Blogpost 7: Horror is our friend

At night when we are alone, the lights are off, the place is silent. That is when hear a horrifying sound of someone walking towards us. Our body tends to freeze,we get nervous and wanting to run away because of fear. Most of the people especially when they are alone in the dark, they usually get goosebumps because of the eerie atmosphere they are in. Why do feel this way every time? is it because we are afraid of ghost because of the horrors that we watched?

When people watch horror they scream,they hide, they stay away. But does these people who watches horror knows that behind the screen are those who creates that horror film who is laughing and happy because you get scared? Horror is just something created for the purpose of benefiting while enjoying. Horror actually can be our friend in someways. They helps us to be much stronger than before, to control our emotions and to be realistic, and the most important thing is that it can help us face our fears.

The most common fear the we have is the fear of the unknown. We usually get scared of the things we don't know because we absolutely don't have any idea what may happen and what may appear.

This article I read entitled Horror "Movies Helps us Face our Fears" written by Ann Pietrangelo  she said there that:

 “Films that leave the viewer with no resolution are often more frightening than those that give us a set resolution,”. also she stated that "One of the greatest fears many people face is the fear of the unknown. When our imaginations are left to their own devices, they are often more frightening than any image we see on the screen.”

Most of us while watching horrors becomes scared if we saw something unusual and unknown, they gives us the spooks and leaves our mind with the thought of getting hurt or killed that is why we become traumatized in watching horror, but we actually are being helped by them to be more realistic and strong-willed person.

One movie I saw that is quite interesting is the movie Casper the friendly ghost. It is a movie about a ghost who wants to be friendly but scares people away. It become the most popular character after popeye in 1985. Even though casper is a ghost still, he made some good deeds and even become a friend for us humans. In this article made by Kevin Hunsperger entitled Boo: "Casper the friendly ghost" 

He said that. "Growing up, one of my favorite cartoons to watch was Casper the Friendly Ghost.  Sure, it was hokey, but it was good wholesome fun for kids.  The cartoon carried a valuable message: don't judge a book by its cover. We've always been taught that ghosts are scary.  Casper tried to break that stereotype.  He did good deeds everyday.  Casper helped lost puppies find their way home. He stood up for kids who were being bullied.  He was exactly what we needed in as a role model."

                                                    

After reading that I knew that ghost aren't really scary. We are the only ones who are scaring ourselves. having a friend that is a ghost is really something interesting. We shouldn't be scared of horror because, like what I have said earlier horror can become our friend.

 

       

I realized that being afraid is a weakness that we have starting from our childhood that we need to defeat. And by overcoming these fears we can be a more wholesome person. Ghost and horrors are really scary all people knows that, but we also should consider them as a friend because they can turn us into a person who is incredible

Blogpost 6: Horror and its effects to society

We've all heard news about people becoming violent and try to kill someone without any reasons at all. Stories of a normal individual that went crazy and murdered his/her own family members or how kids walked into school and killing innocent people are just few of the violence we hear and see in our generation today. What we are hearing and seeing these days are those people who were hooked up into horror movies or they somewhat plays killing games into the real world.

I find it hard to believe that these murderers are killing and doing such things because of the influence of horror it is somewhat illogical, who would kill somebody just because they want to feel what the characters in the movies they watch felt as they torture and scrape the bodies of their pray? But sometimes if I see this kind of news in the television their reasons are always out of nowhere or they simply wanted to do these kind of things that is why I wanted to search what is the reason behind this.

I saw this article entitled Elijah Wood Horror movie Maniac banned in New Zealand over "graphic violence" which is written by Caroline Westbrook  that talks about banning of a movie because it is said that the movie is unpleasant and disturbing for the people. The movie is entitled Maniac and the lead role was given to Elijah Wood which we all know is also one of the leading characters in the popular movie The Lord of the Rings.

