creep i am simply very alert and breathing fast when i see a horror movie.

[Asa]

i'm a horror fan. and while there may be something wrong with me.. it has nothing to do with my love of that genre. there are many reasons why i like the genre (dark humor, scares, creepy atmosphere. etc) but mostly it's for the thrill of seeing the characters overcome, or try to overcome, a horrible situation. the more violent, sadistic, evil the villain the more you root for someone to beat him, the worse the situation the more you want someone to overcome it. and horror, more often than not, delivers that in spades. what is so wrong with wanting that out of a movie?

and while i do really enjoy watching certain villains.. it is not because i want to become like them, but because of the performance given by the actor, by how that role is written, directed. etc.

[Dream]

I'm a life long horror fan. The reason? The thrill of survival. The only time we root for the bad guy is when the rest of the characters in the film suck. Or when we want the horribly bad actors to suffer the same way we did when we had to deal with their acting.

More often than not we are rooting for the good guy/girl. We WANT someone good to survive. We enjoy seeing the bad guy meet justice at the end of a sharp pointy thing. We want revenge in a world where murderers, rapists and pedophiles are given a slap on the wrist and released back into society to live down the street from us and we can't do anything about it.

My question to you is, how can you live in this world and not enjoy seeing a good person triumph over incredible evil in a flick?

By the way, if you're swiping your debit card and someone is wondering how they can skin you, it's because they are working retail, not because they are a horror fan. :)

[Ed Hunter]

Is this supposed to be a joke or what? I like horror movies I'm not a psychopath, so there.

[Jeff]

This blog was tongue in cheek right? If not, it's pretty f*cking shallow.

[Jayabrata Bose]

Man lives to kill hope and enjoy the dark; light is blinding.

[Mark]

Well not everyone watches movies to empathize with the characters. In fact I've been made privy to or personally overheard conversations where the key defining factor of a movie was whether or not those involved liked the actor or actress who played the lead role. Literary, cinematographic, or philosophical bases are no longer required to make a popular movie. Horror movies are popular because many people are simply looking for an adrenaline rush and like being scared out of their minds by a movie. Alternatively they like fictional violence. Either way, they don't really empathize with anyone.

[Matt]

It's one thing not to like horror films, but you should be ashamed of yourself for insulting people who do by calling them "psychopaths" and thinking that they're people who want to "make a vest out of your skin." It's people who make self-righteous comments like that who cause real damage to society with censorship and elimination of individual freedoms.

[Lennart]

My german teacher in school used to say: some people hit themselves with a hammer on their thumb to see whether they still feel something. others watch horror movies.

i always thought he made a good point.

[Pamcakes]

Nothing is wrong with me! What the f*ck is wrong with you? Who do you think will survive when the maniacal, insane, possessed, boogymen, zombies, aliens, and/or zombie-aliens make their move and attempt to take over the world? I mean, hellooooo. It's most definitely gonna be all of us who prepared our sick selves by watching, studying, loving all those horror movies you're not into and just don't get. We are not out to terrorize or maim anybody (well... most of the time anyway), nor will we be the ones who ruin the world with our evil deeds. We are the ones who will be prepared when the shizzle goes down. We will be the ones who will fight to SAVE THE WORLD. As for you and the ones out there like you, the rest of us will do what we can to save you, but you know how these things tend to turn out. Oh wait... I guess you don't seeing as how you don't care for the "instructional videos" all that much. Hmm... well, I wish you the best of luck when the invasion, however it may be, occurs. I hope your pocket protecter is up to the challenge.

[boynamedsue]

even when you disregard the enjoyment of being scared, dilbert writer man ignores whole areas of the horror genre.

Not every horror movie is a slasher movie. What horror movie watcher wants to be an evil house, or a room (1408)? Being a room is not fun. Fucking with John Cusack might be, but in the end, you're still a room.

Who wants to be a zombie? The fun of zombie movies is in the avoiding becoming a zombie. The zombie is not unique, when you become one, you're just another zombie.

Who wants to be godzilla? Okay. fine, i would like to be godzilla.

I'm just saying that there are endless examples of horror movies where, while watching the antagonist is fun, you wouldn't want to be him/her/it.

[Jayson Champion]

Alright Scott. You really want insight on why there are horror fans out there, send me an email. I'm a horror movie critic for the Swedish website www.evildread.com plus I'm an associate producer, writer and actor for a movie that's coming out next year that pretty much hands out every bit of filth most films are afraid to.

Anything your curious about you let me know and I'll fill you in, we wouldn't want you going around talking bad about the fans we respect and work hard for.

I wont talk trash about Dilbert because I'm not a reader. At the same time I dont think you should bash the genre because your not a fan yourself.

Hit me up, lets have a talk.

Cheers
Jayson Champion

www.evildread.com &
COE/Rejected Films

[Jayson Champion]

Alright Scott. You really want insight on why there are horror fans out there, send me an email. I'm a horror movie critic for the Swedish website www.evildread.com plus I'm an associate producer, writer and actor for a movie that's coming out next year that pretty much hands out every bit of filth most films are afraid to.

Anything your curious about you let me know and I'll fill you in, we wouldn't want you going around talking bad about the fans we respect and work hard for.

I wont talk trash about Dilbert because I'm not a reader. At the same time I dont think you should bash the genre because your not a fan yourself.

Hit me up, lets have a talk.

Cheers
Jayson Champion

www.evildread.com &
COE/Rejected Films

[josh]

People generally go to horror movies for a thrill... the thrill of escaping danger, much like you might get when a car pulls out in front of you in traffic and you narrowly avoid hitting them - you get an adreneline rush.

Movies allow you to get this rush in a safe, healthy way.

Also, not all horror movies involve killers and teens. You might want to check out Rosemary's Baby, the Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, and many other horror movies that aren't simply "slasher movies", which it seems like you are confusing with horror movies in general.

[cheryl chong]

i enjoy horror shows because i'm able to predict scenes which gives me immense pleasure in feeling an arrogant sense of intellectuality from the predicables that make me suspect that horror movie makers think we're stupid.

[Erik Hollensbe]

Actually, there's a great Stephen King article called "Why We Watch Horror Movies". It's a great insight from what is probably the most reliable source on this topic.

I think I read it in a college reader, but I can't remember.

[annekat]

Scott! It's all about facing the beasts that want to make us their prey, and evading them or defeating them, thereby gaining the power in the predator/prey relationship. We don't ever want to be killed... We know there are dangerous creatures that want to eat us (victimize us, kill us, rob us, what-have-you) and we want the feeling that we can have a lucky escape - and then perhaps take our own vengeance on them, making it safe for our progeny, because all the other dangerous creatures will get schooled. You know, depending on the movie.

And all the while we're really safe.

[Russ Chism]

I'm not a huge fan of horror movies, but I do enjoy them from time to time. My enjoyment does not come in the form of empathy, but catharsis. The repeated tension/release cycle works the kinks out of my psyche like a spiritual massage.

