Horror Movies

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate December 2001

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Horror Movies In Stephen Kings "Why We Crave Horror Movies,"� he says that our fascination with violence and horror "deliberately appeals to all that is the worst in us."� A horror films two main purposes are to heighten our worst fears, and to entertain and satisfy the mentally ill portion of a person mind. Tim Dirk's essay "Horror Films"� points out that "Horror movies deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality."� The first purpose of a horror movie was to heighten our fears. Fears that are already a part of us, but most of the time these fears a placed in the back of our mind. Recall getting ready to go out with friends to the new horror flick that just came out on the big screen? Everyone was excited about how the movie was to frighten the crap out of the audience, and wondering which person would be the lucky one with the wet chair at the end of the show.

The entertainment of being completely scared for two hours our out of lifetime can only be recognized by a mentally ill mind. That entertainment comes from wanting to defeat the mind and prove that we are not afraid. King said in his essay "that when we pay our money to the theater to view a horror show, we are daring the nightmare."� When a horror film is done correctly it can be extremely effective, tapping into a persons dream state and the unconscious horror of the unknown. For example, after watching a horror movie and then checking the back seat of your car indicates that the fear of a person coming over...