Horror films Are they're hidden messages?

The real question still is:

Why do people enjoy watching others in pain and suffering.
whether
Real or imagined... WHY?
Exactly what is it about pain/suffering/blood etc that you find entertaining?

When your child falls and cuts himself, do you get some kind of thrill/high?
Do you find his cries entertaining?
Do you let him cry for a while just so you can revel in his pain?

I really have to wonder about you people who call this entertainment.

Originally posted by OhZoneWhy do people enjoy watching others in pain and suffering.

Dunno...some of us just do. Always have. Maybe its genetic? Why do people like roller coasters? The adrenaline rush. Well sometimes its the adrenaline rush, sometimes the characters are simply rather attractive.

At least horror films are harmless entertainment, the people that make them enjoy their work; no one is victimized. If you want to stop real life cruelty and dysfunction there are many things that would need to be addressed, and horror films are way way down on that list.

Why do you feel the need to condemn others for enjoying harmless entertainment? Because you find it offensive? I find many many things offensive, but if they do not directly lead to real life cruelty I just ignore them.

Originally posted by billyjoinedat2k8
i've wanted to post this for a long time now but i never really got round to it until now obviously but i've been thinking about this a lot lately about horror films like scream and the rest and i think that theres just no need for them to be honest

1. because they promote death
2. it makes sick people out there do the things they do
3. its the cause i think of a lot of crime e.g. knife crime which is really now high in england

and i was talking to one of my friends a while ago and he just rented a horrow film the day before and he was telling me about how someones throat got slit and theyre was blood everywhere and he had a smile on his face and it kinda freaked me out to be honest.

oh and in case anyone hasnt noticed im not exacly a fan of horror films mainly because im not a fan of people dying a horrible death and then watching it i personally think its terrifying and i think the world would be a beter place without horror films.

plz tell me what you think whether you like the horror films or not.

thank you for reading my post.

[edit on 4/20/2008 by billyjoinedat2k8]

the japanese cinema is 10 times worse, and they don't have 1/10th the murders we do... it's just this american culture that that turns sick fantasy into sick reality

Originally posted by OhZone

The real question still is:

Why do people enjoy watching others in pain and suffering.
whether
Real or imagined... WHY?
Exactly what is it about pain/suffering/blood etc that you find entertaining?

When your child falls and cuts himself, do you get some kind of thrill/high?
Do you find his cries entertaining?
Do you let him cry for a while just so you can revel in his pain?

I really have to wonder about you people who call this entertainment.

Now thats just silly! Of course i'm not gonna laugh or enjoy watching my child fall or cut herself. But I do find horror films entertaining. Along with Boxing. Which can also be quite violent for that matter. Its just part of life. As it has been for many many years!

I dislike horror films, not because i think they're dangerous, just because i think they're boring and pointless. Some people find them entertaining and so i support their existence as entertainment, but i just don't like them, never have, oh well. I have to defend the people who watch them though and even the media itself.

Firstly research into why people like horror films has found they're a lot like rolloercoasters, the same mentality prevails. Being made to feel scared in a controlled circumstance induces certain chemicals to be released and a nice feeling occurs.

Originally posted by billyjoinedat2k8
1. because they promote death

I'm not sure they promote it, a common theme of horror films is the culprit being caught in the endor getting what comes to them. In comical horror (the chucky movies) it's different, however people think it's fun and i know plenty of people who watched those movies and never went and murdered anyone.

Originally posted by billyjoinedat2k8
2. it makes sick people out there do the things they do

What a load of old rubbish, i've watched these movies when a friends put one on, yet i never felt the need to go and murder anyone. The people who kill others do watch these movies, however the reason they watch them is because they already have that sick kind of mind that loves death and wants the real thing. Them waching the movies is merely a coincidence, violent people will be attracted to violent mediums. However many normal people watch them as well.

Originally posted by billyjoinedat2k8
3. its the cause i think of a lot of crime e.g. knife crime which is really now high in england

You really are falling in line with the propoganda of activist groups. These groups start simply because they dislike the films and then try and tie them in with anything violent they can. There are many reasons for knife crime, not one single thing is the cause. Again, the violent people will be attracted to violent mediums, that spans music, films and pornography.


