Why do people watch Horror?

Why do people enjoy watching Horror films?

People enjoy the Horror genre for different reasons. One is Catharsis, the idea of purging the mind of negative emotions by watching drama and violence to get rid of pent up feelings and aggression.  A simpler reason may just be human curiosity. People often find pleasure in being shocked and disturbed and morbid curiosity could drive peole to watch Horror films for this reason. 

One of the most common and likely reasons is the 'adrenaline rush' gained from watching these films. It enables people to face their fears without it being a reality. Watching Horror films awakens the fight or flight responses in our brains, giving us a rush of exhilaration and for many people this can be entertaining and leaves people feeling relieved when it's over. 

A lot of people watch Horror films because they relate with either the killer or the victims. People sometimes find pleasure in watching people get what they deserve and often in Horror films there are victims who's actions and behaviour is the cause of their deaths. For example, a young couple running into an abandoned building and ignoring all the warning signs outside. 

Some people simply enjoy the sensation of fear and excitement due to personality types. These people also seek the same experience from other activities in life such as skydiving, swimming with sharks and such. 

Movie Posters

Movie Posters

Posters for films are one of the ways of advertising, and therefore must convince audiences to watch the film. 

This poster for Skyfall is simple and minimalistic, not needing to show too much due to being part of an ongoing and already popular and famous series of films. The design captures the movie's characterist features and style however. 

Similar to the Skyfall poster, this one for Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows part 2 doesn't even need to include the film's title on the poster. The faces of the two famous and iconic characters is enough for fans of the previous movies and even those who may simply know of them to recognise the film. The words 'It all ends' at the bottom creates drama and those who have been following the films will be most affected by the poster, desperate to watch the final film. 

This horror poster for the movie 'Scream' uses greyscale and the image of a woman with her hand over her mouth. The caption at the top gives more of an insight into the film and its plot, as audiences will not necessarily be familiar with it. This sort of poster is for new, lesser known films that need to attract their audience and convince them to view it.

The Cabin in the Woods' poster uses the twisted, optical illusion of the cabin floating to appeal to its audience, creating a dramatic effect of tension and curiosity. This poster says less than the Scream poster, instead using the imagery to deliver its message. Both feature dark, dull and grey colour tones though, keeping a similar mood. 

I attempted to create my own poster roughly using Pixlr and an image taken fro Google. Keeping with the style, I made the colours dark and tried to use minimal text. I used a small, simple caption to add to the film's title and left the cast down the bottom in small text. 

Audience Survey

Audience Survey


To get a better understanding of what people look for and enjoy about horror films I shall create a survey and ask random people. My particular film is aimed at 16-30 year olds, and therefore I shall ask people from within that group. 

Q1- Do you enjoy horror films? (If answer is 'no', stop survey here)

Q2-What is it about horror films that you enjoy?

Q3-What is your favourite subgenre of horror?

• Paranormal
• Slasher
• Apocalypse
• Suspense/ Thriller
• Religious/ Satanic
• Sci-Fi
• Gothic
• Rampant Animals
• Splatter/ gorenography
• Erotic
• Dark Fantasy
• Comedy
• Supernatural

Q4-What sort of antagonist do you find the most terrifying?

Q5-What is your favourite Horror film of all time? 

Q6-In terms of camerawork, sound and editing what do you find to be the most effective?

I shall record the responses and upload a video of people's answers to the survey.