Do horror movies actually scare you?

[Slava]

I've been thinking about what scares me most in movies/games/videos/etc and I can't remember the last movie that really scared me. Or any movie at all. I rarely watch horror movies, but when I do, there's always a kind of a barrier between me and what's happening on the screen. I don't get affected much. I do feel tension when there is a buildup before something is clearly about to happen on the screen. And I can be jumpscared sometimes. But I can't describe that as fear. Maybe the thought that it's not real is always in the back of my brain. Maybe I'm too used to seeing scary stuff from my childhood. Although I can't remember being scared by a movie even when I was a kid.

 

Games, on the other hand, can scare me. I was scared when I first played Resident Evil 1-3 as a pre-teenager and Silent Hill 1 as an early teenager. The other memory of being terrified is when I entered the first underground location with monsters in Stalker 1 when I was about 14. And I'm pretty sure some games can still scare me now. Unlike movies, games put the control in your hands, you're the one making decisions, you're the one who makes the character go forward not knowing what's behind the corner. You associate yourself with that person in some way, so maybe that's why games are different for me.

 

Another thing I remember being terrified by is "Infernal videos", or at least I think that's what they're called. These videos usually come from nowhere, contain some weird and scary stuff and are said to kill you or make you go insane. One of the more famous ones was with the guy sitting on a chair looking at the camera. The moment when he smiles (that was conveniently cut from the video, which was then "reuploaded") was said to make people lose their minds and hurt themselves. Videos like that used to scare me as a kid. Now they obviously don't.

 

How about you? Do horror movies scare you? Do they scare you less than games? Are you like me? Or maybe you're the opposite and you can't even watch them? 

[Amonares]

I can relate. Last time a movie scared me I was like 12.

All horror movies just became too predictable and generic for me to get scared. Also, most of them are so unrealistic and naive and there's just no way that can scare me.

I noticed that things are much scarier if the genre of a movie/video game is NOT horror. In horror genre, you expect 'scary things'. In other genres you do not so it's way more likely to catch you off guard.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Amonares

[Alaquia]

yes, horror movies CAN scare me, a few examples: REC1 / Noroi / Grave Encounters (I'm a sucker for found footage)

 

but they scare me less than beeing chased by Laura in the evil within or daddy Baker in RE7 or the whole world in soma

 

in terms of beeing scared I guess the first evil within is my number 1 in games and REC 1 in movies

 

what really scares me are the videos on youtube by content creators like lazy masquerade, nexpo or scaretheater. really entertaining and frightening

[DaivRules]

Not a movie but the X-Files episode Home I have a really hard time watching. Just thinking about it right now turns my stomach. 

[RevengeancePrime]

Generally they don't, but the there are a few that disturb me and can keep me up for a couple nights like Hereditary and Ju-on. Video games on the other hand don't phase me at all with the exception of P.T. which was terrifying. One of the reasons I really wanted that game to come out was to see if I could even go through it.

[PostalDudeRus]

One horror movie that really scared me was Jacob's Ladder (1990), not because of some jump-scares or scary monsters. The core idea behind this movie still haunts me for today. I even released dark-ambient EP based on impressions left by on this movie.

 

I am big fan of horror games and movies (yeah, just look at my profile pic). Silent hill 1-4 did really awesome job on scarying the shit out of me, while Resident Evil 1-3 were more like creepy B-Movie experience, yeah Nemesis is dangerous, but not scary. I also remember spending "scariest" nights with games like Clock Tower, Fatal Frame, Martian Gothic: Unification and many other great stuff.

 

Dead Space (2008) I guess last game that I loved as horror game. It's a shame that horror games are kidna outside of mainstream for today (that's understandable tho, nowdays to scare potential customer is bad tone).

 

What I hate is movies like IT (2019) or games like Layers of Fear - pathetic parody of what true horror means. Yeah, I know, people are different and "scary scale" is different for everyone. But those two? Never again.

[RadiantFlamberge]

Actually, a lot of PG-13 horror movies can be more scary than R-rated ones. Give Insidious a try. Not gory, but if you want some scares, it delivers.

[Intoner_Zero]

Horror is usually the #1 genre I watch in movies and I feel that in watching so much, it feels boring lol. I still watch horror just to see if a title can still amuse me and a few do. When I was pretty young, horror movies did unnerve and scare me a little, but never to the point where crying or screaming out of fear got to me.

 

I love horror games as well and being engaged with a game seems a bit more effective as opposed to watching a movie. Usually love how the atmosphere is set up too. I might flinch at a jumpscare, but I usually curse when things get freaky during gameplay lol.