The film is a remake of A notorious 1980 slasher. In the newer version the actions being done was entirely from the view point of Wood's character Frank Zito as he murders innocent people. The New Zealand's Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) suggested not to let the movie be sold at DVD's because the aspect who concerns over the first-person perspective of the movie is a foul thing.

“It’s saying that the POV nature of the film mixed with the psychopathic behaviour of actor Elijah Wood is more than disturbing, that it’s potentially dangerous in the hands of the wrong person,’ said Ant Timpson from the New Zealand International Film Festival

I think that the persons behind the banning of a movie are also thinking about the possible effects it may bring to the people that is why they chose to ban a specific film. Violent movies can influence people especially the younger ones, they might copy and idolize the styles of killing a person not knowing that it may harm another and also that it is not healthy for everybody.

Another article that I saw talks about violent movies creating violent people. The article is entitled Do violent movies create violent people? by Ben Kayser..

According to article the mass media creates the culture and shapes the hearts and minds of people they also are the ones responsible for showing everything that a person needed to see in order for them to know what is happening around us.

So, knowing that a person spent 28 hours in a week watching t.v and most of the movies they see is violent does it increase the percentage of crimes as well?


  “Now the act of violence with a gun or a knife is the norm, and we in the entertainment industry are partly responsible in making the presence of weapons such as knives almost an acceptable commonplace.” said Anthony Hopkins.


While reading that article I started thinking maybe mass media really has something to do about the violence that is happening in the world. Most people becomes violent without any reason and it is something we really need to avoid. Though we are the ones who is responsible to what we do, we should think on what act must be done using our creative mind, that is why our parents send us to school we should also think about the future. Edmund Bruke a member of the British Parliament and chief advocate of English and American concepts of liberty and justice eloquently said:

“Society is an open-ended partnership between generations. The dead and the unborn are as much members of society as the living. To dishonor the dead is to reject the relation on which society is built—a relation of obligation between generations. Those who have lost respect for the dead have ceased to be trustees of their inheritance. Inevitably, therefore, they lose the sense of obligation to future generations. The web of obligations shrinks to the present tense.”

With that being said, we should know our limitations and obligations to the society. We should contribute to the welfare of our society and not creating a disaster because of our selfishness. Violence is present because we ourselves let it happen,but if we help each other regardless of the status that we have I'm sure no violence would be created.

Blogpost 5: Movies: Good or Bad?

Many of us was told in an early age that watching horror films is not healthy for the brain, because it corrupts our ideas about the reality and not. Most of us thinks that horror is nothing but a scare to people also it can make people stressed and worked out, but does horror film really only gives us negative effects? or does it also has a positive side? I searched some articles about this matter and I was able to find out some facts and possible answers to my question. Some of these articles says that there are bad effects of watching it but at the same time there are also articles that says it can be helpful to us.

In this article made by Kathy Benjamin entitled 5 scientific way watching movies effect you there are 5 effects that can affect you either Psychologically or mentally and these are the following:

The first one is that they can ruin your health we don't know what might be risking our physical and mental health. It may affect our heart rates and blood pressures specially to those who has heart problems because it may cause heart attacks,watching films could also be of good use to anyone.It can cause burning of calories which is good for one's body. Also by being scared, it can cause a good circulation of blood in the body.It can also make you more productive, by watching movies it may enhance your creativity and critical thinking which you may use in reality. If you watch many movies of different genres it could really be helpful to your life as a student.It can also control your thoughts, after watching a couple of horror films our minds tend to remember that these things really couldn't happen in reality so as we grow up, we never got scared to horrors any longer because we know in our selves that these things are only made for entertainment and can never be true.The last is that it can make you more aggressive, people nowadays especially the teens always applies what they watched into their own life regardless if it violence or romances which sometimes is not a good thing. If children are used to this kind of things they would bring it up until they grow old.

After reading this article I learned that there are many effects watching different kind of movies to one's mind. Watching movies can have both good and bad effects to people but it is up to the person if he/she will bring this up to the real world whether it is violence or romance.

