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Spooky season is upon us, and many people are watching their favorite horror films – but one of the ‘engineers of the thrill’ has revealed why some films are terrifying to the core.
A Middlesex University professor has found that horror films such as “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “American Psycho” were strategically created to tap into three primal fears.
These questions include “What happens to me when I die,” “Why do they want to hurt me, and what’s inside me?”
Professor Brendan Walker, who conducted the research, noted that at the heart of these fears lies our anxiety about the unknown.
“Whether it’s the uncertainty of the afterlife in The Haunting, the psychology of cold-blooded killers in films like American Psycho, the internal threats to our bodies hinted at in films like The Fly, or the fear of the unknown,” Walker said. The explainer feeds our fear responses.”
A Middlesex University professor has found that horror films like “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “American Psycho” were strategically created to tap into three primal fears.
What happens to me when I die?
Many people fear death because of the uncertainty surrounding what happens after we take our last breath.
Walker explained that this question can be broken down into the idea that people are concerned about what will happen to their bodies, minds, and spirits.
Humans then tend to ask themselves: “A place – outside the human world – where the dead (or part of them) reside?” Or can my body or consciousness exist in this world after death? Can I be undead (alive but not alive)? If there is an afterlife, what lives there? What powers might she have?
In Jorge Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, the dead rise again to walk the earth as zombies.
In Jorge Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, the dead rise again to walk the earth as zombies. The film plays on our fears that we will become carnivorous creatures once we die. This movie plays into the fear of “what happens when I die?”
The Haunting, directed by Robert Wise in 1963, also plays on this fear through the idea that the film focuses on a house haunted by ghosts that were once living people.
The film plays on our fears that we will become carnivorous creatures once we die.
“Reanimated bodies, but with some vestigial human features — in this case, flocking to the mall because ‘this was an important place in their lives,’” Walker said.
“They are us, but with something vital missing.” This appearance of being like us, but lacking, is what is frightening.
The Haunting, directed by Robert Wise in 1963, also plays on this fear through the idea that the film focuses on a house haunted by ghosts that were once living people.
“Ghosts scare us, again, because they are us, but they are missing something — not just a body, but an anchor to this world, to human life as we know it,” Walker said.
“Their arrival in a world beyond our own terrifies us because it is unknown what lurks there – all we know is that it is a life form that exists outside of us.”
Why do they want to hurt me?
In horror films, “they” could be a serial killer lurking around the corner, religious cults seeking the next sacrifice, or even the cocaine-fueled bears that are rampant in the United States.
Walker referenced this fear prompted by Tobe Hooper’s 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which follows a group of young travelers who fall victim to a family of cannibals.
The victims are chased throughout the farm by a man wearing human skin as a mask and carrying a chainsaw.
Walker referenced the “why would they want to kill me” fear evoked by Tobe Hooper in 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which follows a group of young travelers who fall victim to a family of cannibals.
“The director said it’s a movie about meat, and people are the meat,” Walker said.
“Murderers kill because they see other human beings as prey – their family unit lies outside traditional society and feeds on it.
“We are afraid of them because they see us the way we see animals.”
Another film that plays on this fear is Mary Harron’s 2000 film “American Psycho.”
In this cult classic, a wealthy New York City investment banker lives a double life as a serial killer.
Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) seems to fulfill all the requirements of a killer – lack of empathy, superficial charm, narcissism and impulsiveness.
He brings prostitutes and even colleagues to his apartment, where he kills them just for fun.
“The scientific term for pleasure is valence, which is defined as ‘pleasure tone.’ “Killing others for fun is part of our DNA,” Walker said.
“It has been shown that chimpanzees derive great thrill from hunting and carving other primates.
“It is very shocking because the concept of civilization is the only thing that prevents us all from enjoying such pleasures.”
What’s inside me?
This fear creates several conundrums in our thinking – Will this thing take over my body, or will I become a monster?
In John Carpenter’s 1982 film The Thing, a research team is hunted in Antarctica by a shape-shifting alien that takes the shape of its victims.
Fear of “what’s inside me” creates several conundrums in our thinking – Will this thing take over my body or will I become a monster? In John Carpenter’s 1982 film The Thing, a research team is hunted in Antarctica by a shape-shifting alien that takes the shape of its victims.
David Cronenberg’s 1986 film The Fly also evokes this fear. “A scientist’s experiment turned him into a hybrid between a human and a fly.” His body begins to change and mutate and then collapses.
The film’s main themes relate to paranoia and mistrust, raising fears of what might be inside viewers when they watch aliens taking over human bodies on the big screen.
David Cronenberg’s 1986 film The Fly also evokes this fear.
“One scientist’s experiment (played by Jeff Goldblum) turns him into a human/fly hybrid.” “His body starts changing and mutating and then breaking down,” Walker said.
“It embodies concerns about illness, disability and aging and also sees how change in our physical being can affect our minds.” The fear of a foreign body taking over our body is prevalent in many horror films, including The Thing.
“gerontology.” Fighting disease. Anti-dementia. Body modification procedures.
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