re: Why Do People Like Horror Movies?

Aside from the solid points in here already...simply put: I like them because they're fun. It's fun to be scared. Just because something isn't real or even based in reality doesn't mean it can't be scary. I can watch a horror movie and be creeped the frick out and then be at my house alone at night without fear that something is "gonna get me." It's just fun. And I fricking HATED scary movies when I was a kid...so it's cool for me now because I enjoy them so much. I've done quite the 180.

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Not saying there aren't great ones out there, but let's be honest, when was the last truly great horror movie released?

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Good thread about this very thing.

The point is that they bring out an emotional reaction from me. That emotional reaction can be disgust or fascination. Sometimes I am startled. When I was younger, I was more prone to be scared. These are all valid feelings on the spectrum of human emotion, and I have fun experiencing them all.

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when was the last truly great horror movie released?

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2010

It's fun when you're a kid. Most love is for the nostalgia.

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First off, 90% of everything is crap. Your list of problems is problems with, well, bad movies. The genre is unimportant.

But I think horror movie directors, or good ones at least, are really good directors because they are the only ones who actively have to work against their audience. People walk into a comedy ready to laugh, a drama ready to cry, or whatever. Horror movie patrons walk in determined to NOT be scared. A good director has to overcome that roadblock.

One of the best things about the genre is that it is the virtual ghetto of filmmaking. Studios will churn out a film without regard to content because they know it will make a small budget back from teenagers. Which allows a good, young director a chance to break into the business and do what he wants without much studio interference. Some wildly inventive films were made just because it came in on time and under budget. I think it is the best genre for a young director to break into movies. Worked for John Carpenter.

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Right on target.

I've always thought horror just as "touchy" a genre as comedy. People often saying "You just don't get it," to the weirdos who don't like Monty Python or the crazy people that really do like Harold and Maude. Comedy is unique in that what we find funny is often within a wide spectrum, but horror is even more so.

Which makes it work quite well as a partner genre for film. If a movie has "some comedy," or takes a partially comedic slant, it must make you laugh, that's the goal.

Horror has a much wider range to play with which ultimately makes it more creative - Shcok, Awe, disbelief, disturbed, fear, etc.

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John Carpenter.

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Who was always able to, along with Craven, Cronenberg, and other contemporaries, embed horror within the fabric of other films seamlessly. And it works.

To the OP:

You may not like cheesy B horror, that's fine, it's an acquired taste. But are you telling me you don't like The Thing? Alien? You might just need to branch out.

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It's fun when you're a kid. Most love is for the nostalgia.

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I think in general most kids love to get scared and its something you either don't grow out of or you keep watching for nostalgic reasons as an adult.

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That's terribly reductive.

If anything, and like Baloo alluded to, I love horror films because most of the time horror directors are fearless (ironic I know). They are willing to try anything. That's both endearing and exciting.

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Talking about for films like nightmare on elm street 4 or Friday the 13th 7.

There is a lot of horror I love to this day. Most the dvds I own are horror, sci fi or drama. I even have redneck zombies and cannibal ferox. Movies like the thing (82), alien and aliens, silence of the lambs, the Shining, night of the living dead are some of my favorite movies of all time. But a lot of horror genre, especially in the campy 1980s just takes me back.

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Iw ould agree, I was just answering the "Most love it for nostalgia," which I don't think is true. Some do, but some people love lots of films for nostalgia, it shouldn't be held against the horror genre.

I was really just speaking for me on why I'd marathon the elm street, Friday or Halloween series to this day. When I watch Friday the 13th 2 it reminds me of being younger and getting into horror with friends. Good times and I actually like the Friday films. Aside from 6, 8 and 10. But, those are just an example of the type of horror films I was originally talking about.

Honestly, I've been smoking and I was just lazily answering .

Halloween
The Shining
Psycho
The Exorcist
Alien
The Thing

Those are six of the finest films ever made.

Scream, The Ring and The Strangers are amazing horror films as well.

There are some exceptions like the Shining, but I too am not a fan of the genre.