[Litha]

I'm more interested in atmosphere and psychological elements in horror rather than stabby-stabby jumpscares etc. It's why most modern horror doesn't interest me. A jumpscare can startle, but never truly scare in my opinion. My favourite horror film is 'In the Mouth of Madness'. Though it isn't really 'scary' in the conventional sense, I found the theme of the protagonist steadily losing his grip on reality to be very interesting.

 

13 minutes ago, PostalDudeRus said:

I even released dark-ambient EP based on impressions left by on this movie.

Could you shoot me a link? I do enjoy dark ambient and I'm genuinely interested.

[Redgrave]

As a kid I remember getting scared at Ghostbusters of all things namely because of the scene where all the ghosts are running around the city and you see all the different types. The one that got me the most was the one where the guy gets in the taxi and the cab driver is a zombie. I know it's supposed to be a comedy but that scene still feels like a different movie to me.

 

Other than that I was scared of anything involving alien invasions or abductions because I read something in a newspaper that mentioned someone getting abducted and I was scared that would happen to me as a kid. So I was scared to watch stuff like Independence Day despite it just being an action movie. Yet for some reason I was fine with watching something like Predator since I guess I thought the Predator just looked cool. And at the same time I couldn't watch Mars Attacks despite that being a comedy too. I'm thankful I never tried to watch Fire in the Sky as a kid since that experiment scene would have traumatized me.

 

Nowadays though scary movies if I feel like catching one don't really do it for me because I'm too used to the cliches and predictable things that happen. Sure something that has something jump out at you can be startling but I think the best kind of horror is the kind that just makes you feel uncomfortable and unsure of yourself or at the very least the horror has to be really subtle and have good pacing. I have heard the new IT movies are scary but I've never gotten around to watching them.

 

Video games are different though since you're actually interacting with the things going on and you are responsible for whoever you're playing as getting killed and I think that adds to some extra anxiety. Resident Evil 2 for example does really well with the Lickers because not only do you have to move slow but you don't always know they are there and the way they hop around the walls to look for you is creepy. And then you have Mr. X who just stomps around looking for you and you can't really do anything except delay him at best. There are lots of examples of scary moments in games that I could give that have freaked me out more than any movie has, which is why I generally avoid horror games.

Edited April 8, 2020 by Redgrave

[NZBigC]

The best scares to me are the ones that do not rely on audio (aka ridiculous jump scares). One such instance recently was in the film Creep. If you watch it, you will probably understand which scene I am talking about.

 

I HATE it when a movie is filled with pointless ear-piercing sounds such as a cat jumping on a piano or a person turning around to see their friend standing in their face, accompanied by a loud bang of a drum. What is even worse is when you hear people go 'omg that was soooo scary!' after watching it.  

[PostalDudeRus]

49 minutes ago, SpaghettiGrabsy said:

Could you shoot me a link? I do enjoy dark ambient and I'm genuinely interested.

 

Here you go.

 

This was made April 2016, don't expect any quality here, as its my first EP.

I haven't uploaded anything to souldcloud since 2017 I believe, because I still working on full separate album, improving my sound and gathering ideas. And I am not a big fan of uploading unfinished or scrap works.

 

EP Cover: Front - Back

 

[Slava]

9 hours ago, Dark Prince said:

I noticed that things are much scarier if the genre of a movie/video game is NOT horror. In horror genre, you expect 'scary things'. In other genres you do not so it's much more likely to catch you off-guard.

Hm, that's interesting. Haven't thought about that. I don't think I've experienced this in movies, but my Stalker moment falls under that category as I expected a regular shooter without any horror elements and was caught off guard.

 

9 hours ago, Alaquia said:

REC1 / Noroi / Grave Encounters (I'm a sucker for found footage)

Haven't seen any found footage horror movies. The closest one I've seen was the first Clovefield. Slightly different genre.

I'll try to watch some of those. I'll also check those YouTube creators ?

 

9 hours ago, ObliviousSenpai said:

with the exception of P.T. which was terrifying. 

Oh yeah. The best thing about P.T. was that no one knew what it even was when it dropped out of nowhere. No reviews, no guides, no one had seen the ending yet. The fact it was so mysterious added to the atmosphere. I'm sad I couldn't experience it myself. Would've been horrified probably.

 

9 hours ago, PostalDudeRus said:

One horror movie that really scared me was Jacob's Ladder (1990), not because of some jump-scares or scary monsters. The core idea behind this movie still haunts me for today. I even released dark-ambient EP based on impressions left by on this movie.

