What Makes Horror Movies Scary

WHAT MAKES HORROR MOVIES SCARY Name: Institution:Date: Horror movie genre has increasingly increased its fanbase over the years and the directors have continually found ways to make their creative pieces scarier for maximum thrill of its audiences. A good horror movie will move the audience to the edge of their seats, make the hair on the back of their necks to stand, their hearts to pump faster or make them curl or close their eyes in fear. In some cases, they can be secretly be warning the characters not to ‘go in there’ and sympathize with some characters. For the sake of creating horror, horror movie directors and writers devote much time into figuring out new elements that could enhance the quality of their work to bring excitement and frightfulness. “Horror lovers” would perhaps feel disappointed while the horror is not scary enough to make to their expectations. As we come along with the conclusion of why people enjoy horror, I would like to explore what makes one horror is scarier than another in terms of techniques and themes in order to attract the audience. For such a long history of horror, either horror movie or story have greatly developed into new stages that are different from the earliest one in history. Many techniques that had not been invented in the past have huge impacts on forming the modern form of horror. In this essay, those techniques would be explored from different media and scholar studies. To examine what certain elements create better horror movies, it is essential for us to know what is the good horror and how do we define a good horror. According to the dictionary, Merriam-Webster, since 1828, the definition of horror represents painful and intense fear, dread or dismay; intense aversion or repugnance. Thus, the horror must create intense fear, so that it could make the audience feel extremely uncomfortable. Without the fear or the intensity, we could not say horror is qualified or it is good horror. In my word, I would define a good horror to be a media that would not only bring the audience an intense sense of fear but also leave the horror impression to the audience.[Merriam Webster Online Dictionary. n.d. Horror. Accessed April 19, 2019. -webster.com/dictionary/horror] Darkness and Scary places This is why most horror movies will be set up in poorly lit areas or in tunnels, basements which are naturally dark. In some cases, the directors ‘causes’ the lights to malfunction by either strike of lighting or batteries dying in the middle of pursuit or escape of the enemy which in most cases is a disfigured being out to kill in the most gruesome way possible. The lighting makes the audience sympathize and fear for the safety of the character. With poor visibility, comes less certainty of our environment and therefore anxiety and fear for our lives. As humans, we have come to heavily rely on our sight to make sense of our environment and darkness robs us that ability. When we are in darkness, there is a natural discomfort that comes with it and to some people fear. Movie directors use this natural disposition of our abhorrence for darkness to make some scenes scary. The directors try to trick the brains of the audience into relating to the setting and or a scene. Movie directors tend to me...