[Ashe]

I don't like horror movies. Occasionally I'm forced to watch them by my peers and boyfriend (peer pressure is a b*tch). As much as I hate them and have a hard time watching them (nightmares and all), I figure...at least I'm learning useful techniques of how to fight and run away in case I was ever in a scary situation such as being chased by a maniacal killer. (Yes I've actually laid in bed keeping myself awake and scared shitless thinking about it, watch House of Wax the newer version, and you will not stop thinking about how you would've gotten away or reacted). As morbid as that is, it makes watching horror movies positive and useful. Example: 1. Don't watch blank tapes that people give to you, unless you want to be chased by a scary dead girl from a well. 2. Don't leave your family in the middle of the desert when your car breaks down while you go search for help, alone. 3. Don't stop at scary lone gas stations in the middle of the desert. 4. When in doubt, don't even stop to roll down the car window for strangers. 5. Don't go into creepy unlit houses in small creepy towns. 6. For godsakes, don't let weird strangers help you. 7. Don't take the unmarked "short cut" to your destination provided by a creepy stranger. 8. If you think your neighbor is weird and a maniacal killer, he probably is, don't go into his house. 9. For godsakes, don't go camping with a bunch of hot girls. 10. Just don't go camping, please.

Anyways. I'm neurotic. I guess you could say I've become a little more reclusive about doing previously fun things like road trips and camping because of horror movies. It's always the ones that are somewhat plausible that freak me out - House of Wax, The Hills Have Eyes, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. *shudder*

[Sondra]

Supposition: Adult Children of Alcoholics

They need lots of unpredictability and fear to feel normal.

NOT ALL ACOA's! Just those who haven't recovered.

[Tim]

My missus is one of the sweetest people I've ever met; she loves horror movies. I just don't get 'em. I'm still alive. I'm the house geek but Star Trek? It's OK i 'spose; the missus is almost the Anti-Geek Incarnate (*) but she's bought every ST book, DVD, etc, going - knows all the episodes back to front, etc. People are just weird...

(*) she's been online for a decade, I've spent the last 3 weekends teaching her copy'n'paste - she's just about mastered it!

[JYR]

I enjoy horror movies - I don't know why. I never enjoyed them when I was young - they terrified me and gave me bad dreams. People in my life are surprised when they hear of my horror movie addiction. After all, 'nice' people don't watch such things.

I suppose it was only when enough bad things had happened in my life that I started to enjoy them. They remind me that there are bad people in the world and that bad things do happen to good people - life is not a bed of roses no matter how hard you try to make it so (someone up there has a strange sense of humor because just when you're getting real comfy with your rosiness a real whopper comes along) but the best thing is that in a 'real' horror movie - good always triumphs over evil in the end. Sometimes merely by surviving.

We're surrounded by people who are not who they appear to be and I'd like to learn how to recognize them. When I'm really angry at how unfair life can be I watch a scary movie and it gets 'it' all out of my system. Because good always triumphs over evil - and I want to win. So I put it down to research...

[Pete Jensen]

My theory is that it's a lot like watching a guy get kicked in the groin, it can be amusing, as long as it's not happening to us. Furthermore it helps us realize why we enjoy NOT getting kicked in the groin. Maybe some people associate themselves with the victims, and some with the killers, but I hope that most people like to imagine themselves as being one of the survivors (if there are any), who escaped unmentionable horrors, certain death, and then can comfortably rehash the whole experience over coffee two weeks later without a therapist in sight.

Then again maybe we do associate with the killer, and gleefully imagine impaling the jock who gave us wedgies on the playground with a rusty meat hook. Who knows? : P

[Zanthor]

When I first watched "SAW" from the moment I saw the "body" in between the two victems I thought "Gee, if I was a sick twisted bastard who wanted to watch his victims destroy each other, I'd lay myself right between them so I could be there at ground zero while it happened...

When that ended up being the case... I shudder to think what would happen if I had no sense of morality.

[Claire]

I disagree that the "rush" of a roller coaster is the same as watching someone be killed. I dont understand how people can derive pleasure from viewing gruesome acts of violence against other humans.
It scares me to think that there are people out there that do find them pleasurable. But more scary is how many.

I dont think people could be "influenced" to murder by watching a horror - murderers will kill ppl in a way that fits their psyche - criminologists can build a character profile of a killer (white, male, was sexually abused as a child by a male, etc), just by way the murder is performed, ie sawn off hands, etc.
Then again, maybe it gives them more creative ways to do things, i dunno.

I suppose everyone has their own reality and how they perceive it and interact with it. So ppl can watch horror, but they can stay the hell away from me!

I've never "identified" with characters in movies! i thought that was a very wierd concept, i never think "oh i could be her..."

...no wait...thats a lie. Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge and Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider... i think i fantasised about "being" those two (or as u say, "empathise" with those characters)

My sister and i used to fight about which Xmen character we were going to be when watching saturday morning cartoons, but we pretty much stopped that before adolecence... dont most people grow out of that then?

[adora]

It's called "Schadenfreude".

[le Big MAC]

One person almost mentioned the moralist (religious) angle. I wont get into the politics (Michael Weldon of "Psychotronic" does it so much better than I) for now. I just think it's ironic how many people mention the foreplay effect (teen girl clutches in fear, the big strong arm of her bemused boyfriend to be) where these movies are extremely Catholic in the justice on their characters. Teenagers have sex -> execution by kitchen utensils! The vampire/zombie stories are of course rife with religious symbolism. One zombie film, "The Beyond" mixes zombies with the Gate of Hell story. I have to admit I want to see that, even though I already know it will be gross beyond any imagining.
Violence is a perfectly acceptable element of cinematic storytelling, as "The Passion of the Christ" asserted.

Everyone has sick thoughts. We just don't act on them. You know someone who has gone out of their way to hurt or humiliate you, or someone you love. Maybe it's a boss who you can't confront directly, or some rival who gets off threatening you, or Gordon Ramsey. You have to release these thoughts through some form of catharsis, or you will be victimized by them. Notice how many serial killers are raised in strictly religious or otherwise oppressed homes? Or Al Quaeda beheaders? Like Cho Seung-Hui, whose parents refused to let him get treatment for his obvious mental illness and prayed over him instead. Those people are scarier than Leatherface to me.

I generally like more gothic horror style (vampires, witches, haunted house) or funny like "Shaun of the Dead". I love zombies too! Skip the "Dawn of the Dead" remake and see the original, it's my favorite. So where am I on the sicko meter?

[Jim]

Why the asterisk on "fuck," Scott?

You've certainly spelled that word out before.

Getting soft in your bald old age?

[Roby Bang]

I'm not going to go into this wierd offshoot about horror, porn, and perverted wish fulfillment, since it seems like everyone and their mom has talked about it (which is REALLY scary). But here's my opinion about watching movies: Movies are fiction, and any movie that tries too hard to make me believe that they could really happen annoy me. Soap operas, anime, epics, and TV dramas want me to invest all this time and caring for people who act like they're real, but they're not. Spy movies, parodies, sitcoms, and slapstick comedies don't expect me to care like they really exist. The plots and characters are so unreallistic that there's no emotional investment; I just turn on the TV and watch. By the way, I gotta go, just taped "Airplane!".