I need to see it. This film has been in my "to watch" list for years. Heard good things about it.

 

9 hours ago, PostalDudeRus said:

Silent hill 1-4 did really awesome job on scarying the shit out of me, while Resident Evil 1-3 were more like creepy B-Movie experience, yeah Nemesis is dangerous, but not scary.

For me it's different. Silent Hill games are psychologically thrilling, the atmosphere make me feel tension all the time, but I kinda was looking forward to more of that. And as for Nemesis, every time he appeared my heart would beat faster, it was like a little panic mode. Didn't look forward to these moments at all. Even while replayng the game iI was like "Oh no, this is the place where appears, I don't want him to chase me again". Although, the ability to fight him off helps you to eventually get used to him. The games where big monsters chase you and you don't have any weapons and can only hide are scarier.

 

9 hours ago, Redgrave said:

I know it's supposed to be a comedy but that scene still feels like a different movie to me.

From what I've heard, the thing about Ghostbusters is that it's not shot like a comedy. It's shot like a thriller/horror. That's why the comedy in it works so well, it doesn't feel like it's there for the sake of it. Meanwhile all the stuff that should scare you also works. The 2016 reboot failed because it's just a comedy.

 

As for alien stuff I do remember being unsettled by the alien design in Mars Attacks when I saw parts of it as a kid. They are supposed to feel like a caricature, but that made them creepier for my young mind.

 

I saw the new It movie (the first part). If modern horror movies don't really do it for you, then I don't think this movie will scare you much. It's the same kind of stuff. 

Edited April 8, 2020 by Alderriz

[Charizarzar]

Yes, though I’ve gotten better about watching them over recent years as I used to avoid most of them. I like films with a creepy atmosphere, but don’t like gore or slashers where you’re just watching people suffer for a long time.

[Caesar Clown]

I've been desensitized to horror in both movies and games for a long long time. It kind of sucks, it's like no matter what you watch/play, you can never recapture that feeling ever again.

[charxsetsuna]

Movies no, games yes. I basically noped out of outlast 2 , I think it's to do with the fact I can control the camera and being able to control it means I should keep looking behind me which makes me jumpy and that makes jump scares more effective.

 

With movies your just watching your not in control like in a game.

[Redgrave]

7 hours ago, Alderriz said:

From what I've heard, the thing about Ghostbusters is that it's not shot like a comedy. It's shot like a thriller/horror. That's why the comedy in it works so well, it doesn't feel like it's there for the sake of it. Meanwhile all the stuff that should scare you also works. The 2016 reboot failed because it's just a comedy.

 

As for alien stuff I do remember being unsettled by the alien design in Mars Attacks when I saw parts of it as a kid. They are supposed to feel like a caricature, but that made them creepier for my young mind.

 

I saw the new It movie (the first part). If modern horror movies don't really do it for you, then I don't think this movie will scare you much. It's the same kind of stuff. 

 

There are parts of it that do build up tension yeah. The beginning with the librarian ghost comes to mind but beyond that I can't really think of anything outside of that scene I mentioned but that could just be because I'm older and understand it better.

 

That and their heads exploding was weird to me But I guess there were a lot of weird or kind of dark moments in that movie that were meant to be played for laughs and it creeped me out more than anything.

 

From my understanding of the first one they hide a lot of things in the background. Like there's a part where they are looking at some pictures and in the background of one there's a creepy old woman getting closer but you wouldn't notice it if you weren't looking at it which is something I think is nice because it's subtle. There's also that part where Pennywise is dancing and his head is moving differently from his body. It's not that scary but it's abnormal and weird to see which is something I like. But I think that's the kind of horror that would get me more is where something looks weird or uncanny and you can't figure out why.

[Litha]

On 4/8/2020 at 2:10 PM, PostalDudeRus said:

 

Here you go.

 

This was made April 2016, don't expect any quality here, as its my first EP.

I haven't uploaded anything to souldcloud since 2017 I believe, because I still working on full separate album, improving my sound and gathering ideas. And I am not a big fan of uploading unfinished or scrap works.

 

EP Cover: Front - Back

 

I think you're selling yourself a bit short there, that was some really good stuff. Some very interesting use of samples too, I tend to forget there's more to ambient than synth. All the best on the album you're working on, I'm sure it'll be good. Dark ambient comes across to me as a genre that's difficult to write, as it's not 'musical' in the conventional sense at least. I'd like to try my hand at it, but I'll need to get some other projects out of the way first. Ideation is always the most difficult step for me.

