Fear

‘Fear’

Why Do People Watch Horror?

Some people watch horror films for adrenaline and excitement, which is called ‘sensation-seeking’. Also some people wish to see the destruction found in horror films, and the satisfying resolution found at the end of the film.

Themes through the timeline of horror film

Common themes in horror films during the 1920s to 2000 are:• Monsters

• Masks/Masked Killers • Killers

• Paranormal/Supernatural Powers

Monsters • Some examples of monsters in horror films are Frankenstein (1931),

Hunch back of Notre Dame (1923) and Nosferatu (1922).

Masks were very common in horror films to hide the identity of the villain and it also makes the audience more curious and anxious of the characters in the film. For example in Scream, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Hannibal.

Masks

Killers in horror films sometimes have a motive but some just kill for fun, these killers either have a mental illness or just cant be helped. Psycho (1960) is a good film to put with this group because the villain doesn't’ have a motive for killing. Also the villain dresses up and pretends to be his mother showing that he is mentally un-stable.

Killers

Super Natural themes are becoming more common in new films. This could be because it scares the audience more as it is not seen as the norm and is its strange to the audience. Example’s of horror films that include a super natural story are Paranormal Activity (2009), Carrie (1976), The Fourth Kind and 13 Ghosts (1960).

Super Natural

From this we can see that the majority of horrors from the beginning of our timeline are mainly monster and killer based but as the years progressed, horror has moved more towards the masked and supernatural horrors. This could be because supernatural horrors such as paranormal activity appear to be more realistic which in turn will install more fear into the viewers. Also horrors with killers may have been easier to make in the past but as technology has advanced horror films with supernatural elements are not as difficult as they would have been.

To Conclude

Top 3 Best Selling Horror’s•The Sixth Sense (1999) $293.5

•Jaws (1975) $260

•The Exorcist (1973) $232.9

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In the 1970s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the most successful film ever (until Halloween) and made 36 million and only cost $83,532.