[edit on 4-7-2008 by ImaginaryReality1984]

[edit on 4-7-2008 by ImaginaryReality1984]

I'm not saying ban horror films.
I'm not saying they influence folks to imitate them.
I am asking what thought processes are responsible for their joy at watching them.

When they see the representation of terror and death. What is happening inside their minds?

Likewise - if they were in such real situation - what would be going on inside them. Would the fear give them the same adrenalin rush?

If they came upon a horrific traffic accident and there were people in cars bleeding and screaming - what happens inside them? Do they enjoy the same rush even momentarily?

Do they identify with the perpetrator or the victim? or perhaps a possible victim in the same scene?

Have any of you suffered traumatic fear or injury such as you enjoy watching happen to others?

It doesn't matter whether it is real or imaginary. How do you react to some of those horrific scenes of mutilated humans from the war? If you were not told that they were real, and they were dubbed into a horror films would you still enjoy it? It seems to me that if your answer is yes, that you would really get a big thrill being up close and personal in the situation.

reply to post by OhZone


when there is a accident why do most people instinctively gather around to watch it? Because of curiosity.

Most people like to picture themselves in the realities depicted by movies/games/books , and think how they would act in the presented situation.


[edit on 4-7-2008 by dracodie]

Originally posted by OhZone
When they see the representation of terror and death. What is happening inside their minds?

Likewise - if they were in such real situation - what would be going on inside them. Would the fear give them the same adrenalin rush?

Well quite simply yes, and that's all human beings. It's called fight or flight. As i explained in my last post, it's just like a roller coaster. You are being scared, undercircumstances you know are safe and most people enjoy such a circumstance. However some people do it in different ways, for some it's climbing cliffs, others it's sky diving and some people it's horror movies.

Originally posted by OhZone
If they came upon a horrific traffic accident and there were people in cars bleeding and screaming - what happens inside them? Do they enjoy the same rush even momentarily?

I am sure we'd all get the rush of adrenaline, we wouldn't think to enjoy it though. Any person who does isn't a normal person, however most people who watch horror films are quite normal.

Originally posted by OhZone
Do they identify with the perpetrator or the victim? or perhaps a possible victim in the same scene?

Have any of you suffered traumatic fear or injury such as you enjoy watching happen to others?

I doubt they identify with anyone, thats like saying i identify with Rambo in his films. I don't enjoy horror movies at all, i just find them boring and pointless, however yes i've suffered physical assaults, attacked with a bat and cracked a couple of my ribs. However i could still watch a horror movie with someone being hit with a bat and not even flinch, my own situation woudln't enter my mind.

I don't like horror movies though, just really never found them stimulating.

Originally posted by OhZone
It doesn't matter whether it is real or imaginary. How do you react to some of those horrific scenes of mutilated humans from the war? If you were not told that they were real, and they were dubbed into a horror films would you still enjoy it? It seems to me that if your answer is yes, that you would really get a big thrill being up close and personal in the situation.

I react with horror to real events, those that are fake are fake in my mind and so not the same. If someone showed a real scene and said it was fake then i'm sure i'd react differently as the cut off in my mind and i'm sure many otehrs is that it's fake. You have to understand the importance of that cut off because it's what the majority have and so horror films don't influence them. Those without that cut off are the dangerous people who enjoy horror movies on a very different level.

EDIT

Importantly this is why children under a certain age should not see horror movies, i don't think the switch in their head is fully developed and so it could cause harm.

[edit on 4-7-2008 by ImaginaryReality1984]

Well please explain to me why people like football? Cause I just don't get it at ALL, yet apparently plenty seem to love it.

Regarding horror vs. real gore pix, they are both popular, though granted horror is more common. The net abounds with gore pics of accident victims, crime victims, deformed babies, etc...