 

On 4/8/2020 at 1:10 PM, SpaghettiGrabsy said:

I'm more interested in atmosphere and psychological elements in horror rather than stabby-stabby jumpscares etc. It's why most modern horror doesn't interest me. A jumpscare can startle, but never truly scare in my opinion.

To expand on what I was talking about earlier, I'm reminded of a short horror film called AM1200. The film uses the typical jumpscare setup minus the actual jumpscare. You see, the typical jumpscare setup has the usual: things going quiet etc. then BAM!, therefore creating a sense of 'rising and falling' in terms of suspense and trepidation. AM1200's use of the same setup minus the jumpscare means that the sense of trepidation rises but doesn't fall, at least not as far. This is interesting to me because it assists in creating what I feel is integral to horror: a sense of trepidation that keeps increasing until the end of the film. An interesting play on the typical jumpscare trope, at least.

[LoveInHell]

Horror movies, series and games, anything with some kind of satanic stuff in it makes me scared and paranoid. Like exorcisms, upside down crosses, using the Bible or Quran, any type of religious book or text to get rid of demons, possession etc. I don’t watch it cause thats too much for me.

[Neocarleen]

22 minutes ago, LoveInHell said:

Horror movies, series and games, anything with some kind of satanic stuff in it makes me scared and paranoid. Like exorcisms, upside down crosses, using the Bible or Quran, any type of religious book or text to get rid of demons, possession etc. I don’t watch it cause thats too much for me.

Fun fact: the upside down cross was originally a symbol for apostle Peter, the first Pope. He was going to be crucified but he requested to be put upside down because he felt unworthy to die in the same way as Jesus. It has only recently become associated with Satanic/demonic themes. 

 

Similarly, the pentagram is a magic symbol, but it’s supposed to be for good magic. It’s supposed to be for protection against evil.

[Feral]

Yes, horror movies scare me. So I don’t watch them.

 

I blame my brother for scaring me as a kid with The Shining. It gave me nightmares for so long I thought I’d never sleep properly again.

[Litha]

1 hour ago, Neocarleen said:

Fun fact: the upside down cross was originally a symbol for apostle Peter, the first Pope. He was going to be crucified but he requested to be put upside down because he felt unworthy to die in the same way as Jesus. It has only recently become associated with Satanic/demonic themes. 

 

Similarly, the pentagram is a magic symbol, but it’s supposed to be for good magic. It’s supposed to be for protection against evil.

The pentagram was used by Christians to symbolise the five wounds of Christ, or the five senses, or the five whatevertheheck. I don't think it was ever used by pagans, but it was co-opted by Wiccans (i.e. pagans in nothing but name). I could be wrong though, and I'm interested to look more into this.

[tjoe1bkhjtqxm]

On 8/4/2020 at 4:35 AM, DaivRules said:

Not a movie but the X-Files episode Home I have a really hard time watching. Just thinking about it right now turns my stomach. 

Plot of X-Files episodes under spoiler so guys be aware

 

The hair and nails fetish serial killer (two episodes) are also perfect

Spoiler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irresistible_(The_X-Files)

Spoiler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orison_(The_X-Files)

 

Even the episode when Scully visits this guy

 

Spoiler

https://x-files.fandom.com/wiki/Luther_Lee_Boggs

Then the character of

Spoiler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_Barry

 

Then

Spoiler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_X_(The_X-Files)

Even the episode where crazy things happen in a jail that seems possessed (don't remember any clue about title)

 

I mean, the episodes itself are not scary, but the characters above are really well made

[NotExactlyHuman]

I grew up in a family that is obsessed with all things horror. Because of that, it's very difficult to scare me. When a horror movie (or game) manages to slightly creep me out, I'm impressed.

[AJ_Radio]

What passes for horror these days is a joke. I consider The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sense to be more scary than some of the shit I've seen in the past few years.

 

I was exposed to classics like Psycho and The Shining when I was quite young. Back in the 1990s we had DIRECTV, right when it started growing as a business and satellite service. My parents had no parental lock option for the stations, I don't think it was really a thing back then. So I basically ended up watching a bunch of stuff on Independent Film Channel (IFC), Sundance, and a slew of other channels I've long forgotten.

 

Comedy has gotten progressively worse in my opinion, both in movies and on TV shows. Horror is even worse. I guess it's pretty difficult for these filmmakers to make a good horror movie as opposed to a bad one. Because there's a fuck ton of bad horror movies. Jump scares are a cheap way to instill horror in a movie in my view.

 

I've heard a couple good things about IT (2019), but I have no real interest to watch that film. Real horror is something that got lost in translation... at least on the mainstream side of things.