Horror/Suspense Films

[boomkablamo]

Hi, I am a newly discovered INTP and new to this forum.

My question is, do any of you guys find a strange lack of emotion when watching scary films?

Your friend in the theater is constantly jumping or yelling, but you just can't seem to get a kick out of the movie. I always seem to over analyze the movie as I see it, which dilutes its realness and makes it somewhat boring. Ever since I was a child in the theater with my parents, they'd often times be more scared at things than I was.

You guys know what I'm talking about?

[Inappropriate Behavior]

Most horror films bore me. Unless of course they have zombies!

zombies = being able to forgo reality and just enjoy the carnage

[DynamicMind]

For the most part I just get really annoyed by the predictability of it all. I'll admit that I do get into the suspense if there's good music and freaky camera shots, though.

[Jennywocky]

It depends on the type of movie.
Most, for me, are crap.
(All those teen slasher schlock gore horror pics?)

However some movies did creep me out.
(Like The Ring, The Descent, Alien, The Grudge, Hostel, etc.)
Usually there has to be some sort of psychological component to it, and yes, the less specifically predictable it is, the better chance it has of scaring me.

Oh yeah, zombies (28 Days Later) rock!

[Adaire]

Yeah, you probably laugh at inappropriate places in horror movies too. I do that all the time. Some things are hard to watch; but not scary (ie saw). I have friends who will have nightmares about scary movies and be paranoid for several days onward. I think 'what the hell is the big deal?' I'm also the kind of person who would purposely incur 'bad luck' or spend a night in a cemetery just to be facetious.

[FacetiousPersona]

I enjoy psychological horrors. Asian horror movies are very interesting to me (ghost stories specifically).

[preilemus]

im not a huge fan of horror, mainly because movies like the grudge and the ring and saw (to some extent) still have a lasting impression on me despite the fact that the last time i saw any of those was over 2 years ago. other times i would agree that they are just plain stupid; such as one missed call. i guess it really depends on the movie

[echoplex]

The good ones have a clever combination of suspense and psychological terror. Not a single drop of blood has to be shed for something to be scary. The dead coming back to life, ghosts opening and shutting cabinets, and stupid cheesy laughing dolls do not generally interest me as horror. They do, however, make me laugh, so I guess you could argue that many horror movies are good comedies.

Also, it seems that most are too formulaic. It's like you can predict, based on camera angles and music, when [insert scary fucking thing here] is going to appear and do something the unrealistically goody-two-shoes character will not appreciate, which I guess is supposed to illicit my sympathy for the boring character, who I wanted dead within the first ten minutes anyway.

Okay, maybe I'm a little jaded. :)

[Artifice Orisit]

No, I agree.
If you read horror literature you'd understand the difference between movie "horror" and proper "you-will-not-sleep-tonight" horror.

Where's the tragedy, the hopelessness, the fear of fates worse than death?

Getting chopped up by madman is scary,
Dying of highly infectious/lethal disease that is slowly eating away at your sanity whilst you're trying to avoid those you care about so they don't get it, knowing that if you succeed you will die alone; that is horror. The scary bits are supposed to be used just to make it more dramatic.

On a side note: Is it wrong to cheer on the monster?

[FacetiousPersona]

On a side note: Is it wrong to cheer on the monster?

No. I often support the antagonist in a story.

[Insanity]

No. I often support the antagonist in a story.

I do as well, especially if the story provides no affable protagonists.

[Ermine]

I tend to dislike horror movies since I seem to have a different idea of horror than most people.