Many theories have been developed regarding the horror genre ranging from why we enjoy watching them - taking a psychological approach to the spectacle horror which talks of the camerawork and special effects.
The Philosophy of Horror - Noel Carroll: His big idea was attraction/repulsion. As an audience we are attracted by gore and transgression as well as repulsed by it. We enjoy seeing the point of view shots of the killer for example the we have POV shots in 'Halloween' of Mike Myers. However we fails to identify with the killer, we fear vampires and their powers but are attracted to them. A fine example would be 'Twilight' where fans found Robert Pattinsion aka 'Edward Cullen' attractive yet feared his character and his family. We can't stand what we're seeing yet we can't stop looking.
The Uncanny - Freud: Uncanny is when something is strange or mysterious, especially in an unsettling way. It is something secret and disturbingly strange. Freud thought the uncanny is that which has ought to have been secret but that has come to light within the unconscious or subconscious mind. It is essentially the return of the repressed and it is projected onto objects, people and places.
The Shadow - Jung: Jung simply said that 'the shadow' is a projection of what we all fear and strongly dislike being projected onto an external figure. 'The monster' in horror films is essentially the bad parts of us in a character.
Carol Clover: Clover wrote an essay in 1987 titled 'Her Body, Himself' which argued that horror films offer the teenage males of their audience an illicit opportunity to revel in their feminine side. Using Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze Theory' she took a closer look at the low-budget exploitation genre in which typically all the female characters are murdered bar the one girl who managers to escape the villain. She argued that horror is one of the few genres that consistently asks the audience to identify with a triumphant female protagonist. Meaning that a 'sexist' genre may actually not be so sexist after all.
Adam Lowenstein: The big idea was spectacle horror. Spectacle horror is a combination of special effects, camerawork, gore and sound. It's essentially what is done in the film to create a medium that is moreover about appreciating the art of the genre as it is about the darker motives.
Cynthia Freeland: It was said that the graphic violence and gore in horror are so over the top that a 'perverse sublime' is created. Freeland said that they are so far-fetched and unrealistic that we can enjoy the films on an aesthetic, entertaining level as we know the events occurring can't happen to us.
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