While I was searching for possible articles that may help me I saw this one article that is very interesting, But the bad side is that it is concerning more about on women but it also goes for males. The title of the article is Watching horror movies good for the brain written by Shruti Ravi

"Research suggests that while women  watch horror flicks, the brain secretes neurotransmitter dopamine, glutamate and serotonin. Thus, increased brain activity gets the state of mind alert for a while. Additionally , threat signals that pass through the hypothalamus (in the brain) will stimulate the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline and opiates which has an anesthesia like effect. After watching the movie for half and hour, the system of the body will be calm and the defense system will become more powerful. That is when the immune system in the body will be stronger for a while."

Knowing about this matter made me laugh I never knew that watching horror could help the health of women which is a good thing, the only problem is on how we could convince them because most women when we say horror they tend to walk away and refuse to watch because they are afraid of ghosts and other supernatural creatures. But we should convince them to watch occasionally because it would really help them in their health and at the same time there would be a bonding time.

In my opinion watching horror films could really be helpful because it not only boosts our abilities and strengthen our beliefs but it can also help us in our health. So I am suggesting that more people should watch horror once in a while specially to those who have many calories in the body because it can burn them by just merely focusing on the movie.    

Blogpost 4: Effects of horror movies to people

We all know that horror films are widely popular and can generate lots and lots of money because most people loves to watch and be scared by it. It is also one of the most popular hobbies most of us do whenever we feel bored and lonely. But many people doesn't know the psychological effects that it may bring to a person specially to children because it can be brought up until they grow up and become an adult. Most of us don't even care about the effects that it may bring to us but as an adult we should know the harms and the casualties that we can get and how we should handle it.

According from an article from Lifestyle Lounge entitled Effects of watching horror films, the effects of watching horror films can be broken down to into the following:

Anxiety promotes the feeling of nervousness and being down can linger into their adulthood because of the experience they can get from watching horror movies. Another is sleeplessness,a person might not be able to sleep well even after months after watching the film. People tend to develop insomnia and nightmares that could really affect their physical and mental health.The next is fear,a person might develop the fear of going into dark places and might not be able to sleep without a companion. He or she might tremble,cry or even nauseate if the horror film really gave an impact to their lives. Next is Phobia, as a result of watching the horror films and seeing lots of possibilities that may happen.A person may develop a phobia to insects,reptiles,fires,water,enclosed space, blood and height. He/she may be afraid to go near the objects and animals that he/she seen in the film that really scared them. Another is Mental trauma, after experiencing an extreme scare and thrill a person may develop a trauma that may hinder him/her from pointing out which is reality and which are fiction. The last on is Behavioral changes, a person that watches horror films that includes bloody scenes may influence on how they behave in the reality. He/she might think that problems may be resolved by violence which could have a negative effect on them.

After knowing this effects I realized that watching horror movies may have a side effect as well, But I believe it is really up to the person watching it on how they can apply the actions that they watched into their own life, But at the same time we should also be very careful to what we do because we might influence children to do incorrect actions.

Violence could turn a person into something he/she is not. Many cases about violence has been seen and lots of these involves children. Violence could harm many people, So we should control ourselves from entering such things specially while we are still young. Also by not applying the violence we watched from movies would prevent harm. Horror movies was made for the intention of suspense and thrill but it is up to the people if they would apply it in reality or not.

In the article entitled Violence in the media from Christian Answers It stated that: 

"With children having so much exposure to the media, the messages that come across… are very important and they shape how a child sees the world and what a child sees as important. …A lot of the messages related to violence and sexuality can negatively impact a child."

Indeed media has a lot of influence especially to kids because they easily believe what they are seeing and not knowing that sometimes the action that is being done in the film might not really be healthy for them. Most children copies what action they are seeing in the film because they think that it might help them become a stronger and awesome person. Children now a days copies what they watch especially if it is action or horror and most of the other children they mingle with also becomes influenced to it which might harm them, So we really need to watch out to what we are watching and the personalities they are portraying.