~~Roby Bang

[Isaac Thimbleby]

The below is very interesting - there are a large number of studies about how modern media effects or brains. To quote from the editorial, incase you cant read it;

"Meta-analysis shows that the statistical correlation between exposure to media violence and aggression is not quite as strong as that linking smoking to an increased risk of lung cancer. It is, however, double the strength of the correlation between passive smoking and lung cancer, twice as strong as the link between condom use and reduction in risk of catching HIV, about three times the strength of the idea that calcium increases bone strength, and more than three times as strong as the correlation between time spent doing homework and academic achievement."

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19426003.600-editorial-in-denial-about-onscreen-violence.html

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg19426001.900-mindaltering-media.html

[rediiss]

i do not like hooror films, where some maniac kills everybody in many freakig ways. i like films with ghosts, some hair rising secrets and so. maybe it is because i have not seen eny ghost in my life and i like to imagine, what it would be like if i see one - what would i do in a such situation, would i run, cry or just freeze. i can not explain why i would like to see a ghost. maybe just because i want something extraordinary happen in my ordinary life. i don't know why, but i have always liked ghost stories. maybe it is a certain kind of mental problem, i don'know. should i visit a doctor? :)
i have another question about horror films - what about guys who make them? what is going on in THEIR minds? how can a normal person write a film script about a maniac who does crazy and totally sick things to his victims? imagine a guy sitting in his room, in his home shoes with bunnies, drinking chocolate milk, swinging his little sweet baby in a lap and writing with one hand something like this "and then he cuts off her fingers one by one" pretty scary, no?

[Stuart Booth]

I love some horror flicks, though not others, I find them funny, I dont have to empathise with anyone, I have never found a horror flick I didnt find funny, its just not convincing enough. Does this make me a psycho? hope not, I have to sleep in this body you know.

[Nona]

I imagine myself as being in the movie, but being the one person cool and intelligent enough to outwit the bad guy, and survive to fight another day.

Plus, people like being scared. The chemicals it produces makes us feel good. Its the same reason people like free-fall parachuting, and white-water rafting.

[Karibu.us]

better for you not to watch movies since you seem to be a little behind

[Asher]

people have an inherent fear of death that they elaboratly repress. watching these movies plays on this simple fact, and brings curtained horror to light.

so my thought is this -- you enjoy horror movies if you fear death. if you do not enjoy horror movies then there are 2 options. (1) you do not fear death. (2) you repressed the fear of death so much that you think you do not fear death.

otherwise, you are already dead! which in a way means that you are alive, because as the cliche goes, we need to learn to die before we can live.

asher

[gautan]

scott, you are a very clever guy. why do make such generalizations when i am quite sure you dont belive them yourself? on the second thought it makes perfect sense. nobody would like to comment on or even read your blog here if you wrote perfectly ploticallly correct stuff.

[mr_poopyhead]

i hate horror movies... why would i put myself through a week of hiding under the covers, and not leaving my room to take a leak at night? yes... i admit it... i'm a big wuss.

i don't understand the lure of horror movies... if you're NOT scared shirtless by one, then it was a lousy movie and you wasted 2 hours of your life. if you ARE scared, then you'll spend a few days peeking around every corner of your own house... so where's the attraction?

someone explained it to me using this flawed analogy: eating spicy food. capsacin causes pain, so why do we enjoy the pain of spicy food? i for one am a spicy food fan, so i suppose i understand the desire to experience pain or fear...

[kj]

i did enjoy the movies like saw and its sequel and few other horror movies .. its not like everytime u like to be in a situation shown in movie .. sometime u just like to envision the climax or sort of it
and in the end .. in most of horror movie the good wins .. so u can imagine him/her as yourself and have fun :D

PS:it showed my email address as invalid .. though i keep receivin lots a mail(n junk) on it without neone complainin .. and to post it here m tryin with a different email id

[Red]

150 years ago we would watch hangings in the town square. A few hundred before that beheadings and all sorts of awful things (watch Braveheart). In a 1000 years people will look back at what we watched for entertainment and say what a bunch of ignorant and horrible people we were. At least I hope so.

[jerry w.]

In the past year I worked on 6 zombie or vampire films, and one zombie AND vampire film. As it turns out, in that one the vampires were the good guys, they only drank cows blood.

As if I could make that sort of stuff up.

The market for this crap has dried up a bit due to a glut of these films (videos actually, only the z+v pic was shot on film), which has made them more or less unable to get distribution unless they have name actors, great special effects, or most rare of all, an actual story.

That being said, I'm out here in East Bumfuckistan working on yet another piece of crap that no one will ever see. It's about a group of college age idiots going to camp out near a haunted river on Native American land, where they will follow what's for the most part a remake of the Jason films (don't go to sleep, that's when the spirit will kill you). Not really a piece of shit, but with some re-writing and re-casting, it could work its way up to that level.

One person is the writer, director, and the star.

At least he'll have no one else to blame.

http://boskolives.wordpress.com/

[Listo Cómics]

And what about porn? Woudn't it be more enjoyable if the main characters were easier to empathize and hadn't such big tools?

[Sir Mike Tallon]

You only describe stereotypical horror movies, Mr. Adams, and any movie that sticks to the stereotypes very closely can be nothing more than inane. The good ones are "1408", "Saw", or "Vacancy"; these movies are not all slash and dash, they're just delightfully fun to imagine what you would do if you were in what is a plausible situation. (And I don't like most horror movies.)

[Michael]

I don't emphasize with any of the characters in horror movies, I just have fun pointing out monster-suit-zippers and guessing what minority characters will die off first.

[Ventriloquist]

Ditto to Gregor's comment. Why are you censoring yourself in your own blog?

[Ventriloquist]

Ditto to Gregor's comment. Why are you censoring yourself in your own blog?

[notralph]

Hey, wrenchbert?

A sociopath and a psychopath are the same. Sociopath is the sanitized label that psychiatrists and psychologists agreed on, because psychopath had taken on too much social meaning as an insult and a stereotype.

You're talking about an actual mental disorder, after all.

[Frizzell]

What, you mean you didn't watch the recent horror movie remake that starred Paris Hilton? No, I'm not talking about One Night in Paris, although with the shaky footage, it could be mistaken for the Blair Witch Project. I'm talking about House of Wax, and although I haven't seen it, I'm told that Elisha Cuthbert looks hot, and Paris Hilton suffers a gruesome death. Thus, this film should satisfy both sides of the debate from your last week's posts. Paris works and dies.

[Frizzell]

My stepfather was a horror movie buff, and therefore, from the time I was 8 until 12, we watched a lot of horror movies. At the time, I simply watched because that's what was on. Now I am desensitized to the violence, and I continue to watch horror movies, but I prefer the murder mystery type like Scream over Friday the 13th. I like to try and figure out who the murder is, and I appreciate movies that I cannot figure out until the end. There is nothing worse than sitting down to watch a movie, and having the ending figured out after 10 minutes.

I do picture some horror movie nut jobs out there critiquing horror films: Hmmm, a filet knife would have done a much better job of removing his skin; What, he's using the Smith & Wesson rifle, what a fool, it jams to easy.

