Why Do We Watch Scary Films?

(Ayden, 2020)

Here are 5 different theories explaining why we watch scary films.

1. Dolf Zillman

Excitation-transfer theory purports that residual excitation from one stimulus will amplify the excitatory response to another stimulus, though the hedonic valences of the stimuli may differ. The excitation-transfer process is not limited to a single emotion.[2] For example, when watching a movie, a viewer may be angered by seeing the hero wronged by the villain, but this initial excitation may intensify the viewer's pleasure in witnessing the villain's punishment later. Thus, although the excitation from the original stimulus of seeing the hero wronged was cognitively accessed as anger, the excitation after the second stimulus of seeing the villain punished is cognitively assessed as pleasure, though part of the excitation from the second stimulus is residual from the first.

 

2. Catharsis (from Greek κάθαρσις, katharsis, meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions—particularly pity and fear—through art or any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration.

 

3. SIGMUND FREUD

The Psychoanalytic community, including Sigmund Freud himself posited that horror came from the “Uncanny” – emergence of images and thoughts of the primitive that were being suppressed by the civilized ego. Psychiatrist Carl Jung thought that horror movies tapped into primordial archetypes buried deep in our collective subconscious – images like shadow and mother (examples of archetypes of human behaviour that, in film, are presented through images (acknowledged and named by Carl Jung)) play important roles in the horror genre (the shadow consists of the unconscious mind that holds repressed ideas) (the mother consists of the nurturing and comforting part of the unconscious mind) (These archetypes are part of Jungian psychology, a concept created by Carl Jung)

 

4. DAVID J. SKAL

Finally, DJ Skal posits that horror films are a reflection of our societal fears. Looking at the history of horror you have mutant monsters rising in 50s from our fear of the nuclear bogeyman, Zombies in the 60s with Vietnam, Nightmare on Elm Street as a mistrust in authority figures stemming from the Watergate scandals and Zombies again in the 2000s as a reflection of viral pandemic fears.

 

5. Ernest Hartmann

Sees dreams as the brain’s sorting through the bits of information it’s gathered throughout the waking hours. But the images and connections we make while dreaming aren’t totally random, they’re guided by our emotions – maybe working through a recent trauma or dealing with angst and fear.

So perhaps watching a film is somewhere between being awake and being in a dream state. Much like play – films are a safe place where we can sort through stuff, learn skills to apply in everyday life. How do you defeat the a slow walking Jason Vorhees – you can’t outrun his slow stride. The only way is to face him straight on. Though a zombie apocalypse is a far fetched reality, the survivorship skills on display in a zombie horror film have some practical merit in our normal every-day world.

Horror movies require us to face the unknown – to understand it and make it less scary. They allow us to see our fears and put them into context, to play what if, and in doing so, they shape our belief systems, how we see each other and ourselves. They are a safe place to explore and for some just a good bit of fun.

The theory I agree with the most is  4.

It makes the most sense, as you can only be scared of your fears (obviously). Due to this, it makes sense to form an idea in a film that represents common fears, because this will make the audience subconsciously associate the idea with their fears, causing them to be terrified of that idea because they will think of it as something close to being as dangerous as a fear that they have that is reflected in this film.

I don't necessarily disagree with any of the other theories fully, but all of them - except 4 - are only sometimes true; 1,2,3, and 5 do not work in every single film with every single kind of audience.

Bibliography

• Ayden, 2020. 13 Horror Movies For You To Watch on Halloween. [online] The Sportcodex. Available at: <https://thesportcodex.com/2020/10/29/13-horror-movies-for-you-to-watch-on-halloween/> [Accessed 29 Oct. 2021].