Well, it’s Halloween time again. Jack-o-lanterns are in the windows, fake cobwebs are strung over the doorframes and Paranormal Activity 3 is raking in big bucks at the Cineplex. So it only makes sense, I guess, to ask that age-old question: Why do people love to be frightened out of their wits by horror movies?
OK, OK, if you’re saying to yourself, “He’s crazy. I hate those things,” that’s fine. But even though horror films rarely make anybody’s top 25 list, somebody keeps coming back for more. (There were, what, like 57 Saw sequels?) So I thought I’d let you know what the experts think makes folks want to gasp and screech in our theater seats.
For the pure exciting thrill of it. Think of it as bungee jumping without leaving your comfy theater seat. An old WebMD article I saw quoted Glenn Sparks, a professor of communication at Purdue University, saying that a horror viewer’s physiological reactions to what’s on screen are very similar to real-world thrills. “When people watch horrific images, their heartbeat increases as much as 15 beats per minute,” Sparks said. “Their palms sweat, their skin temperature drops several degrees, their muscles tense, and their blood pressure spikes.” Sounds like the flu to me, but hey.
To relieve stress. Now this one might sound counter-intuitive since your muscles are knotting and your heartbeat is rising, but many experts say that it’s the euphoric sense of relief and “ahhh”-filled release at the end of a scary flick that makes the 90 minutes of pain all worth it. Especially when you know it was all just a movie. Alfred Hitchcock once said, “People like to be scared when they feel safe.”
As a cautionary tale. Some think that, psychologically, people are drawn to horror films because they serve a moral purpose—showing the fate of those who break the rules. Ever notice that all the taboo-flaunting folks are generally the one’s getting slashed or possessed by demons? “People seem to enjoy the violence in horror movies when it is directed against those they believe are deserving of such treatment,” Dr. Glenn D. Walters said in a Journal of Media Psychology paper. When characters don’t make it to the credits, it might be cinematic comeuppance for drug use or being a jerk or having a devil-worshipping witch as a grandmother.
To make your life seem better. How can you feel bad about bills, taxes and the fact that you’re driving an old junker when that gal on the screen is being dragged off by an invisible demon or chased by a flock of eye-poking birds?
For a date-night snuggle. Many have thought that the big movie house receptions of horror flicks are all about guys wanting to scare their pretty dates into a protective embrace. But, c’mon, guys aren’t that selfishly motivated … right?
We’re mentally ill.That’s how horror master Stephen King explains it all. We like to watch others be terrorized because it stirs up what he calls “anticivilization emotions.” We’re just flat-out nut cases with repressed homicidal feelings of our own.
There are probably many more theories, but I guess I’d better close there. Otherwise I might create a brand new reason to go to the horror flicks:
To watch all the thrill-seeking closet crazies looking for a good stress relief and a date-night snuggle.
Broohaha.
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