[Lonnie]

Personally, I'm imagining myself as the running-scared. The survivor, preferably. Getting out alive and all that. Which isn't surprising, considering what an addict I am to escapism. Does that make me less frightening? : )

[Brian]

My favourite horror genre is the Werewolf Film. In my DVD collection I have just about every significant werewolf movie ever made (and maybe a few insignificant ones too). What makes werewolves so fascinating? They are us.

There is the evil werewolf ("Silver Bullet" by Stephen King), the innocent werewolf ("American Werewolf in London"), the reluctant werewolf (Jack Nicholson in "Wolf"), the I-will-sacrifice-everything-for-the-man-I-love werewolf (Michelle Pfeiffer in "Wolf"), the werewolf in cult psychotherapy ("The Howling"), the tribal werewolf ("Underworld"), the back-to-nature predatory werewolf ("Dog Soldiers"), the environmentalist werewolf ("Wolfen"), and finally the werewolf-as-metaphor-for-adolescence ("Ginger Snaps" - best dialog: "This has nothing to do with PMS - you've got to get this FIXED!")

In werewolf films, the roles of "victim" and "killer" are often blurred. The traditional werewolf cinematic canon (begun in 1941 by Lon Chaney Jr. in "The Wolf Man") portrays the werewolf as the victim of a curse, losing control of his body and will when the full moon rises. He therefore cannot be truly held responsible for the grisly murders he commits; nevertheless, according to the morality of the time, he must ultimately receive the death penalty for his crimes (executed by his own father).

In more recent werewolf films, the canon is often broken, with "lycans" who can shape-shift at will, killing for sport day or night without help from the full moon. They are evil by choice. But at least they take responsibility for their actions and don't hide behind curses or biology.

And it's great fun when Kate Beckinsale and other gorgeous female vampires go into battle against them...

[Iury]

The Psychopath does those things which the Neurotic only thinks of doing but doesn't.

At any rate, I agree with many other people on this blog that there are not only "Victims" and "Killers" in horror movies, there are heroes, antiheroes, evil entities, and overall psichological thrill that can inject a little adrenaline into our grey mediocre lives.

[Iury]

The Psychopath does those things which the Neurotic only thinks of doing but doesn't.

At any rate, I agree with many other people on this blog that there are not only "Victims" and "Killers" in horror movies, there are heroes, antiheroes, evil entities, and overall psichological thrill that can inject a little adrenaline into our grey mediocre lives.

[Sing]

Why do some bloggers have to always analyze the blog. Who cares? Just have fun with it.

My favorite movie is The Shining. I always sympathize with the victims, but watching Jack Nicholson's performance never gets old for me.

I do frequently analyze people in public and pick out the ones who could use a good beating. Sick sense of humor? Absolutely. I would never do it...but thinking about it entertains me. Never underestimate your power to entertain yourself. Your thoughts are your own.

[ktharsis]

Empathize with the dumb jock victim (usually one of the first to get axed). You know - the one that just finished having sex (or might still be in the act) with the hottest dumbest girl of the bunch. At least that poor sucker got some before he kicked it - the others are sitting in DeadLand whining about how they "tried to run and hide in the woods" while he is smoking a cigarette wondering what all the fuss is about.

[Anfauglir]

"When I watch a movie, I enjoy it more if I can empathize with one of the characters. I imagine myself in his or her situation: solving a crime, falling in love, wearing a leotard while battling injustice, and whatnot. It’s hard to enjoy a movie if I can’t relate to how the characters are feeling, even if they are different from me"

"I have to confess I like Paris (Hilton)"

So when you watch The Simple Life, are you identifying with the mean and stupid character being portrayed by Paris? Or with the people she is being mean to?

"The psychopath, or the victim?" - which one makes The Simple Life a fun show for you?

[jane]

I can't watch those movies- I am afraid of my own shadow at night and must sleep with closet doors closed, nothing under the bed...damn my parents for telling me about the boogie man; I've been scarred for life.

[AJ]

I think Bill Hicks said it best " I once worked in a movie theater that showed nothing but horror movies the people who went there were scarier than the f**king movies you would hear voices in the back like I remember when I cut off a head"!

also you forgo the protagonist who usually triumphs in the end but in real life would end up in therapy for 20 years or so screaming in the pillow every night.

Its the same reason people like to ride rollercoaster’s, bungee jumping parachuting etc its the adrenalin rush you get from pretending you are in danger (tricking yourself) but it still being a safe environment .

[Izzy]

Your assumption that all people empathize with a character is false. Not all do that! Some just watch for the sake of enjoyment, without any empathizing whatsoever.

[Shaithis]

I'm a huge fan of horror, in most horror films there is at least one or two characters that might make it through the the end of the film. I'm interested in seeing how they'll make it out of this movie alive. Note also that most of the victims are typcially engaged in having sex or doing drugs, you know the things we do everyday.

[Ascii King]

I just watched "Bridge to Teribithia" last night. It was great. It was nice to see a kids movie that didn't follow the same template all the Disney movies follow. As far as kid / horror films go, it was very well done.

[Doug]

Naked teenage girls.

[Dalebert]

In my fantasy reality, Darwinism is actually incredibly effective, even in the short term. Horror movies make my little fantasy come true for a short while. I like that in horror movies, people do something incredibly stupid and there are immediate repercussions, unlike in the real world where stupid people are busy subsidizing and protecting irresponsible behavior (welfare, medicaid, social security) and penalizing responsible behavior (progressive taxation, business regulations). The problem with this is that our entire civilization is likely to get naturally selected out or undergo some economic castastrophe that eliminates lots of people rather dramatically and somewhat randomly rather than the less painful process of actually breeding a more responsible society of human beings. In fact, I don't think the irresponsible people are inherently, genetically stupid. I think they'd be smarter if we just allowed them to learn a little bit by feeling the repercussions of their decisions, but natural selection still applies. The good horror movies are trying to send people a message about the harsh nature of reality!

Notice that incredibly stupid teenagers in a horror movie die JUST as they are about to accidentally reproduce. Darwinism! I get this cathartic sense of relief. Phew! That was close! In the good horror movies, just one or two of the smartest characters go through a trial of their wits and in fact DO survive. Yay! You deserve to live.

I don't sympathise with the killer. He's just a tool of mother nature. In fact, I prefer the monster movies where there is some mindless monster doing the killing because that's more like how nature works. There are these natural threats out there and people just need to learn how to deal with them intelligently in order to survive.

[Gregor]

Didn't you write a post a while back about how silly it was to put an asterisk in swear words? So why the fuck have you started doing it?

[Kilgore J. Trout]

I don't enjoy horror moves because I think it encourages me to take it to the next level.

[Adam]

I think much of the appeal of watching horror movies is, as in many forms of entertainment, building up expectations, and having those expectations confounded.

Most good makers of horror films know there are certain rules and formulae - and these need to be adhered to much of the time. The oh-so-knowledgeable audience can then get the thrill of knowing what's going to happen to a victim in advance. Really good horror directors will put in just the right number of surprises. This balance between the inevitability of fate and the shock of the unknown seems to do the trick for the fans.

Thankfully, in recent years, there have been a certain number of 'post-modern' horror films (e.g. Scream) which pull the genre apart for the elucidation of all us enginer-types out there. A key element is that some of the characters (and not just the audience) know (or think they know) what's going to happen...

