The audiences own identification with FEARS or TERRORS of the narrative
WHY ARE THEY SO SCARY?
-FEAR of the OTHER/MONSTER in the DARKNESS
-Fear of the BODY BEING RIPPED/MUTILATED
-Our own personal boundaries being transgressed
People watch horror films due to the fact that the EMERGENCE OF TERROR at any level can be enjoyed from a SAFE/VICARIOUS DISTANCE.
IDEOLOGICAL
-The IMPLICIT (hidden) or EXPLICIT (obvious) messages embedded within the narrative
-Themes of PUNISHMENT, REJECTION or REVULSION at the subjects which deviate from ‘correct’ thinking
-From SIMPLISTIC or BASIC MESSAGES (the virgin ‘good’ girl surviving at the expense of the rebellious ‘slutty’ friend) to the more nuanced or subtle fears of the strangers/ hitchhikers breaking our boundaries
Or the condemnation of any deviant (i.e. non-chirstian) religious
Our perception that the POWER OF SCIENC CAN DEFEAT the DARKNESS that the expense of the older beliefs in religion and superstition
-In our modern understanding of fear, we rationalise the supernatural and defeat it with psychology rather than Latin chants
-Modern media creates ‘demon’ by crusading against sections of society and labelling them
Are there really so many more paedophiles today than in the past?
How many escaped mental patients have actually stalked and killed innocents
INDUSTRIAL / FINANCIAL
-Perhaps the most lucrative genre in the film industry HORROR draws in huge audiences justifying the continual re-invention, re-making and franchising of every successful HORROR product
-We wonder at whether there should be an Indiana Jones 4 or a lethal weapon , but no questions are raised over the legitimacy of producing saw 6 or re-making A nightmare on elm street after 9 previous incarnations
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