Horror not ‘scary’ most of the time?

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I watch a lot of horror. I’ve probably seen most of what the genre has to offer, save for some obscure Asian films (but I’m working on it). Recently I’ve caught myself thinking I very rarely feel disturbed or ‘scared’ by horror films. It is true that one becomes desensitised, but I think that’s not the whole story. The gorier it gets (or, in psychological horror, the closer we are to the climax), the more I anticipate the payoff, and of course, if something is truly sudden, I might flinch (though I don’t recall that happening in a while). But I’ve started to wonder if anyone actually feels anything close to stress stimuli from horror, or is it just Adrenalin? I feel like gore occasionally elicits disgust, we feel more sympathy for the characters, the greater the peril (if it’s competently done, of course), but does mental stress ever really come in?



First off, what one finds scary is very subjective. So while one movie or moment might be scary to some, it can be hilarious or just do nothing to another. But I think we all have some kind of deep fear and it’s not always easy for a movie to bring that out for us unless that fear us something as simple as “being scared of the dark” for example.

Also - but you probably know that - horror doesn’t have to be scary. Of course it’s good when it can be, but the horror genre is often misunderstood by many who feel like they have to walk away from a horror film having been scared for it to be a great horror film. That’s simply not the case. And i would partly also refer once again to the above paragraph, for example.

As for me, I very rarely am scared from horror anymore. I do feel on the edge of my seat sometimes. But not scared. I wouldn’t even call it rare. I would be close to calling it never. However, when I watched It Follows in the cinema I was completely shocked to see that I could still be scared from a movie. And that might have been “my moment” as I talked about in the first paragraph. That there was some kind of deeper fear I did not know about and that this movie somehow found that and presented the moment perfectly.

The moment was when that big tall guy just came out of nowhere from the dark in the hallway. I hadn’t seen the trailer so the moment came out of nowhere. I felt a genuine shock wave go through me and a short burst of what I think must’ve been real fear. A couple of seconds later it was all fine though, but right in the moment I felt what I think a lot of horror fanatics search for or at least wonder about.



I think that a fair part of it is just each person's disposition. When watching films I just don't have much of a startle reflex. However, I do know several people who either have a strong startle reflex (and so are genuinely scared by jump scares or sudden violence) or people who are very sensitive about suspense/danger/spooky stuff. Some of them to the point that they actually don't enjoy horror sometimes because it's too intense and ventures into an uncomfortable level of unease.

Sometimes I think I'd enjoy horror a little more if my brain allowed itself to be more emotional while watching them. I'm a very emotional person and I watch movies with my heart more than my head, but when it comes to horror my analytical, "detached observer" part takes over. I don't know if that's a subconscious defense mechanism or if it's that I like horror so much that I can't help analyzing them as I watch.

I agree with you that the feeling I feel while watching horror is suspense and not "scared." Only one film ever scared me genuinely, and that was when I watched Black Christmas late at night while home alone and in a weird mood.

On the other hand, it annoys me when people say that a horror movie "wasn't even scary". Horror comes in all forms and plenty of horror movies aren't scary to me, per se, but are still pretty great.



First off, what one finds scary is very subjective. So while one movie or moment might be scary to some, it can be hilarious or just do nothing to another. But I think we all have some kind of deep fear and it’s not always easy for a movie to bring that out for us unless that fear us something as simple as “being scared of the dark” for example.
I agree that a sensation of fear is usually to do with the film (or experience) tapping into hidden trauma or phobia.

Also - but you probably know that - horror doesn’t have to be scary. Of course it’s good when it can be, but the horror genre is often misunderstood by many who feel like they have to walk away from a horror film having been scared for it to be a great horror film. That’s simply not the case. And i would partly also refer once again to the above paragraph, for example.
Sure, and I’m not saying one must feel scared whenever one watches a horror film. But that’s precisely what I was wondering about, whether the fear experience actually comes into it in a recognisable way.

As for me, I very rarely am scared from horror anymore. I do feel on the edge of my seat sometimes. But not scared. I wouldn’t even call it rare. I would be close to calling it never. However, when I watched It Follows in the cinema I was completely shocked to see that I could still be scared from a movie. And that might have been “my moment” as I talked about in the first paragraph. That there was some kind of deeper fear I did not know about and that this movie somehow found that and presented the moment perfectly.

