Why do we like horror movies?

Fear doesn't seem like a very pleasant emotion. So why do we watch horror films?

Another year in a few days it's Halloween again. Halloween. A celebration that is not typical of our country, but little by little it is gaining ground, maybe because it is a date for terror. a date marked for terror.

Throughout this week, television channels will begin to broadcast horror movies and specials, and on the night of the 31st we will be able to see people in costumes roaming the streets.

Scary movies: the disconcerting taste for horror

If one thing is clear, it is that a large sector of the population likes horror movies. But why do they come to like horror movies? why do we come to like horror movies? The sensations associated with fear are not usually associated with pleasure, but rather the opposite: fear is produced by a physiological response that appears when the chances of seeing our life threatened by some danger are relatively high and, therefore, we learn to avoid it. However, in movies people invest money and time in being exposed to situations that produce terror. Why does this happen?

Many may think that it is due to a lack of empathy or a sadism of the individual that is politically incorrect and that, once a year, it may come to light. However, there are theories that go beyond this view.

Zillman's theories about our preference for scary and sadistic movies

To give some answers, one can apply Zillman's theories theories of Zillman (1991a; 1991b; 1996), which talk about why we are attracted to why we are attracted to dramatic characters. If you've ever wondered how a genre devoted to exposing the suffering of others could ever be liked, the following explanation may satisfy your curiosity.

Dispositional Theory: the importance of "good" and "bad" characters.

Every fictional narrative includes a plot and characters. The aim of screenwriters with these two elements is, on the one hand, to articulate the plot in order to induce an aesthetic pleasure in the viewer, a "plot that engages". To do this, on the other hand, it is necessary to work on the characters, so that the viewer can put himself in their place and experience their adventures first-hand.. Therefore, contrary to what one might think, it is a process of empathy. empathy.

However, in every story there are protagonists and antagonists; and we do not empathize in the same way with one or the other. Moreover, the very context of events that surrounds the protagonist is undesirable for the viewer, i.e., no one would really like to live the same situations that happen in a horror movie, no one would really like to live the same situations that happen in a horror movie..

Empathy and compassion towards the characters we identify with.

Dispositional theory explains that after the first few scenes of watching the characters on screen, we make very quick moral assessments of "who is the good guy" y "who is the bad guy".. In this way, we assign roles to the plot and organize expectations of what will happen.. It is clear to us that misfortunes will begin to happen to the characters who are positively valued, thus generating compassion towards them and gaining empathy and identification. In this way, we act as "moral observers" throughout the film, assessing whether the "events are good or bad" and whether they happen to "good or bad people"; creating what is called "moral observers". affective dispositions.

We wish good characters well... and vice versa.

When we develop a positive affective disposition towards a character, we wish good things to happen to him or her and fear the anticipation of bad things happening to him or her. However, it also has a counterpart, since if the affective disposition generated is not positive, then the character will not be able to be affected.If the affective disposition generated is negative, it is expected that these negative acts developed by the character will have consequences.. That is to say, if we value positively, we expect the character to do well, while if negatively, we expect him to do badly. principle of justice.

In this sense, the attraction to these films is given by their resolution.. Throughout the minutes, expectations of "how the story of each character should end" are generated, so that when they are resolved, they give us pleasure. The end of the movies manages to satisfy the anguish generated by the expectations, fulfilling that ending we were waiting for.

Some examples: Scream, Carrie y The Last House on the Left

As examples, these two processes of affective and negative disposition are exploited in horror movies. In "Scream" the same protagonist is maintained throughout the sequels, maintaining empathy and a positive affective disposition toward her and the expectation that she will survive.

Another case is that of "Carrie", in which we develop such compassion that we do not judge the final scene as unfair. And there are also cases of the opposite process, as in "The Last House on the Left." where we produce a strong negative disposition towards the villains and wish for their misfortunes.a feeling of revenge that is indulged.

Transference theory of activation: explaining pleasure through fear

However, the dispositional theory does not explain why we like to feel discomfort by having expectations that are contrary to the valuation of the character. If we want good things to happen to that nice girl, why do we enjoy it when bad things happen to her? A lot of research reveals a principle of hedonic reversal in the valuation of dramatic characters: the more suffering is provoked in the viewer, the better his or her appraisal of the film..

The worse the protagonist suffers, the more we enjoy the film.

