Movie News | Movies.com: I'll never forget it: I was nine years old, at a sleepover with a group of schoolmates, and one of the girls produced her older brother's VHS copy of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom from her pink Hello Kitty bag like so much contraband, to the tune of wide-eyed gasps and giggles. This being the film primarily responsible for birthing the PG-13 rating, we were woefully below the appropriate age for such viewing material - and we knew it. Tentatively, our young hostess popped the film into her tape player and we settled in to discover what all he fuss was about.
8 comments:
There is a book on scaring in a haunted house scenario, the title of which eludes me, and it teaches a simple practice to scaring known as the 90 degree rule. It has been a while since I have read the book so I apologize if I misspeak on anything but the summary of the rule is that when trying to scare someone you must get them to pass you (or what ever effect you are using to scare them) off as a threat. As soon as the victim convinces themselves that they are safe from you that is when they have doomed themselves. once they have passed you off as the threat then they begin to worry about what else might try and scare them. At this point in time all you have to do is move barely even a couple inches. Because they were convinced they were safe from you because they were convinced that you wouldn't do anything.
THIS IS ACCURATE! Thank you for this article! I have been afraid of scary movies my entire life and all of my friends don't understand why, they all find these movies funny or stupid but they scare me sh*tless (Apologies for my potty mouth, ha). When I watch a movie, I get really into it. I like to get into one of the character's mind and pretend I am them so I can go through their emotions. It's like an out of body experience where for a second I'm somebody else, living someone else's life, thinking someone else's thoughts, etc. I can't do scary movies because no matter how stupid they are, I become the victim and I get what they're are going through! And it's so true about serial killers and just psychopaths in general! Psychopaths are so interesting! I watch a lot of CSI, Bones, POI, etc. and I always think the best episodes are the ones where the killer is a psychopath or have some sort of abnormal psych. Psychology is so fascinating and I would love to take a class on it one day (except I don't think I would be very successful with writing the essays... that's actually the only thing keeping me from taking classes...it's kind of pathetic)
It is amazing how far horror movies or scary scenes can weave into a persons' mind and it is so true! it is really fascinating how these parts of our brains combine to create your reaction for different things. For example, the author commented on how reading fiction can help you separate reality and fake things and that can impact how you watch a horror film. But even then, jump scares and sudden occurrences cause us to become scared! Amazing!
The element in this article that stuck out the most to me the most was the use of juxtaposition because it’s a technique that I also love in literature. Haruki Murakami, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Yukio Mishima, and other magical realism authors perfectly juxtapose very absurd or impossible events against realistic scenarios or settings in order to better display a meaning or convey an emotion. For example, at the end of Marquez’s "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", Santiago Nassar is stabbed against the door of his home many times, yet after, he proceeds to gather his organs in his arms, brush some dirt off of them, and walk through a woman’s house. This extremely graphic, extremely impossible event happening in a realistic setting makes Santiago’s death even more tragic and impactful. In the same way, directors can make a murder (or any event) even more terrifying by giving the murderer an attitude that contrasts with the crime they are committing. It makes for a chilling and terrifying scene.
I don't know if I completely agree with the article. I think it missed a key aspect of horror movies, which is being afraid of what you cannot see. We learned how in comic books, there is a gap in between each picture frame, and our eyes/mind fill in those gaps with the in between. It's the same with movies, our minds fill in what we cannot see. In the clip of The Tingler, most of what we saw were people screaming at nothing. Our minds filled in what we could not see and told ourselves that there is something physically frightening. I personally think this gives off a better scare because we are not shown a physical being. I think our minds can create worse creatures than any makeup artist. The horror images that we subconsciously create in our minds will also be the scariest images to us since we know what actually frightens us. Even in Jaws, the music does play a huge role in making a horror movie, but again, the shark is mostly hidden underwater and it preys on unsuspecting vacationers and audiences. When we physically see the shark, I was a little disappointed because my mind had created a scarier image. I thought Becki's comment was very interesting in the way that she "pretends" she is the character. This says a lot about human identity, and starts the question, "Why do we always want to change our identity?" We see a lot of people pretending to be something they are not in life, and I'm wondering if this is because we get excited about change. Life can be repetitive and boring, but when we mix it up a bit, it becomes more interesting and more enjoyable. By both changing our identities and diving into unreal situations (the horror movie), our lives become more interesting and enjoyable.
I love this article and everything it has to say. Jump scares are my favorite types of scares because they catch you while you think you're safe, which to me, is the most terrifying of them all. Gore really doesn't scare me as much as gross me out. Furthermore, I do agree with the author when they said that the first scary movie you saw shaped you. That is completely accurate. For me, it was Alien, by accident, while trying to find PBS circa age 6. I thought it was really, and the act of the alien popping out of the guys stomach terrified me for weeks. I'm a huge horror movie lover because I like to push myself to the edge of what I can handle. To this day, I have never stopped a scary movie because I was terrified. It's a personal accomplishment that I am very proud of. Bring on the scary movies!
I love horror movies, but I'd never really thought about the scientific reason behind it. This article reinforces my immense respect for directors who make good horror films. The one thing from this article that I consciously register during movies is what the writer refers to as "The Theory of Mind". The strength of the characters is generally what makes or breaks a horror movie for me. This is why I think the TV show "American Horror Story" is so interesting. Revisiting horror in series form is brilliant because if it's well done, it allows for the creation and development of characters with more depth that what you may see in a 90-minute film.
I had a really simular experience with scary films when I was young. Just watching Spider-man in fourth gad gave me nightmares for a week.
Just like the article said, this can change though. Slowly I have been able to start seeing movies with gunshots and blood ( I used to not be able to see any movie with violence).
This is an interesting quote in my opinion: "The better your theory of mind, the more empathic you can be towards people, because you know what they're feeling. People who read a lot of fiction have a much stronger theory of mind… they obviously put themselves into understanding the characters, understanding what the characters will do next, and so on."
I really always didn't understand how people can watch horror movies. I just found them so disturbing. Maybe this explains it.
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