Theory About Horror Films Popularity

 Why do people enjoy watching horror films, and why is it that this an important question to ask? The main aim of horror films are to shock, frighten, disgust and horrify the audience using a range of audio and visual tools including a reference to what we consider the abnormal and the supernatural, using mutilation, gore, blood, through the infliction of pain, death.

Horror films use these characteristics to then distinguish the genre from the similar genre of thriller or psychological thriller (Hanich, 2011). Thrillers are aimed to create terror and suspense, however the creation of these emotions are based not on the images of mutilation, gore, or the supernatural but using more natural human devices. These boundaries, however, can cause confusion and be somewhat fuzzy. If these features were to be utilized in the creation of a thriller film, they would not be considered the principal focus of the film but are accidental in it (for example; in Reservoir Dogs the ear-cutting scene, which is brutal and shows a lot of blood but is contained within a film setting, which leads it to be classed as a non-horror theme). Resolution of suspense and suspense itself are two very important parts that make up horror and our response to horror film. The build up to threat is known as suspense, the tension that is created prior to a demonstration of the films threat, and then the elimination of threat. It is defined as “acute, fearful apprehension about deplorable events that threatens liked protagonists” and “an experience of uncertainty whose hedonic properties can vary from noxious to pleasant” (Zillmann, 1996, p. 108). Tension made during suspense can occur from the events, which encourage conflict and instability throughout the plot (Lehne and Koelsch, 2015). One theory of horror enjoyment, according to Zillmann’s (1980, 1996) argues that we take our enjoyment of horror film from the feeling of suspense that the movie creates (this theory also could explain the enjoyment of a non-horror film, which includes a lack of suspense). As a threat is solved, our reaction changes to euphoria. 

The most important takeaway of the theory is that joy to the viewers is measured from the build up it creates during the exposure to the film due to the level of negative reaction that comes as a result of the resolution of the threat. If a resolution does not happen, a negative affect will create heightened dysphoria in the audience. If there is little to no suspense that occurs but is instead replaced with certainty about what is going to happen, the response is commonly replaced by dread (Oliver, 1993a,b). The study found that the liking of a film increased significantly as we saw suspense increase. Enjoyment was especially great when the threat was seen to be overcome.