Boo!

[GH]

I'm not identifying with any of them. Its the ultimate survival contest. I like watching stupid people die.

[hindimoviesong.net]

Smart Blog keep it up
www.HindiMovieSong.net

[S@ns S@nity]

Agree wholeheartidly(for once)

I dislike horror movies too.. The badly made ones are soo cheezy and cliche you might as well see WWE instead of watching them, and the good ones disturb me at a deeper level.. and as a bordering insomniac I do not appreciate it. My girlfriend hates horror movies.. she has a very malleable mind, and a gory scene, even when seen accidently while flipping channels, keeps repeating in her head for days.

Seeing how it affects her, I beleive most of the sheeple do not have the mental strength to tolerate the grotesque content in horror flicks and not have it affect their mind in subtle capacities. So I would be vary of people who love horror movies to death(go figure)...

Some of the death metal(like Danny Filth and his Cradle) groups have music videos which are so disturbing it makes me wonder what kind of people those freaks must be. Definately the sort I should stay away from.

To people who say horror movies give them adrenaline kicks, there are much better ways getting kicks.. play a sport once in a while, it might keep you fitter as well..

[ChristinaG]

I love a good suspenseful horror movie, but they stopped making those years ago. I gotta wonder at the people who enjoy watching movies like Hostel and Saw. They just made me sick. Why not take the next step and start renting from the Faces of Death series or trying to get seats at an execution? Maybe book a trip to a rural middle eastern village to participate in a stoning?

[bloodrage bob]

geez. ya read the comments, and it all just goes straight from bad to worse. not only do they *admit* identifying with the gutless sociopaths gleefully dreaming of torture/murders of the weak & innocent.....oh, no.

then they turn around and *defend* that mindset. might wanna go ahead and sell that "usa" stock grandpa worked so hard to leave you: it'll be worthless soon.

[magwai]

As a teenager it was like a dare to go and see gross horror films (we were too young so sneaking in was part of the fun). Now it takes alot to achieve the same adrenaline rush and generally I find horror films lame.

Horror films are like bad dreams. The fact that the good guys walks towards the danger we know is there etc. Experiencing these bad dream scenes consciously is like therapy.

[Seth]

Firstly: I don't mean to offend Scott, but you have nothing to worry about. Balding, middle-aged men rarely get the axe in horror movies.

Secondly: How do you sympathise with the victim? Their deaths are typically a result of their own stupidity, it's basic natural selection at work.

I certainly don't empathise with the axe-wielding sociopath, I just enjoy watching stupid people being unnaturally deselected.

[Paul C]

"Shakespeare's tragedies usually have a bigger body count than many Hollywood horror movies, by the way, and does so in many different and gory ways (see Titus Andronicus, for ex.) Does that mean that people that enjoy Shakespeare are sickos that are constantly thinking about stabbing you with a poisoned blade?"

******************************

Good point! It's always conservatives with a vested interest in controlling what you see and read, and limiting the number of sources from which you can form an opinion, who are first to scream about a link between film/TV and a perceived increase in violence in our society.

The Religious Right of its day - the Puritans - thought the same about theatre being a corrupting influence.

Yet no Elizabethan accounts exist of hitherto normal well-balanced individuals who became slathering maniacs after going to see "King Lear" at the Globe, who left the theatre with an uncontrollable urge to blind somebody by gouging their eyes out with the thumbs? (This is the high point of Lear) Shakespeare was the hack-and-slay hack of his times: and the religious right dodn't like him at all...

[Marco]

So whom did you empathize with in your Dilbert comic about the porpoise puncturing the lawyer in the lower back? The lawyer? The porpoise?

You fff-frighten me, Scott

[Leon]

Hi from Germany.
I guess that horror flicks are much like the slaughter of christians in ancient Rome... we like to see suffering as long as it's not happening to us. On the other hand, I have noticed that most horror movies now a days are just platforms for showing us even more horrible things happening in ever more realistic ways and the message "it could happen to you". O well, given the drag of my daily job, the prospect of being impaled on a stick seems slightly more appealing than spending the day in a deadline meeting and seeing some phsyco strut his stuff sometimes explains the management style of a large multinational.

[Warfreak2]

Simple enough. You enjoy stories because you empathise with the characters.

...Since when did horror movies have stories?

Same applies to pornography.

[jeqp]

"Bridge To Terabithia" is based on a book. Blame the author.

[Ranger]

The more frightening question is: If those people couldn't get their "empathy kick" from seeing a horror movie, would they be forced to get their need fulfilled by actually driving a spike through your forehead? And is the number of people who do that larger than the number of people who think "cool idea, I should try that"?

And what's wrong with me? I'm human. What's your excuse?

[Kevin Kunreuther]

Funny post again ...
BUT SERIOUSLY! Most people go to horror movies not because they empathize with the psychopaths or the hapless victims but because they enjoy being scared ... it's the jolt of adrenelin, that rush, the high of being scared that you're going to be seriously hurt or horribly killed or eaten by something or someone (yeech) ... in this modern world, despite current horrors lurking around every corner, we are technically sophisticated, feckless and really jaded, so we need an old fashioned ghost story (or gore story, as the case may be these days) to make us feel and appreciate being alive. So, don't fear the counterman across from you as he hands you you daily java jolt of the day. He's more likely daydreaming about winning the lottery or at least scoring with one of his fellow employees on the weekend than shoving an icepick thru your skull and carving his initials on your chest. If anyone's going to horribly maim or kill you, it will either be a relative or close family member or a really dedicated no-life Scott Adams fan. Enjoy!

[Okgenuine]

I totally get what you are saying. It has to be bad on people's psychology. I don't like them anymore but I used to like the ones where I could get into the survivor's role like I was too good for a killer to get me. Now my schizophrenia prevents me from watching them and nowadays they're just too violent anyway. There's no good psychology in them at all. No survivor's instinct.
But I think one thing that makes people watch them is that they remind you of how good you got it. Like you get a real free feeling from being able to live in a country where watching something like that is perfectly ok.
That cashier thing was hilarious.

[Frodo Baggins]

The sort of content in horror movies has evolved from scare to gore to disturbing. It has moved from werewolves to aliens to zombies to a human's scariest enemy - the human him/herself...

I want to say a whole lot more but here's a request to Hollywood Studio bosses - There are enough fucked up people out there, please don't share any more of your wonderful ideas with them!

[Joe]

You empathize with the victim but it's a mixed bag, you get shocked by the violence and intrigued by the sophistication of the hunter/survivor process (and the plot if it has any).
Add to that the non-horror parts of the movie and you have a richer experience where a wider range of emotions were stimulated.

At least in theory, most of these movies are trash.