'Watch out!'

Blogpost 3: Calorie burner?

Watching horror film requires a lot of energy,our minds and bodies focuses too much in it and we don't even recognize that there is already something happening in our body. As I was doing my research about horror film I was surprised to see something interesting. I didn't know that when a person watch a horror movie it somehow burns the fats and calories inside us, Whoa! isn't that awesome? 

"viewers who put themselves through 90 minutes of adrenaline-pumping terror can use up as much as 113 calories, close to the amount burned during a half-hour walk and the equivalent to a chocolate bar". Says the University of Westminster in the article, Watching horror films can burn calories, University study say.


According to the article watching horror films could burn calories, we could even eat our favorite chocolate and not even thinking about the calories that we might get from eating it. They made a study about how much calories are burned depending on how frightening the movie is and the results were as follows:

Stanley Kubrick's classic "The Shining", (184 calories),"Jaws" (161 calories), "The Exorcist" (158 calories), "Alien" (152 calories), "Saw" (133 calories), "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (118 calories), "Paranormal Activity" (111 calories), "The Blair Witch Project" (105 calories), "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (107 calories), "[REC]" (101 calories).


When I first saw these articles I was really shocked, I don't really expect that by just merely watching a 2 hour horror film could lessen the amount of calories that a person has. This is really something amazing.


Another article that I saw about this matter is Watching horror films can burn up to 180 calories from the Daily News, Said this quote.


"As pulse quicken and blood pumps around the body faster, the body experiences a surge in adrenaline." He adds. "It is this release of fast acting adrenaline, produced during short bursts of intense stress (or in this case brought on by fear), which is known to lower the appetite. increase the nasal metabolic rate and ultimately burn a higher level of calorie."

This article is saying that watching horror movies can help us burn calories as long as we don't pair it with eating buttered popcorn or a high calorie food. Knowing this, it will be a lot easier for us to lose weight and at the same time we enjoy the film. I never thought that by simply watching a scary movie would help burn fats and lose weight, I was really surprised to know about this matter, It is a good thing I am doing a research about horror movies.





This really is a good news especially to those candy,chocolate and other sweets lover because knowing this can lessen the amount of calories we have in our body and the better news is that we don't have to do some extreme exercise or enter gyms instead, we could just sit down and enjoy watching our favorite movies while burning calories, So why do that extremely hard and sweating exercises if you could just sit and enjoy watching movies in your house or go out with friends and have almost the same result?

Blogpost 2: Characteristics of horror film most people looks for

Filipinos are fond of watching horror movies, their desire to feel intense excitement and thrill makes them have this kind of hobby specially when there are special occasions like birthdays and blowouts,but they usually watch cinemas after a long day of examinations, Filipinos are the type of people who wants to feel relaxed after they finish a specific job.

Before watching a horror movie we tend to choose the most intense and the scariest among them. So I've searched which characteristics of horror films most of us looks for when watching horror films. I found this article made by Rianne Hill Soriano entitled Characteristics of horror movies that typically scare the viewers. 

 There she discussed that a horror film should have a dark and eerie atmosphere, there should be an intense fear shown in the characters in the film so viewers would be easily convinced. Second is graphic scenes, Having special effects are essential to make the movie looks real and believable. Also, having a good special effects could attract more viewers because people now a days especially teens would want to watch movies which are flashy so it is indeed necessary.The last element of good horror film that she said is the creepy sound. Having an interesting and shocking sound could be a shocking factor in choosing a good horror film to watch, people usually want to watch a movie which has a horrifying sound effects because the number 1 reason they watch horror is for them to be scared.

People often looks for these characteristics of the movie even before entering the cinema because they know that if  this specific movie that they chose has the characteristics and element of a good horror movie, Certainly they would have a good time watching it.


I have this one movie which I am interested in. Its called "SAW". When it comes to choosing a suspense and thrilling movie I could say that this movie is one of the top movies that people choose watching.