The moment was when that big tall guy just came out of nowhere from the dark in the hallway. I hadn’t seen the trailer so the moment came out of nowhere. I felt a genuine shock wave go through me and a short burst of what I think must’ve been real fear. A couple of seconds later it was all fine though, but right in the moment I felt what I think a lot of horror fanatics search for or at least wonder about.
I see what you mean. It’s kind of mystical in the best sense of the word. I haven’t felt anything like that in a really long time, but that sounds about right. I think even ‘shocked’ is not exactly the same. My most recent ‘shocked’ moment was with Hereditary when
WARNING: spoilers below
Charlie’s head came off
, but it still wasn’t anything like what you’re describing. I mostly thought, ‘Wow, we’re only about fifteen minutes in!’. It is definitely personal. For some reason, I used to always find Inland Empire extremely creepy. Wouldn’t call that emotion ‘fear’ either, but there’s a scene where Laura Dern’s Nikki is filming a scene with Justin Theroux’s Devon, and she forgets they’re filming during the take. She says something like, ‘God, that sounds like we’re rehearsing’, and the director becomes really confused and annoyed. I’ve always found that scene distressing, though I can never explain why, and nothing about Inland Empire is ‘scary’, technically speaking.



I think that a fair part of it is just each person's disposition. When watching films I just don't have much of a startle reflex. However, I do know several people who either have a strong startle reflex (and so are genuinely scared by jump scares or sudden violence) or people who are very sensitive about suspense/danger/spooky stuff. Some of them to the point that they actually don't enjoy horror sometimes because it's too intense and ventures into an uncomfortable level of unease.
That’s a really good point. I don’t have one either, but my mother does, and she always reacts strongly to films.

Sometimes I think I'd enjoy horror a little more if my brain allowed itself to be more emotional while watching them. I'm a very emotional person and I watch movies with my heart more than my head, but when it comes to horror my analytical, "detached observer" part takes over. I don't know if that's a subconscious defense mechanism or if it's that I like horror so much that I can't help analyzing them as I watch.
I’m not emotional, I’d say (or rather, I shut in and process everything internally). But horror does invite a kind of analytical detachment for some reason. Probably because it’s the official meta-genre by now. Good to know it’s not just me.

I agree with you that the feeling I feel while watching horror is suspense and not "scared." Only one film ever scared me genuinely, and that was when I watched Black Christmas late at night while home alone and in a weird mood.

On the other hand, it annoys me when people say that a horror movie "wasn't even scary". Horror comes in all forms and plenty of horror movies aren't scary to me, per se, but are still pretty great.
Of course, that’s reductive and extremely narrow-minded. I think most great horror films can function equally well as suspense films/thrillers without tapping into the fear factor.

I need to watch Black Christmas again at some point.



I watch a lot of horror...I’ve started to wonder if anyone actually feels anything close to stress stimuli from horror, or is it just Adrenalin? I feel like gore occasionally elicits disgust...but does mental stress ever really come in?
Good topic! I've been thinking about this too. Specifically I wonder about what emotions does intense horror/slasher films elicit in people?

You mentioned stress, and stress & anxiety is what I feel when I watch innocent victims being tortured/killed in a horror film. Personally I hate feeling that stress and anxiety that's why I don't like horror...BUT I wonder if fans of horror actually enjoy those feeling of stress and anxiety?

I'd be really interested in hearing from horror fans on this topic.



Good topic! I've been thinking about this too. Specifically I wonder about what emotions does intense horror/slasher films elicit in people?
This might be a better question to ask.

You mentioned stress, and stress & anxiety is what I feel when I watch innocent victims being tortured/killed in a horror film. Personally I hate feeling that stress and anxiety that's why I don't like horror...BUT I wonder if fans of horror actually enjoy those feeling of stress and anxiety?

I'd be really interested in hearing from horror fans on this topic.
I have a much older family friend who did say to me once that he watches horror to feel ‘life isn’t that terrible’ by comparison. It has stuck with me. But I’m reluctant to take that as the typical horror fan experience, and I definitely don’t feel that way.



Personally I hate feeling that stress and anxiety that's why I don't like horror...BUT I wonder if fans of horror actually enjoy those feeling of stress and anxiety?