This is due to a physiologically based process that can be explained by the theory of the transfer of transfer theory of activation. This theory states that as events occur that are contrary to our expectations, empathic discomfort is generated and, in turn, a consequent physiological reaction. This reaction increases as the problems accumulate for the protagonist, while at the same time maintaining the hope of our initial expectations.

In this way, the difficulties that appear in the hero's path increase the discomfort we feel, and the fear that it will not have a happy ending. However, our hope for it remains. In this way we react to the anguish of the contrariness of both paths: we wish for good things to happen at the same time that only bad things happen. When the end is reached and the expectations are fulfilled, even though it is a positive emotional experience, we still maintain the physiological activation produced by the misfortunes, since their elimination is not immediate. This is how these "residues of excitement" are maintained during the denouement, increasing the pleasure of the ending.

There is something addictive about tension

Let's say that little by little, although we have the hope that it will end well, we get used to misfortunes happening, so that when we have a happy ending, that expectation fulfilled, we enjoy it more, because we were more predisposed to the opposite. It is a process of habituation to misfortunes that sensitizes us to successes. The greater the intensity of residual excitement prior to the outcome, the greater the pleasure it causes us. That is to say, the more tension appears in the moments before the end, the more we enjoy it..

How are horror movies and why do they get us hooked?

In this sense, we explain how horror movies are articulated. At the beginning there is a presentation of the characters, and the first victims do not interfere to a great extent in the course of events. There are a large number of films in which the protagonist discovers the corpses of his companions at the end, in the middle of the chase and achieving the climax of tension. Therefore, the tension is managed in a progressive way, increasing the climax of tension, the tension is managed in a progressive way, gradually increasing before the end of the film..

Characteristics of horror films

However, the above two theories are elaborated by Zillman to explain, especially, dramas, not horror films. However, both genres are close in their narrative, as both feature characters who have misfortunes befall them. Even so, there are there are traits peculiar to horror films that increase the effects of the above theories.

• Number of protagonists. Most horror films introduce us to a group of characters. In the beginning, any of them can be the protagonist, so our empathic activation is distributed among all of them. As the number decreases, our empathy increases towards those still remaining, thus progressively increasing empathic identification in parallel with physiological tension. In other words, at first we empathize less, but as characters disappear, our empathy for those who remain increases, intensifying the effect of dispositional theory..

• Horror narrative. Watching a horror movie already makes us doubt its ending. Many of them have a happy ending, but many others have a tragic ending. Therefore, in addition to the tension of expectation, there is also the uncertainty. Not knowing if it will have a happy ending, increases the tension and its physiological activation, as well as the pleasure after the end. Playing with the uncertainty of the ending is a feature of the "Saw" saga, in which the expectation of what each protagonist does and how it will affect the ending is maintained.

• Stereotypical characters. Many of the genre's plots resort to including stereotypical characters. The "dumb blonde", the "funny African-American", the "overbearing hunk" are some of them. If the film uses these stereotypes too much, we may empathize less with it, we may empathize less with them.. Moreover, if a well-crafted villain profile is added to this, we may empathize more with the antagonist and like that he survives in the end. This explains the great sequels, such as "Friday the 13th", in which the villain has a greater complexity than the protagonists and the story focuses on him.

• Setting. Unlike dramatic films, the setting in horror films predisposes to physiological activation. The sound, image, or context itself, are as important as the plot, since they serve to increase the effects produced by the film. they serve to increase the effects produced by the plot itself.. Moreover, these are elements that also influence expectations, because if it's a stormy night and the lights go out, something is bound to happen.

• Murder complexity. Being a horror movie, surely some character is going to die. With that predisposition, viewers expect to see death scenes that surprise us. Rather, we expect them to produce the physiological activation This may well be a drawback, as it makes the audience more demanding, but it also determines how, throughout the plot, each victim develops greater suffering; or in a different way from the previous one, so that we do not get used to it. There are several examples, such as in "Nightmare on Elm Street", in which when we see Freddy Krüeger appear, we are already scared because we do not know what will happen. The "Saw" saga or the famous "Seven" are also good examples of this.

Summarizing

Therefore, although it may seem to be due to a lack of empathy, the processes that lead to a passion for horror are quite the opposite..

An attempt is made to facilitate the process of empathyThe aim is to facilitate the process of empathy, to present a series of misfortunes and to play with the viewer's expectations of the outcome. I'm sorry to disappoint some readers, since you don't have a hidden sadist as you thought. Or, at least, not all of you. Happy Halloween to those who enjoy it.