"Although movies more interested in gore than scares existed way before the 21st century, it was a little film called Saw back in 2004 that brought it to the forefront of the film industry, turning voyeurism of the most questionable kind into a commercial cinematic product. The type of film Saw, its sequels, and other such films as Hostel 1 & 2 were dubbed as “torture porn,” a term as blunt as it is perverse. Many other films have tried and failed to be as successful as the Saw series but for whatever reason this franchise has managed to make a ton of money at the box office on very small budgets".

In this article Movie review written by Ross Miller. He mentioned there that this movie "Saw" changed the taste of the people in terms of choosing what type of movie they gonna watch. Blood gores and tortures are one of the most interesting types of movies that our generation watches this days and the movie saw is a perfect example of this. 

In choosing the horror film that we are going to watch, we should consider the elements of the film. Picking the type of movie which can hook ones attention could be a good characteristic of a horror film. I have found out that most of us filipinos wanted to watch a movie which can remove our stresses and other bad feelings by watching a good type of horror film and by this we learn how to choose a good type of film and it is by knowing the elements of good horror films.

Blogpost 1: Why do people watch horror films?

After a long day at school my sister and I decided to go home together and came across this familiar DVD stand. And I told myself, hey why not buy some movies to relax myself a bit.I found myself attentively fiddling with the horror movie section. And then it hit me. Why is it that every time I come to this place I always care to look at the horror shows first? Is it because I get entertained when I fall down the edge of my seat every time I see jump scares? Or am I just plainly interested with the supernatural genre? 


So I found myself stuck at this chair googling about the reasons why people enjoy horror movies so much.

In the article Horror films written by Tim Dirks from AMC film site, horror film is defined as:

 "unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience.Horror films effectively center on the dark side of life, the forbidden, and strange and alarming events. They deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our revulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality". 

The article says that horror films are usually made to terrify and scare people, Also to let the viewers experience dismemberment for a moment and forget about the present and experience a thrilling sensation by showing to the audience another side of the world which is the dark side. Horror films are often associated with science fiction when monsters,aliens,vampires and other supernatural beings are present because they are the most common entities that scares a lot of people.

Knowing this, most people asked why is there the need to watch a horror film well in fact it just gives us the spooks and nightmares. I myself is guilty of asking on why do I even bother watching horror films? why do we pay to scare ourselves sick? or is it just something people usually do to kill time? 

So, with that in mind I have searched different articles to answer my question and I have found out that there are various motives for watching a horror film. "This includes the need for excitement, the desire to feel intense emotions, and distraction from everyday concern. Although dramatic films can fulfill some of these needs, movies depicting violence and horror have features that other forms of drama do not, including the violation of social norms and the portrayal of events seldom seen in real life." from the article Why we watch: The attractions of violent entertainment by Jeffrey Goldstein.

According to the article, people usually watch horror films to kill time. they also wanted to forget the problems they are facing in the real world and they are somehow distracted which leads to the relaxation of their minds. 

People rarely watch horror movies alone, watching it in groups give a more thrilling and a greater excitement especially with the teenagers who are with their couples. Most of us wants to have a good time and watching horror movies is one of the many things that we usually spent our time when we feel bored.

"No doubt, there's something really powerful that brings people to watch these things, because it's not logical". Some interesting words from Joanne Cantor, PhD, director of the Center of Communication Research at University of Wisconsin from the article Why we love scary movies, written by Richard Sine





After reading this quote, I came to realize that the most common factor that makes most people watch horror films is curiosity. Curiosity is a powerful emotion, and because of this, most people especially teenagers try watching horror. There's a sense of illicitness in a horror films which attracts and seduce viewers. People seeks out things that we are not meant to see its a feeling that stays up until to adulthood. And most of these things could be found in a good horror film.


Now I understand why I often look at horror movies section first before dramas and other types of movies. It is because I also wanted to experience extreme fear and excitement which could be found in horror films alone. And because of curiosity I tend to watch horror films which catch my attention.