The movies “Amelia” from the Trilogy of Terror directed by Dan Curtis and Misery directed by Rob Reiner are similar in plot, in that they both feature bursts of violence, the scheming of plans and the use of knifes. They also meet the three reasons King gives in the interview Why We Crave Horror Movies by Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper. The movies involve multiple tense fighting scenes, the making of plans, and knives. In “Amelia” there are multiple times that Amelia fights the doll. In one scene, the doll attacks her with a knife and she tries to escape. Later on, she wrestles with the doll to try to get it away from the knife and it ends up biting her neck. She ends up trying to get the doll to let go of her neck and throws it in …show more content…
One of the reasons that King gives us on the interview, Why We Crave Horror Movies is that we crave horror movies because they make us feel normal. Like in “Amelia”, not everyone can say they had to fight a knife wielding doll with the spirit of a hunter in it. We feel normal because that problem isn’t relevant to our lives. Our daily problems and situations seem normal and simple compared to having a doll trying to kill you in your house. In Misery, it’s the same case. Paul is fighting to survive being in the home of a psychopathic fan’s home. Most of us aren’t famous, so we don’t have to deal with fan’s who are too passionate about us. The movie leaves us with the sense of relief that we aren’t famous and that that situation isn’t a possibility for us. Another reason that King gives us is that we crave that roller coaster of a ride that the plot is. For example, Amelia catches the doll with a blanket and tries to drown it, but it escapes, she tries to trap it in a suitcase, but it cuts a hole in the suitcase, she also tries to take away the knife, but it fights her to get the knife back. In the end, after she tried to kill it in the oven, she ends up possessed by the doll, calling her mom and saying “This is Amelia, mom. I 'm sorry I acted the way I did. I think we should spend the evening together... just the way we planned. It 's kind of late though. Why don 't you come by my place and we 'll go from here? No, I 'm all right! Good. I 'll be waiting for you” to lure her mother to her house. In “Amelia”, when we feel like the main character is winning she ends up losing. Then, in Misery, there are points in which we think that Paul is going to escape, but Annie is, intentionally or unintentionally, one step ahead. For example, Paul cheeks his painkillers and puts the powder in a envelope, so that when he has dinner with her he puts the powder in her drink, but she ends up spilling the
"Why We Crave Horror Movies” is an essay in which the auther, Stephen King, whos one of the most succesful horror witers, assumes that we as humans are mentally ill. ”I think that we’re all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better – and maybe not all that much better, after all.” King gives his reasoning as to why we make the independent decision to buy a ticket and watch other human beings get killed. In other words, why we go cinema to watch horror movies. Futhermore he explains that that people enjoy watching horror movies because they to keep our insane
We all have cravings, be it for snacks or sweets, there is always something we desire. We crave horror in the same way. In Stephen King’s essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he argues that people need to watch horror films in order to release the negative emotions within us. King believes that people feel enjoyment while watching others be terrorized or killed in horror movies. King’s argument has elements that are both agreeable and disagreeable. On one hand he is acceptable when claiming we like the thrill and excitement that comes from watching horror movies; however, his views regarding that the fun comes from seeing others suffer cannot be agreed with because the human condition is not as immoral as he claims it to be.
After all, horror almost always has someone dying involved, and yet we seek what we fear for the fun of it. For example, despite the vivid descriptions of the murders of the campus women in “Strawberry Spring,” such as “they found part of her in the back seat and part of her in the trunk,” (King, Strawberry Spring 4) we end up craving for more for satisfaction and for a thrill. Moreover, even though “sanity becomes a matter of degree,” (King, “Why We Crave” 2) we can all agree that those of us on the lighter degrees still find amusement in horror. Horror allows our “emotional muscles” to “let loose to scream and roll around in the grass,” (King, “Why We Crave” 2)-- and I think that's a good thing. Otherwise, like the few on the harsher degrees, we would be using our physical muscles to tear each other apart, and that would just ruin the fun for the most of us, wouldn't
In a world of continual violence and brutality, people simply seem to be unfazed by the horror films produced by directors all across the world. Stephen King, a horror author, would even go as far as to argue people crave horror. In Why We Crave Horror Movies, King explains why people cannot get enough of films that often evoke emotions of fear, disgust, and, oddly enough, happiness. Granted that these emotions may occur, the uncraveable is only craved when a life is not filled with with spirit of Jesus Christ.
When watching the two movies, it is hard to decipher similarities initially. However if you dig into the content further you can pick out some likeness between them. For instance, the opening of the box with the doll in The Doll and the opening of the satchel in Misery both represent objects of obsession. Additionally, the door being locked in both movies symbolizes the desire for control of the situation. Another example is the use of knives as a primitive weapon, in the two movies, to try and free themselves from captivity. Finally, the roller coaster ride of emotions in the two movies. In The Doll, Amelia goes from happy when the movie starts and she is proud of the gift she has bought for her guy friend, to angry and sad after talking to her mother and canceling here date with her friend. In Misery, you find similar emotions from both of the main characters; Annie shows the most emotion when reading the manuscript Paul had with expresses gratitude for being rescued by Annie then to anger when he realizes he was being held captive.
Comparing Psycho to a modern day horror such as Carrie, it is evident how much the horror film industry has changed and developed. It has grown in such a way that we are always out looking for a higher thrill, a more...
