Why Do I Continue Watching These?

Last night before I went to bed I decided to watch a movie on Netflix. So I began looking through Netflix and came across a documentary called "Ghost Adventures". I love watching paranormal type films, but to be completely honest with you I get pretty freaked out after watching these movies. I have to sleep with some lights on and face towards the room because I am scared that I will be attacked or a ghost will find me. I then began thinking why the hell do I still watch these types of movies even though I get scared each and ever time. 

So I figured out why I continue to watch them. I found Psychologist Dr. Glenn D. Walters who identifies three primary factors of the horror film allure.

The first is tension – created through mystery, suspense, gore, terror, or shock. This is pretty straight forward elements of horror, the craft and technique of filmmaking.

The second factor is relevance. In order for a horror film to be seen, it has to be relevant to potential viewers. This relevance can take the form of universal relevance – capturing the universal fear of things like death and the unknown, it can take on cultural relevance dealing with societal issues. Audiences can find subgroup relevance – groups like teenagers which many horror films are about. Lastly, there’s personal relevance – either in a way that identifies with the protagonist or in a way that condemns the antagonists or victims to their ultimate fate.

The last factor, which may be the most counter intuitive is unrealism. Despite the graphic nature of recent horror films, we all know at some level that what we are watching is not real. Perhaps its because when we walk into a theater we know what we’re seeing on screen is fabricated reality. Movies are edited from multiple camera angles with soundtracks and sometimes horror is tempered. 

So I am now I am off to watch another scary movie alone in the dark! :)

2001

As this summer drew to a close I found myself going through my father's old record collection. I wasn't surprised by anything I found until I got to the bottom of the second box and found the soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey. I couldn't wait to listen to the soundtrack, but I had to wait until I got to school and set up my record player, seeing as how it had already been packed away. After the craze that was the first week back at school I found myself with some downtime, so I decided that it was finally time for me to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time after seeing the LP that I had packed away. I was struck by this movie. Each shot was perfectly composed, I found myself in awe of each new successive shot. The soundtrack impressed me just as much, every piece of music that was used drew upon all of the visual information and mood from the scene and amplified it perfectly. The most intense scene in the film was devoid of music, it was filled with the silence that is space. "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that." The absence of sound in that scene is what, for me at least, cemented it as one of the greatest scenes in film that I have ever seen. After the film finished, all I could think about was how glad I was that I stumbled across that record. If I hadn't, I would have most likely never taken the time to watch one of the greatest films.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARJ8cAGm6JE