Poll of the Day > Do scary movies scare you?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Are you frightened by the frightening fright of frightful films?

Depends.

Most horror doesn't. It can startle me if it's all just abrupt jump scares, but that's not really scary.

Good horror (which is rare these days) can creep me the fuck out, which should be the entire point of horror. Not to just give you little adrenaline spikes by occasionally metaphorically peeking around a corner and going "BOO!" Ideally, you should still be feeling on edge or ill at ease long after the movie ends.

Great horror combines the unsettling unease that lasts for a prolonged time and pants-shitting terror. That's hard to get from movies (because it's hard to get that invested in any story), but video games can do that well if the game is made by people who actually care about their work (because you're more actively engaged).

The first few Fatal Frame games were creepy as shit, and nearly gave me heart attacks multiple times.

The first time I played RE2 I went from playing with the lights out in my apartment for ambiance to having every light in the apartment turned on and the front door chain-locked, while I was sort of sitting in a fetal ball on the couch with my feet pulled up as the stress just kept building up.

When I played Clock Tower in college, I had an apartment full of multiple people all watching and screaming at me to "Grab the pan!" or "Hide in the closet!" or "Run!" or whatever other prompts popped up every time the Scissorman music and shearing noises started kicking in. It's hard to understand just how stressful that sort of thing can be until you actually experience it - but it takes a special kind of horror game to evoke that sort of response from onlookers who aren't even playing.

And the first Silent Hill was creepy as fuck. The game is pretty clearly designed from the ground up to try and make you feel as uneasy as possible with everything it does, which works really well for that sort of horror.

Its not really about startling me, its about putting me in a depressed / sad mind space for the rest of the night. My mind is already depressed and sad, I dont need that shit from my movies

no.

I share pretty much the exact sentiments as PO, so i more go for slow burn horror like Halloween or The Thing.
video games can be much creepier, and Clock Tower is so choice for that stuff. the anxiety makes me not wanna play though after a while.

Not at all. The eerie sounds/music they use to try drumming up the suspense just comes across as cheesy to me.

I will get nightmares from the simplest of things

Schmen and I have been marathoning 100 horror movies every October.
Easily our favorite genre. They may be cheesey and shitty with bad acting and ridiculous plots, but you can feel the passion of the people who work to make them. These are people who want to make art, unlike the rest of their industry that just wants to make money.

It is a very rare horror movie that actually gets to me. Truly unique and well executed ideas are a rarity in horror any only happens about once a decade. In the event I find one, I usually end up watching it so many times that it doesnt bother my anymore.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Depends.

Most horror doesn't. It can startle me if it's all just abrupt jump scares, but that's not really scary.

Good horror (which is rare these days) can creep me the fuck out, which should be the entire point of horror. Not to just give you little adrenaline spikes by occasionally metaphorically peeking around a corner and going "BOO!" Ideally, you should still be feeling on edge or ill at ease long after the movie ends.

Great horror combines the unsettling unease that lasts for a prolonged time and pants-shitting terror. That's hard to get from movies (because it's hard to get that invested in any story), but video games can do that well if the game is made by people who actually care about their work (because you're more actively engaged).

The first few Fatal Frame games were creepy as shit, and nearly gave me heart attacks multiple times.

The first time I played RE2 I went from playing with the lights out in my apartment for ambiance to having every light in the apartment turned on and the front door chain-locked, while I was sort of sitting in a fetal ball on the couch with my feet pulled up as the stress just kept building up.

When I played Clock Tower in college, I had an apartment full of multiple people all watching and screaming at me to "Grab the pan!" or "Hide in the closet!" or "Run!" or whatever other prompts popped up every time the Scissorman music and shearing noises started kicking in. It's hard to understand just how stressful that sort of thing can be until you actually experience it - but it takes a special kind of horror game to evoke that sort of response from onlookers who aren't even playing.

And the first Silent Hill was creepy as fuck. The game is pretty clearly designed from the ground up to try and make you feel as uneasy as possible with everything it does, which works really well for that sort of horror.

That doesnt sound enjoyable at all

Idiocracy is the single scariest movie there ever has been.

No.

In fact, I go to haunted houses to laugh the entire time and create a new level of creepiness for the other people. It's a fun thing.

Only The Ring from 2002, has given me several nightmares.

Stimpy posted...