I'd be really interested in hearing from horror fans on this topic.
I can't put all of horror into one box, because it is an incredibly diverse genre. There are horror films that I love because of their set design or because of their creature effects.

But there is a certain type of horror movie that I do love for the emotions that it evokes in me. I would say that stress and anxiety are half of the equation, but the other half is the explosive resolution of those negative emotions.

I'm fully guilty of strongly preferring "happy ending" horror movies--the ones where at the end the bad guy takes a machete to the head. For me the journey through the film brings about a kind of catharsis: you feel scared in the moment, and there may be casualties along the way, but you can survive a bad situation. It's an emotional arc that makes me feel good.

It's not so much a literal comparison of my circumstances to the ones in the film ("at least I'm not being chased by an axe-wielding maniac--I'm just a little depressed!") as it is seeing an allegorical representation of a bad situation and bonding with a main character who perseveres through it.

Everyone has a different level of "pleasurable stress". For example, I actually get too stressed out by something like a rollercoaster. I really do not like the sensation of moving fast. It is not a pleasurable stress for me. For some people I think that horror films produce the "just right" level of stress.



I've seen uncountable horror movies and have to admit that scares have been rare since I reached adulthood. So, why? Well, for me, horror movies work because it reminds me that there are worse things than real life, like supernatural demons, machete killers, giant spiders, werewolves, or whatever.

The closer a horror movie gets to reality, the more likely I am to turn it off. There's enough real crap that I don't need movies about that, but monsters and demons are no real threat, so I enjoy the cheap thrill that comes along with a threat that doesn't really exist.



The closer a horror movie gets to reality, the more likely I am to turn it off. There's enough real crap that I don't need movies about that, but monsters and demons are no real threat, so I enjoy the cheap thrill that comes along with a threat that doesn't really exist.
I had that feeling from An American Crime (2007) with Catherine Keener. It’s not a good film, but it did feel ‘real’ for what that’s worth.



I've watched horror movies almost all my life and I can honestly say I watch them because I enjoy them, but they don't scare me. I've mentioned it on the site a number of times but the only films to have ever scared me are The Entity when I was about 9 (and I still think about that film sometimes even though I've not seen it in at least 20 years) and Pinocchio, which I didn't finish watching because I was too scared and still don't want to watch.

TBH, I don't think many people who love horror films actually find them scary and, for many of them, I don't think it's because they've been desensitised so much as, like me, they get something else from it. For me, there's something comforting about many horror film, but especially from the 70's and 80's. Nostalgia definitely plays it part for me.
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I've watched horror movies almost all my life and I can honestly say I watch them because I enjoy them, but they don't scare me. I've mentioned it on the site a number of times but the only films to have ever scared me are The Entity when I was about 9 (and I still think about that film sometimes even though I've not seen it in at least 20 years) and Pinocchio, which I didn't finish watching because I was too scared and still don't want to watch.

TBH, I don't think many people who love horror films actually find them scary and, for many of them, I don't think it's because they've been desensitised so much as, like me, they get something else from it. For me, there's something comforting about many horror film, but especially from the 70's and 80's. Nostalgia definitely plays it part for me.
Fair enough. A really interesting read, thanks for sharing, @honeykid. Horror is my favourite genre, but it’s more of an accident; I tend to find tropes and plot lines that I enjoy in horror films more than other genres. I almost think if it was called something else - ‘speculative thriller’? - and contained most of the same elements, it would be easier to discuss at times. The Entity has aged really well.



Yeah personally I've found that a lot of horror from 2000 to today, are just all jump-scares and boo-frights... monsters and stuff, shown on screen immediately, or even in the trailers.

Look at the 70s, 80s, 1990s... all jump scare movies and slashers did well. And there was a lot of them too compared to only a handful of psychological stuff.

It's no different today. Jump-scares sell tickets...
Psychological stuff tends to get forgotten about, regardless of reviews... Babadook, Don't Breathe (underrated), The Lighthouse...
The psychological stuff didn't fair quite as well in terms of ticket sales and a lot of what's revered today, was panned at the time like The Shining, The Exorcist, The Thing.

The most successful movies though tend to be based on jump-scares...