In fact our boys in Iraq take a lot of trophy pix of the most gruesome variety (though not of Americans, they don't want pix of their own dead being passed around). They actually DO know what its like because they were there at the scene clicking away (personally I realize some of those scenes would be nasty in ways that go beyond visual, and I suspect I would be really grossed out). I recall one soldier sending me pix showing the remains of a suicide bomber over IM...when I did not react with shock he got freaked out. Sheesh HE was the one that took the pics and shared them yet *I* was weird for not acting shock in a suitable way (I didn't say "cool", I just made some comment about the guys age or something, instead of focusing on the fact the pix was of half his decapitated head).


[edit on 4-7-2008 by Sonya610]

Text PurpleHi,i love horror movies.....Who doesnt?

But with saying that i get really freaked out when the HORROR story are based on a TRUE STORY,like WOLFCREEK,THE AMITYVILLE HORROR(and others but i just cant think of them right now).
That freaks me out to know that their is really that kind of sick people out there.

Wonder why someone would want to take the life of other people(especially if they dont know the victim,like serial killers,wonder what makes them tick?

reply to post by Sonya610


Actually that's quite understandable, the difference between a picture and an actual situation is quite clear. Take an anatomy class in a medical school for example. I'm willing to bet if you took someone who has seen all sorts of horror movies into one of those classes, their reactions would be quite different. I'm not saying all would react the same just the majoirty, ti's different when you have it in front of you happening.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984


Of course, it is desensitization. People can get desensitized to pix, put the real thing in front of them and they will get desensitized to that as well especially if it is a non-threatening situation, such as a morgue or a lab.

I would bet hard core gore fans would probably adjust sooner than most because they are already used to the visual aspect. When I look at graphic r/l pix I look past the gore and wonder about the person in real life, wonder how they looked before and think "wow...who would think they could end up like that". They were living breathing thinking individuals before they got messed up.

But I also get irked at bad, unreleastic depictions, such as the "throat cutting" scenes in so many movies. They make a shallow cut and the person drops so quick, what b.s.

Movies - people complain how they are too graphic and scary. Then don't go and see them. See another movie and let those who want to see them go and see them.

Who made that great thread? I don't know.

reply to post by enjoies05


Well I have petitioned GoreHound to start a new thread regarding the best horror/gore flicks.

There is so much trash out there, a thread to point out the good movies would be wonderful. I hate renting movies and then abandoning them half way through...but many are not worth watching.

reply to post by Sonya610


That'd be cool.

And also, even with blood and gore, horror films can still be beautiful, like Suspiria. The way it's filmed, the colors, even the murder scenes. But I understand some people still wouldn't like it. That's fine.

Originally posted by enjoies05 But I understand some people still wouldn't like it. That's fine.

Thats why we need our own thread devoted to horror films, to discuss the best films and the beauty in those films. : )

reply to post by billyjoinedat2k8

I hate, hate movies like SAW or hostel, but I love fast-paced zombie shoot 'em up's

reply to post by billyjoinedat2k8


Yes, I am a very violent person because of violent movies. I give them credit for my violent tenancies. If I was born a hundred years ago, I would blame my violence issues on life.

Not all Horror films are bad. The huge asian market of Japanese, Korean, Chinese and even Thai horror films are 99% about morality and justice. rent any of those films and you'll see that its the ghost who was once a victim come back for revenge and exact justice. I watched most of them and its pretty much the same theme over and over. I like them. The slasher sub genre is more violent than scary. Hollywood like to use chasing -running -screaming -Killing & slashing to scare rather than mysterious and supernatural ghost creeping up to u in the dark.

I don't think real life serial killers need movies to motivate them to do murder.

Originally posted by dedalive
Horror films are great. I honestly can't think of any example of a crime that was emulating something out of a horror movie. Not saying there aren't any.. just saying I don't figure it's too common. I can see where you're going with the violence thing too, but I think most reasonable people take the films for what they are. Personally, I despise romance movies, and I think they give false expectations of relationships that can lead to broken hearts and possibly suicide. They should be banned, everywhere. Forever.

In England a few years ago, a toddler was murdered by two ten year old boys. Afterwards they said they wanted to act out the "chucky" films. Which unfortunately, they did.

Dont be so quick to rule out the massive influence that films can have over some people.