That doesnt sound enjoyable at all

Yeah, but you could say the same thing about sad/tragic movies. Why watch a movie that will make you cry? Why make yourself feel miserable?

Or for that matter, things like roller coasters or bungee jumping . A large part of the experience is the massive adrenaline rush you're getting from the knowledge that you could technically die at any moment.

It can be very cathartic to feel "bad" things in a safe environment. Certainly moreso than you would feel if you were literally being chased by a serial killer or a supernatural force of evil in real life.

One of the flaws of modern society is the belief that no one should ever be sad. That if you're not happy all the time something's wrong with you and you should solve the problem by drugging yourself with antidepressants. But part of being human is feeling the negative emotions as well as the positive ones. In fact, it's the negative ones that make the positive ones even more positive.

The entire point of art is to make you feel. It doesn't necessarily need to make you feel good.

Yes, but in different ways than when I was younger.

These days, horror movies scare me better with the jump scares than the imagery.

No, I am amused by it since I like Macbre stuff.

Depends on the content of the movies

My girlfriend at the time and I were cuddled up in her bed watching Blaire Witch

When it ended, neither one of us wanted to leave the bed to turn lights off

JixHedgehog posted...

My girlfriend at the time and I were cuddled up in her bed watching Blaire Witch

When it ended, neither one of us wanted to leave the bed to turn lights off

Thats just your excuse for more snuggling.

Stimpy posted...

Thats just your excuse for more snuggling.

Oh yeah The getting was good!
Really good.

We had about 36ft of A/V composite cable running from the cable top box to her TV in the bedroom.. IIRC, we had to turn it on/off and change channels on the top box

Supernatural horror are extremely not scary.

The type of thriller that could be frightening, or at least can be paced with visceral suspense, is stuff that could become reality. Like AI or robots becoming sentient and eliminating human race.

Amuseum posted...

Supernatural horror are extremely not scary.

The type of thriller that could be frightening, or at least can be paced with visceral suspense, is stuff that could become reality. Like AI or robots becoming sentient and eliminating human race.

Ah so you prefer more realistic premises like

*checks notes*

Human race eliminating, sentient AI robots. Got it.

No I fucking love scary movies. Some of my friends get too scared to watch horror movies and I want to convince him to try it out then I'd start them out with Hereditary because I'm merciless.

Flappers posted...

No I fucking love scary movies. Some of my friends get too scared to watch horror movies and I want to convince him to try it out then I'd start them out with Hereditary because I'm merciless.

Is heredity the one where the girl from Thunderbolts visits some Pagan festival in another country and everybody dies or something?

Stimpy posted...

Is heredity the one where the girl from Thunderbolts visits some Pagan festival in another country and everybody dies or something?

No, that's midsommer, which iirc is made by the same people. I don't want to spoil anything about the movie. Just go watch it!

Hereditary is just as good, probably even better. I recommend it.

green_dragon posted...

No, that's midsommer, which iirc is made by the same people. I don't want to spoil anything about the movie. Just go watch it!

Hereditary is just as good, probably even better. I recommend it.

Ah interesting. I coulda sworn Midsommar was Heredity but upon checking google, youre indeed right.

Ill look into both.

I don't think I've ever seen a horror movie that has scared me since I was ten. They make me uncomfortable because I don't like to see innocent people be tortured in that context (this being the opposite when I play GTA).

Games are similar but different in that it is typically very hard to even have a remote sense of discomfort when playing a horror game because I know there is no real consequence and most are more action focused anyways. Even games like Clock Tower and Silent Hill are just fun.

There are a few examples though that have made me uneasy. When I first played RE4, being chased by the chainsaw Ganados and knowing that they can one-shot me is an "OH SHIT OH SHIT" moment and carries over into any game where you're being chased by an unkillable creature and you don't know if you can make it. Slender: The Arrival was actually very atmospheric in a very creepy way, and that surprised me how much it effected me, it was very enjoyable. And finally, Doki Doki Literature Club actually made me stop playing the game for a week after "That Moment" happened... and then those other things started happening. It was very effective in disturbing me. I loved it and knew I wanted to finish it, but I needed the time to process.

Not really

It's rare. The movie really has to set the scene and ratchet up the suspense. Usually it's just heightening the moment with music then doing jump scares, which isn't quite the same thing.