The first Paranormal Activity was ok... the rest were all just jump scares.
All of the Conjuring Universe is slow camera pans, followed by......... jump scares.
All of the Insidious Universe is slow camera pans, followed by......... jump scares.
IT Chapter 2 went for more jumps scares. Instantly made it less interesting than the first part.

Instantly forgettable A Quiet Place did too. It started ok, then went jump-scares at the end.
I say "instantly forgettable" because I was looking forward to this movie before it was released... and just now, I had to Google it to remember what it was called.
Judging by the trailers the sequel is looking to be all jump scares as well.
It'll make a killing at the box office no doubt... because jump-scares.

You have to remember as well that most of the cinematic audience, the ones who buy the tickets... made the Transformers movies a success so it's gonna be tough to get them to watch The Thing or The Shining, when they have another Jason Voorhees or Godzilla movie to occasionally squeal at.



Love horror but for me they've not really been scary since I was a kid and I put that down to whether or not they get my imagination going into hyperdrive or not. When I was a single-digit entity the proper edition of The War Of The Worlds made me scared of an eye-tentacle coming into my bedroom at night for weeks - and that wasn't even a horror movie per se. Sadly as an adult I just don't seem to have that same fertile imagination so whilst I still adore a decent atmosphere, love tension/suspense, enjoy buckets of gore and even react to the occasional jump scare (when done well) I can't say I find any movies scary any more. Doesn't mean to say I can't and don't enjoy the heck out of them though



... When I was a single-digit entity the proper edition of The War Of The Worlds made me scared of an eye-tentacle coming into my bedroom at night for weeks...
Spielberg's movie wasn't that scary was it?



This is a really good topic.


For me the story is important in any genre. So if a horror movie, which is traditionally expected to scare you, doesn't scare me but provides me a well made story, then I am still content.


The other emotion would be discomfort, something which I felt while watching The Witch. But the most uncomfortable and scared I felt was while watching a movie called Jagten The Hunt and it is not a horror movie, but as someone who likes kids it made me scared as hell to the point that I keep a distant from children cause you never know when your harmless kindness towards a child might be perceived in the wrong manner.




On a side note, a recommendation to @AgrippinaX if you are looking for new and good horror movies to watch.




Trailer has English subs.



Spielberg's movie wasn't that scary was it?
I’m pretty sure we’re talking about the old version, the 1953 film. I think it was more horror-leaning than the 2005 Spielberg version, but as everyone has said here, I agree it’s subjective.



I’m pretty sure we’re talking about the old version, the 1953 film. I think it was more horror-leaning than the 2005 Spielberg version, but as everyone has said here, I agree it’s subjective.
He knows, he's just tryna yank a chain .... all I got though was how youthful he obviously still thinks I am



. But the most uncomfortable and scared I felt was while watching a movie called Jagten The Hunt and it is not a horror movie, but as someone who likes kids it made me scared as hell to the point that I keep a distant from children cause you never know when your harmless kindness towards a child might be perceived in the wrong manner.
As a teacher, Jagten was a straight up horror movie. I couldn't even finish it.



This is a really good topic.


For me the story is important in any genre. So if a horror movie, which is traditionally expected to scare you, doesn't scare me but provides me a well made story, then I am still content.
⬆️ Exactly. The story makes all the difference. Alien and Aliens had a truly great story throughout. Also I have a personal attachment to really well-made family dynamics films, which is why Hereditary works wonders for me, though some people think it’s boring.


The other emotion would be discomfort, something which I felt while watching The Witch. But the most uncomfortable and scared I felt was while watching a movie called Jagten The Hunt and it is not a horror movie, but as someone who likes kids it made me scared as hell to the point that I keep a distant from children cause you never know when your harmless kindness towards a child might be perceived in the wrong manner.
That’s very true. Discomfort is definitely a powerful one. It’s quite hard to place. Actually, I find the ‘cringe-factor’ horror films have the most impact on me. Not so much Creep (2014) as Restraint (2017). It’s not that good, but discomfort is all you feel throughout (at least that’s my experience). The Hunt with Mads Mikkelsen was heartbreaking to watch.


On a side note, a recommendation to @AgrippinaX if you are looking for new and good horror movies to watch.




Trailer has English subs.
Much appreciated, I’m always on the lookout!