[Flemming]

I like horror movies. Not the modern types that are all blood, violence, and computer effects. But the more classical ones with a good story and just the nessesary amount of unpleasanties.
Normally I empathise with the victims. But there are exceptions: My first favourit movie "Carrie" where a psychokinetic girl takes revenge over the other teenagers at school for being teased and ridiculed for many years. I think it is because I too was treated very bad by the other kids when I was at her age.
My current favourit is "The abominable dr. Phibes" where a horribly disfigured organplayer and doctor in theology takes revenge over the quacks who killed his wife in a surgery that went bad. The fascinating thing about this movie (apart from the good music and art deco setting) is that the director deliberately wants us to sympathise with the mad doctor. He is portraited as a very stylish and sympathetic gentleman whereas the victims are all "bad guys" or at least someone you can't really like.
I think we like horror movies because it is a safe way to get out of the boring, predictable everyday life. Others like to ride rollercoasters - but I'm afraid of hights - others buy a sportscar - which I can't affort - and there are other ways to get the thrill and for a moment feel unsafe but still knowing deep inside the nothing will happen to you.

[SirDrinksalot]

Seriously, you're telling me you've never fantasized about trapping someone you don't like in a hole in your basement and perching over them dressed as a woman with a toy poodle taunting them with "It rubs the lotion on it's skin or else it gets the hose."? What is wrong with you?

[Max]

I love your blog, but as a film-buff, I am appalled everytime you talk about movies. The level of appreciation always seems like the equivalent of someone saying of a Picasso "It's cool, but it doesn't look very much like a real person." You're probably missing the point. I think if you are watching movies purely to empathize with characters- something I rarely do conciously, then yes, you will surely fail to appreciate many types of movies. Making a horror movie (not a gore-spattered cash cow like Hostel) has its own art. It's extremely difficult, and the art is about working within the conventions you desribed. Of course I'm only talking about story. You neglect to adress camera placement, art direction, scoring, lighting, editing, and the synthesis of all these things. The true joy of any film, for me, is following how all of these things are in place to make me either, as you would say, concerned for the characters (the entertainment value of this fear has long been known- think of roller coasters) or simply visually stimulated. It's like looking at a painting. In another post you said that you only enjoyed happy movies, referencing Click at one point. I do not understand how such a thing could be enjoyable, because all of the aspects I previously mentioned have been so neglected and botched, but I think the real point is that the purpose of a movie isn't to make you happy (not always). The purpose of a great film, like a great novel, is to change you a little bit. Make you think or feel something you hadn't before. For me, few things are as powerful as letting a good movie tear me up inside.

I submit that you do not know how to appreciate film.
Love the blog. You make me think about a lot of stuff.

[Max]

I love your blog, but as a film-buff, I am appalled everytime you talk about movies. The level of appreciation always seems like the equivalent of someone saying of a Picasso "It's cool, but it doesn't look very much like a real person." You're probably missing the point. I think if you are watching movies purely to empathize with characters- something I rarely do conciously, then yes, you will surely fail to appreciate many types of movies. Making a horror movie (not a gore-spattered cash cow like Hostel) has its own art. It's extremely difficult, and the art is about working within the conventions you desribed. Of course I'm only talking about story. You neglect to adress camera placement, art direction, scoring, lighting, editing, and the synthesis of all these things. The true joy of any film, for me, is following how all of these things are in place to make me either, as you would say, concerned for the characters (the entertainment value of this fear has long been known- think of roller coasters) or simply visually stimulated. It's like looking at a painting. In another post you said that you only enjoyed happy movies, referencing Click at one point. I do not understand how such a thing could be enjoyable, because all of the aspects I previously mentioned have been so neglected and botched, but I think the real point is that the purpose of a movie isn't to make you happy (not always). The purpose of a great film, like a great novel, is to change you a little bit. Make you think or feel something you hadn't before. For me, few things are as powerful as letting a good movie tear me up inside.

I submit that you do not know how to appreciate film.
Love the blog. You make me think about a lot of stuff.

[Max]

I love your blog, but as a film-buff, I am appalled everytime you talk about movies. The level of appreciation always seems like the equivalent of someone saying of a Picasso "It's cool, but it doesn't look very much like a real person." You're probably missing the point. I think if you are watching movies purely to empathize with characters- something I rarely do conciously, then yes, you will surely fail to appreciate many types of movies. Making a horror movie (not a gore-spattered cash cow like Hostel) has its own art. It's extremely difficult, and the art is about working within the conventions you desribed. Of course I'm only talking about story. You neglect to adress camera placement, art direction, scoring, lighting, editing, and the synthesis of all these things. The true joy of any film, for me, is following how all of these things are in place to make me either, as you would say, concerned for the characters (the entertainment value of this fear has long been known- think of roller coasters) or simply visually stimulated. It's like looking at a painting. In another post you said that you only enjoyed happy movies, referencing Click at one point. I do not understand how such a thing could be enjoyable, because all of the aspects I previously mentioned have been so neglected and botched, but I think the real point is that the purpose of a movie isn't to make you happy (not always). The purpose of a great film, like a great novel, is to change you a little bit. Make you think or feel something you hadn't before. For me, few things are as powerful as letting a good movie tear me up inside.

I submit that you do not know how to appreciate film.
Love the blog. You make me think about a lot of stuff.

[Pom]

I believe I emphasize with the whole group that are being terrorised by the psychopathic maniac or monster. My favorite horror flic was actually Blair Witch Project, which really didn't have a bad guy but merely displayed the characters frustration and paranoia. I could really relate to that remembering how hyped up I was able to get myself just by running up the stairs from the basement as a kid.

[Steven]

I like the Dilbert comics, and I used to think you were smart to come up with all these funny ideas. But lately reading your blog I am disappointed. Is it news to you that people like horror movies because they need the catharsis of being exposed to death without actually being in any physical danger themselves? In most horror movies there is a main protagonist who survives, and that is the one that people identify with.

[Attie Naude]

Empathy? What's that?

I just watch movies for the explosions and blood.

I do enough thinking at work and university, when I sit down to watch a movie my brain switches off and enjoys the pretty colors.

[Ryan Steckler]

Oddly enough, I did a survey at the large software company where I work for my Psychology class. The survey was administered to [a laughable sample size of] around 14 professional Software Developers. The questions were designed to correlate personality traits to aptitude as a developer. One of the questions asked what genre of video games, movies and books the participant enjoyed. I expected a slight bias towards educational and sci-fi. Interestingly, all of the genres were equally represented - with one notable exception. Not a single person marked Horror.

Maybe geeks just don't dig it?

[Roni]

If you don't know the reason I'm certainly not going to tell you

[doc]

I think you're generalizing when you say that since you try to connect with the characters, hence others must too, and that too in every single movie.

There are plenty of other reasons why someone might like horror movies - suspense, twists, effects and the hot babe who happens to take a shower just when the killer is in her house.

[Azi]

Assuming that watching horror movies lets borderline cases release stress and anger vicariously, what's so wrong with empathising with the killer? Imagine how many snubbed, ridiculed, bullied and loser kids there are out there who are just one more broken heart or wedgie away from taking the school out.

[Ishmael]

As a teenage male I can say that horror movies are great for one thing. Making the person with whom you see the movie (for me teenage females) want to sit close. The scarier the better.

[Julie]

I avoid horror films too. But sometimes if I have eaten too much pizza and have a really scary dream, I calm myself by thinking, wow, that would make a really good plot for a horror film, very creative scariness - I tell myself.

