Why do we watch horror films?

People like to watch horror for many reasons, they may enjoy the excitement of being scared or they may like the plot of the film. I asked a group of 10 people why they like horror films and all their answers fell under one of these categories.

• Emotion - some people watch films because they like feeling scared or because they want to empathise with the characters.
• Escapism - to escape from reality and into fantasy. An example of this would be the film 30 Days Of Night as we know that vampires are not real, but some people like to believe in and enjoy the fantasy element.
• Physical effects - some people watch films in order for them to get an adrenaline rush of being scared, they enjoy the excitement and the physical effects that the horror film creates.
• Intrigue - solve enigmas, mystery, suspense. Some people like to have a puzzle to solve, which will be unravelled throughout the film. An example would be The Da Vinci Code.
• Catharsis - a cleansing experience, the effect of purification achieved by tragic drama.
• Perception of anti-mainstream activity - wanting to watch things that aren't acceptable, for example a brutal murder or a violent beating of a character.
• Exploration of a taboo subject - watching an event or act that is possibly forbidden.
• Voyeurism - watching things that you perhaps shouldn't see, something that you shouldn't see in real life. An example of this would be watching someone getting changed or an intimate moment between two people. This is brings an element of people being nosey as they are wanting to watch something that should be private.
• Culture and personal fears - to overcome a fear

All these reasons will need to be considered when creating the trailer as these are the reasons why an audience will watch a horror movie. We will need to attract the audience by including some of these elements, for example creating a scene that will make the audience 'jump' and feel scared, or by creating enigmas so the audience will want to watch more. By including taboo subjects or elements of them (as trailers must be eligible to be seen by any viewer) and scenes that could get the 'heart pumping' the trailer should attract an audience. This links with the uses and gratifications media theory, where an audience watches a media text- in this case a horror film- to get certain gratifications linking with the reasons above.