Chainsaw, Friday the 13th, or Nightmare on Elmstreet, you feel very attached to the main character and you want her to live and survive through the movie. He says, “ Thus, our emotional response to their torture and ultimate demise proved greater for the time we had invested in getting to know them” (Haigh 1). I agree because nowadays the director doesn’t really set the characters up or give the audience a reason to love that specific
The psychological reasoning behind why people crave horror films is because of our emotions, to be specific it's our anticivilization emotions. We were born with these emotions, we grew up with the emotions, which Stephen King called it the insanity within in us. On page 599 he expressed,"Our emotions and fears form their own body, and we recognize that it demands its own exercise to maintain proper muscle tone". King explained that we all have the feeling of doing something inhumane like serial killers, but do not express them by killing, we express them by listening and watching something horrific. We don't see it as a crime to watch a fake horror film instead of being involved in a murder, which helps us fed into our dark emotions.
The major reason for the Babadook’s appearance in the film is the death of Amelia’s husband on the day of Sam’s birth, which has haunted her since the day it happened. Had the antagonist of the film been a male, it is likely that the character’s mental illness would be portrayed much differently, and the viewer would identify with the victims rather than with the antagonist. Even today, it is likely that a man with mental illness in a horror film would be portrayed as a violent killer. Although not necessarily considered a horror film, American Psycho provides an example in its main character, Patrick Bateman. Patrick Bateman portrayed by Christian Bale in the 2000 film, could be diagnosed with any number of mental illnesses, like antisocial personality disorder or borderline personality disorder. Of course, throughout the film, Bateman is a violent serial killer who derives pleasure from his kills. More often than not, women in modern horror cannot be like Patrick Bateman, but rather they are the victims or in the case of the Babadook, a grieving mother who cannot control her emotions. In the case of Patrick Bateman, we identify with his innocent victims. As both the victim and the antagonist, the viewer identifies with Amelia for most of the film, After, the viewer is again able to identify with Amelia as the “final girl” as she becomes a “badass” and is
Has anyone ever stopped and thought about why movie remakes exist? There is always a simple explanation to this conception, and it’s either that Hollywood directors are “lazy” or that Hollywood wants to destroy our childhood scares. For the most part, Hollywood isn’t literally attempting to become futile or destroy the integrity of films, but it’s much for the profit of recreating former popular movies. In addition to that, the revamp graphic quality allows for older movie plots to compete against their modern counterparts, but there still remains an issue. In order to reestablish an older horror film, a newer one has to take its place for the sake of pleasing the current technologically adept generation; however, alterations may completely
In his book, Horror and the Horror Film, author Bruce F. Kawin remarked “horror itself resists formulation and can be difficult and unpleasant to contemplate.” This year was a phenomenal year for both horror and contemplative movies. Two prime examples: Get Out and mother!. Despite being both horror films with subliminal messaging and allegories, they had drastically different reactions and box office performances. To understand why this happened, it is imperative to analyze marketing, storyline, climate, and audience interpretation.
Every year Cinemas are flooded with new horror movies to which people line up and pay to spend two hours biting their lips, covering their eyes, and shrinking away in fear. This observation is thoroughly perplexing as it is reasonable to assume that people would aim to avoid things which cause them distress, and thus has come to be referred to as the paradox of horror. This phenomenon justly commands attention in philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, and sociology as understanding it would provide insight into the human psyche and cognitive processes. The most reasonable theories that serve to explain the paradox of horror, or why people would actively seek out horror movies which produce feelings of fear, anxiety, and disgust, are the psychoanalytical theory, fascination theory, and enjoyment theory, of which the enjoyment theory is most plausible because it can be supported from a biochemical standpoint.
In many cases people are drawn to horror films because it relieves one’s repressed feelings caused from childhood trauma. A quote from the Intro to The Beauty was: “I fell in love with horror because what the best horror does, is make us look at the most frightening aspects of ourselves”. Although horror films are essentially fictional, it also has a real world effect. The happenings in a horror film are often real world situations which creates a sense of connection between the characters in the film and those of the audience. Stephen King once wrote: “Horror movies often work better when we have a stake in the game. The more we care about the characters, the more human they are to us, the more appealing they are to us and the more effective the horror tends to be”. The connection that the audience has with the characters in the film whether it be
As the technology for moving pictures has developed over time, the film industry has grown in popularity. One part of the film industry that has increased dramatically, is horror. The intent of a horror film is to induce a sense of spine chilling fear and gut wrenching grotesque feelings, to provide a cathartic release of tension. However, it does just the opposite. Even though horror movies help develop peoples problem solving skills, people should refrain from watching horror movies, because horror movies create a false sense of reality. This provides for an increased feeling of paranoia, which may lead to insomnia, thus negatively impacting the health of the viewer.
Joy and excitement of watching a horror film is a incredible feeling. Many people ask what is the point of watching a horror movie if the only thing it does is scare you and not make you happy? That is not true people love to watch horror movies because they entertainment a scary movie has is always fun to enjoy. Everyone from teenagers to adults enjoy scary movies, because scary movies are the ones that tend to keep your attention the whole time you are sitting in a movie theater. There is also a lot of excitement when watching horror movie, because you never know when something will happen when the movie starts to play. The most important thing that horror movie do would have to be the effects it has on the human not only physically but