Another thing about horror films, sometimes it's just fun to get really scared, it gets your adrenaline up so high, there's a weird crash at the end when you catch your breath as the credits roll and you think, ooh, I wanna get scared again, that was strangely fun. I felt that way after watching the Wicker man.

[Kristina L.]

I can't handle horror movies, and I hate movies with bad endings. I've never watched a whole horror movie. I just can't take it. There's some stuff I don't want in my brain.

[John Marshall]

Horror movies aren't usually my cup of tea, with the exception of werewolf movies. A perfectly normal human being is suddenly imbued with terrific voracity and brutality, while his moral side battles with his sudden bestial desires, as well as deciding whether to give in to the animal, to gain such perks as strength, senses and cunning. It's a battle we all face: a battle of morality VS savagery. Ego VS id.

Plus the transformation sequences are usually cool; it's usually the voyeuristic high point of the movie.

Can I assume, Mr. Adams, that your brand of horror movies are ones where the threat is either nonphysical, like 1408, or extremely impersonal, like Cujo? One where it concentrates more on the victim than the killer?

Although some killers can seem like an empathetic tragic figures, such as Freddy from "Nightmare on Elm Street", or Jack from "The Shining". Usually, though, they seem like a Maguffin.

[HMCIV]

I don't go for movies that rely on a lot of gore to get to you. The horror movies that I thought were great were Blair Witch (saw it before the hype), The Ring, and 28 days later. Not terribly violent, but each of these movies had a moment where you realized wow these characters are really in a BAD situation. And I don't want to be there.

All the Saws looked terrible because all they offered was violent torture and candy a$$ vistims to get you out of your seat.

[Vart.violin]

So, I have a point which might not please some people. But sorry it is a reality.
I have to like like the actress...............otherwise I can not sit there for 90 minutes and watch a woman who I do not like.
First I am a romantic, sentimental violinist and teacher. I do not like horror, or violent movies.
I enjoy love stories, romance, musical, family oriented movies.

For now my favourite actresses are (just to mention a few) Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidmann, Charlize Theron, Elizabeth Shue (in leaving Las Vegas)...........Juliet Binoche Ashley Judd, Nathalie Wood (God bless her soul) etc......Is it ok?

[Stan Slaughter]

It's the "Thank God it's not me" response

Horrible things happen to other people - but I'm safe.

Hmmm... I wonder how well the up swing in the fear of horrible real life events (Nuclear war, Vietnam war, 911, etc..) corresponds to the popularity of the horror movies in the 50's, 70's and 2000's ?

[~*~]

Jesus' middle name is not Frickin', and His name is not listed in the credits of your horror flicks.

[Matt]

It is like eating spicy food.

[synapticmisfires]

Hahaha, great post. I agree completely. I've never really enjoyed horror movies. I mean they subject the characters to intense, prolonged discomfort. I'm sure some people (not many) do use it to satiate a craving, and for them it's probably like a gateway to more.

[Madmarleyboro29]

The thing with horror flicks.....really any plot of them at all....is that yes, people will die (but those who did, naturally had at least one bad aspect or character flaw about them).

The tramp, the liar, the thoughts of greed, vanity or any other "deadly sin"....gets them their comeuppance.

A Horror film is more like religion with a mask on. The Do Good or Die Theory.

Should the hero/heroine choose the right path....they alone survive, in what just, in the last 90 minutes, laid waste to the rest of the cast.

A Horror Film is a Moral fable complete with graphic depictions (and decapitations) of what occurs if you make the wrong choice.

It scares people, into choosing a path with blinders on. Don't screw the Blond with Big Hooters...you'll be dead in the first scene along with her.

Avoid deception of others in your group. The two-faced soul with only his/her own success at heart, bites it hard too. Any plot twist with greed (money, gold, resources, social status, or political ties), gets offed quickly.

Never venture "alone". The thought being, there's safety in numbers...and if those "numbers" are all on the same righteous path...they might all survive.

But knowing humans & their flaws, obviously, they're stubborn & never wait for backup. Another religious attempt at getting all the "good ones" under one roof.

That Footsteps Poem. Yeah, sure. God is somehow carrying the lone survivor on the Beach, and that's why there's only one set of footprints.

Any episode of CSI, can tell you......it's your footprints, and your guilty of being a sucker for falling to the trap of Horror Films being simply entertainment.

If you LOVE Horror Films, you side with the victim. You Side, with their hopes of survival. You really want them to be the one, who doesn't choose unwisely. Which, by default means, it had nothing to do with how BAD that film scared you....but how MUCH that film exemplified the virtues of behaving, just to live at all.

If it scared you....now, you go home after the movie....and think, "I wouldn't have banged her in the first scene.....I saw that coming a mile away!". Watch enough horror flicks & you won't bang anyone at all, for being scared into submission.

Horror Films are the religion of the Athiest (who after watching enough of them), still somehow adheres to a ton of Commandments, because it scared them straight. Since the alternative was a regular Church, that they'd fall asleep in, on any given Sunday Morning.

Hungover, tired, and My God, it's the weekend...and why do I have to sit through some guy in a robe, chastising me, when his room & board are paid for in Tithe. I totally get the disinterest in Church. Horror Flicks, though, really are Religion in Disguise. The villain (whether it's with chainsaw, blade, or other impaling device), represents Evil.

The victims, represent a facet of what Evil consumes, by "choice". Or your Free Will, Moist Robot argument.

The survivor, of any Horror Flick, is never the Bimbo, the Jock, the Corporate King, or anything more....than a humble basket case. The only one who lives, is the one that never went out of their way to be anything at all.

Pfft, even if the film went overboard, and killed off the last survivor....well, shoot, now you'd have a Martyr, and the religious undertones, would become blatantly apparent.

Can't have the Good dying, unless you want to start a New Church. So they let things go muddy at the end. The survivor, somehow watches it all through a rear view mirror (so lucky...whew...survived another test of character).

And Evil, gets one final nod, in the last scene as well (Oh they're not quite dead yet...it's just a Flesh Wound....come back here & I'll bite your knee caps off).

Monty Python would make a better New Religion.

But that's why I figure people love Horror Flicks. A cinematic religion, complete with it's own rules of "What to do, and What not to do".

[Ben B]

Horror movies are different from most movies. People don't watch them for brilliant storytelling or character development. People watch them for the thrill of imagining themselves in the horrific painful situations the characters are in. It's similar to the reason people like going on roller coasters.

[Andrew]

I always relate to the killers.

When I see that psycho lifting up a solid Stihl chainsaw above his head before bringing it down on a screaming victim, I'm thinking: "Hey, there's something that I could cut the firewood up with and won't do my back in."

When I see that nutjob take a Gustav Emil Ern kitchen knife, impale a whimpering victim to a solid oak wood table and still retain its sharp edge, well, I'm thinking how great that knife will be the next time I want to slice up a roasted chicken.

When I see some lunatic use a high powered Woodsman garden shredder to grind up his garden waste into easily compostible mush, I'm thinking what a great way to dispose of my latest victims.

Oops. Scratch that last example.

[Peter]

well, there are a number of reasons i can enjoy a horror movie.

1. sometimes it's funny - think paris hilton being horribly murdered
2. sometimes it's clever - think the Saw movies
3. sometimes you should do a thing just for the experience - feeling an emotion such as fear or disgust for the experience is justification of itself (i am a big fan of trying stuff just for the experience).

now, before you get annoyed about my dislike of paris hilton, let me give you my well thought out explanation. i dislike paris hilton because of sour grapes. so there.

[D. Mented]

I think it's a fear fix.
Some people like to go to a movie to have "a good cry", some people like a docu-drama like "coal miner's daughter" to get their outrage on, sexy movies are obvious, and some people like a good scare.
Myself, I like movies I can't predict, but when something happens, it makes sense.
Most television and movies, I find myself saying the lines along with the actors - the first time I watch them. It's just too predictable. I'll think "and then...his eyes open!" and they do - usually right on cue. I start flinching from being beat in the face with the sledgehammer of obviosity.
There are also movies that are unpredictable because they're so bad nobody could have predicted they'd be *that* lame...
Every once in a while, I'll see a movie that surprises me - a main character looks like the good guy, and turns out to be a backstabbing bastard...Somebody sounds like they're leading up to a painful cliche, then they say something more insightful.
I love that.
D. Mented

[rd]

no, i don't
never watch horror movies voluntarily or alone
if i am dragged to watch it, then ok, i try to derive as much pleasure out of it as possible by
1. criticising the plot 2. criticising stupidity of victims to not be able to defend themselves this or other very effective way 3. imagining my counterattacks 4. predicting the movie ending and usually being right about it etc

which all ruins the horror movie lover's pleasure
and understandably no other seances ensued

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mongol/533869250/
spooky

[Brion Emde]

I think that it's a simple as this: horror movies let us experience emotions that are taboo and repressed in normal society.

Also, there are certain points that can be made through horror that can't be made in any other way.

[carl]

I love horror movies, and there is lots wrong with me. The thrill, at least for me, is letting go of things that I believe to be real and having the crap scared out of me. I know there are no chances of me being sold to for a murder toy in the Checz Republic, but hostel was still a creepy movie. Same with 1408.

[wrenchbert]

I'm so with Scott on this one. I enjoyed horror movies as a kid for the scare, and then it was only fun with a large group - mostly to watch the group. In most of those movies the baddies were unbeleivable monsters. But the recent super-gore realistic freak fests are scary on a whole different level, in a sociopathic way. The only conclusion I can make is that people that watch them are all sociopaths, and many budding psychopaths.

[pureevilmatt]

Maybe how we feel when we see an animal abused is how we should feel when we see a human abused. Maybe we're all terrible terrible people, and that's why we want to see each other disembowled, slashed, chainsawed, and decapitated, over and over and over again.

Or maybe, horror is just the most dynamic and thus best genre simply because it encompases all other genres. It doesn't seek to evoke one or two particular emotions like drama or comedy, and it doesn't neccesarily always seek to entertain through via viscera, like action or adventure. Instead, it employs all these things, often in combination with social commentary. Horror as a genre is the only genere that consistently and succesfully causes it's viewer to run the entire range of human emotion, and it has the additional bonus of causing the viewer to think about those emotions.

I'm strictly talking about good horror though... The sad fact remains that most movies aren't even remotely good.

[Loser of guitar picks]

so you're saying you're a wuss

[Borjan]

Also, you forgot that the best part of a horror movie is that it ends and after all the scares - it is just a movie. Nothing more. You feel good you're alive after that - isn't that great?

[Borjan]

I surely empathize with the killer in horror movies - yes, they are psychopaths but the victims are usually annoying and stupid. That's why one of the favorite horror movies for me is "Scream" (all three pieces).

Also, you've missed the potential horror movies have for teens' first date-movie - giving comfort and hand-grabbing (which equals as touching in teens' minds, and touch is good). I remember my very first date - I was fifteen and went to see "Nightmare On Elm Street". I was scared shitless, but my date was even more scared, so we comforted each other later with a lot of kissing. Yes, I know today's teens go to oral sex immediately, but hey - that was 22 years ago. A lot has changed since then...

[Sandy]

First, I don't like horror movies; its not my type of genre.

From an outsider's perspective I think there are two types of people who enjoy them. The first category comprise the (usually lazy) people who have a rather mundane, unexciting existence and get psychological thrills from watching a kill. More so, a human kill. These would also be the people who will be shit scared of walking alone in a dark alley at night.

The second type would be people who have an enhanced but (mostly) dormant desire of cannibalism (anthropophagy). These people actually enjoy horror movies and can empathize with the creature causing the horror. These are people from whom the majority of us should be wary of.

[JST]

It's funny - just this morning I was thinking about the time I saw one of the world's most inappropriate ads, and it relates here. I was driving on an expressway and I saw a HUGE billboard for a company that cleans up crime scenes and stuff like that. My first thought was "why the hell would that sort of business advertise on the expressway", but then I saw the rest - in gigantic letters it said "we’re there when you need us" and had a very large picture of two young guys back to back smiling with their arms crossed. Talk about inappropriate! My first thought after seeing the rest of it was that the "company" was obviously started by two horror movie freaks that thought it'd be cool to see the real thing. And if that wasn't the case, that was certainly the impression the sign gave.

[Marble]

Was this a real question or a Scott Adams Thought Experiment(TM)? I see several near-cuss words that we don't usually see from Sifu Adams. Will the next post be a thought-provoking discussion of how near-cuss words are exactly the same as actual cuss words but are for some reason more acceptable to induhviduals?

[Keith]

You missed the obvious explaination that horror fans, unlike you, do not empathise with any of the characters.

[Dave Oblad]

You stated: "There are only two kinds of characters in a horror flick: the victims who are dying horrible deaths, and the psychopaths that are doing the killing." Wrong!!!!

I think the most interesting aspect to this Blog the rather obvious trap you set in allowing only two points of view. Like: Are you more stupid than your parents? No good answer to this question. Any answer implies admission of stupidity.

Thankfully, most of your commenter's saw this trap a mile away and offered a third alternative answer. They identify with the survivor.. IE: Ripley in 'Alien'. I empathize with the character that overcomes obstacles and fear to finally defeat the baddie in the end.

The movies I can't stand are movies with bad endings. Case in point: 'Bridge to Terabithia'. I empathized with the little boy. I also had a Tom Boy type girl friend at that age. (spoiler coming...) So why kill her off at the end? They didn't need to!! Letting the little sister into the fantasy club was more than a fine ending. Why ruin a happy ending? That is what I would call a true horror movie. It made me feel horrible. I don't pay good money to feel that way. If I wanted to feel that way, I just pick up any newspaper. I want my money back!

And don't get me stated on all of that movie's hype and marketing. Expected to see a movie like: 'Never Ending Story'. Instead, I saw 'Boy meets World' with about 10 minutes of fantasy. What a rip off! False advertising to the max. Shoot the producers and all the marketing people for that movie!

Anyway, I do enjoy a good bad guy sometimes. (Good-Bad-Guy... that's like military intelligence) Such as Freddy or Pin-Head. I don't empathize with them at all, but they are fun to watch. Cool Blog Scott and best to you from Dave :^)

I