Horror films Are they're hidden messages?

A message? no, more like people trying to make money out of their sick imagination, lol i dont really like horr films no more, ind them boring and predictible...

[edit on 3-7-2008 by ashpants]

I used to like horror films back in the 90s.
most horror films of today are complete acts of murder on a new level with the victims being held up in houses and stuff and having to cut off their own limbs and worse.
I wouldnt call most of todays popular horror films "horror" i would call them sick degrading ways to die.
Those sorts of visual images tend to leave scars in my head for days so i dont watch them no more.

Also those sick youtube vids of folks being killed by bombs and guns dont seem no different to todays movies. The movie industry is so sick these days putting vile images into ppls heads.

horror films are not like they used to be no more it seems to me anyway

you can say the same thing about reality shows and dramas, are teaching people to think they should act like that in certain situations

knowing the difference between reality and fictional movies is a good thing

blood and gore entertaining? oh yes it is

real life blood and gore? its serious

i work in a hosptial, i know the difference

no conspiracy here

There is an element of humanity that exists that finds curiosity in the macabre. There's an excitement that comes with blood and gore, but it's much cleaner on screen.

I love horror movies. I watch them as if there is something to learn from them. In the event of a zombie attack, do this...

When being chased by a machete wielding hockey mask wearing undead beast, follow these instructions......

What is the best way to avoid a cannibalistic freak family from Texas when your car is broken down.

These are necessary learning events that those who don't watch horror movies would never survive.

Its like when people blame things on computer games aswell. I wouldnt say horror films or games made people want to go out and repeat what they've seen, on someone in the real world. Sometimes it might happen but I just think that the person who is repeating something like that already has mental problems and would go out and do something similar anyways. Regardless of what horror film they've watched.

Personally I love horror films and playing games but understand that its not everybodys cup of tea! I jus like a good scare. The tense moments waiting for the shock. The gore usually just adds to the shock. Just wouldnt be the same without it. It puts you into a false world knowing that you can walk away alive and not ending up in court for pinching cars lol.

If you like gore films I recommend The Ruins... I thought Hostel 1 & 2 were bad but I actually felt physically sick watching this film!

Originally posted by Rasobasi420
I love horror movies. I watch them as if there is something to learn from them.

1) NEVER split up to search for clues
2) NEVER take a shower (if you're a girl)
3) NEVER search the cellar/attic/locked secret room
4) NEVER take the shortcut through the cemetery/alley
5) NEVER check under the bed/behind the sofa/curtain
6) NEVER buy a dead murderers house/house on an Indian burial ground
7) NEVER 'go' with someone who has 'something to show you'
8) NEVER keep your door/car key on a bunch of others that won't work
9) NEVER annoy someone possessed/under alien control
10) NEVER get possessed until at least two hours after a heavy meal (may result in projectile vomiting and a slight 'spinning' sensation. )

Originally posted by AGENT_T
8) NEVER keep your door/car key on a bunch of others that won't work

Classic! Who has that many keys!!

Ah horror films...
For me I guess it's just really fascinating to find out what triggers the chemical reactions in my brain. I LOVE ghost movies..."The Changeling" with George C. Scott is one of my favorites. I could watch "Poltergeist" 'til the cows come home. I tried to watch the original "Texas Chain Saw Massacre"...you know that part in the beginning where they pick up the really creepy hitch-hiker? That guy freaked me out so much that I couldn't POSSIBLY watch the rest. I dunno why.
Somehow this topic makes me think of this ...
I live in rural Colorado, if you are going somewhere, you're on the highway. Anyhoot, we were driving one day and there was a blood smear on the highway from a deer that had been hit. A really BIG blood smear. I started laughing and I just couldn't stop. It didn't look like a deer had been hit, it looked like the poor thing was just standing in the middle in the road and it EXPLODED. I couldn't tell if it had been hit by a truck or a UFO! I laughed until my gut hurt. My husband thought I was sick, my kids were horrified and I couldn't explain it myself. I wouldn't touch a hair on another persons head, I would never kill an insect I completely subscribe to the Taoist view of life...but my GOD that was hilarious!
Brains are weird but here's what I know- outside stimulus cannot trigger a behaviour that isn't inherent to an individual. I toned my abs with a good chuckle but I still don't go out and hunt deer.

welll i kind of like horror films, but ever since last week i saw the hills have eyes 2, ive been very disturbed, cause of the horrible things they showed. But i like horror films, cause there are more action and sumtimes it shows wat to do, if that particalur event ever happen ( but what are the odds of some horror films happening, cause some can never ever happen) but it doesnt really put things in peoples mines, its the people who are crazy and the world is full of nut jobs who can never snap back to reality and tell themselves killing is very wrong, but i see today society is just messed, cause people dont know how to work together as one, to make the world a better place. I really dont know what this world is coming to in the future though. But i do agree, what are horror movies really for, cause they are just disgusting and sick, but i guess its just a part of entertainment and people enjoy it.

Hidden messages I've gotten from horror movies.

11) NEVER eat the food
12) NEVER assume they're ok, upon closer inspection they will bite you
13) NEVER pick up a hitch-hiker
14) NEVER hitch-hike
15) The call is always from in the house

I guess that horror movies could be entertaining to a person that has never experienced real horror. Most people that I have observed, that like the blood and gore type stuff appear to attain an arousal not unlike that of a person viewing pornography. The best horror movies are the ones that stop short of employing all of the special effects and allow the viewer to formulate their on pictures in their own minds. In truth the movie special effects are far removed from what is offered to a person, willing to enlist in the Marine Corps during a time of war. They just can't duplicate all that is horror on a movie screen. I have wondered for years if the media is doing more than scaring people into wanting protection, but also creating people that are numb to blood and gore that will mindlessly submit to being cannon fodder in a far away oil rich third world country.

Sorry if this has already been pointed out, but they are just for entertainment. Creative ideas that instill fear into us. Personally, I am amused by horror films and laugh at how stupid a mistake a ditsy girl in the movie has made before her bloody end. I only laugh because most horror films have become repetitive in a way though and you expect almost everything.

I have to say they seem to prepare you more than huddle you into a corner like when you were a child. Its that reason that allows me to believe there is no hidden agenda or message in these popular movies. Watching all the mistakes of soon-to-be-killed teenager usually makes you remember that this is not what you should do in the situation. "Don't open the door you idiot! You saw him go in there! Run out the door! My god." Yes, I shout at the television set, though I do control myself in the movies.

Besides, I don't think movies like a puppet/doll coming to life is a hidden message to throw out "contaminated" plastic children's toys. Just for enjoyment and occasional goosebumps, that's all.

Don't care much for horror movies they make now a days. Too much gore. Didn't really like Jaws that much because of people getting chewed up by a freak shark. Anything with mutilation is just not for me, but I am nearly a half a century old now and our tastes change as we grow older. Hidden messages for me in any movies are like the kinds Walt Disney puts into theirs. YouTube has some pretty good examples of subliminal messages.

X-Files, Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, and those genres are more psychological thrillers and I stay there. Get a little bit more out of a show that makes me think that what I saw is plausible. Space alien movies like Fire in the Sky are good, too. Based on the real life account of a logger who got out of the truck when he shouldn't have. Travis Walton, I believe, was his name. There use to be a show called In Search Of. It was good.

I listen to Coast to Coast AM (coasttocoastam.com) now. All night talk radio. They have ghost investigators (ghostpix.com) that make the show interesting and I don't care all that much for ghosts and spooks and demons. The EVPs are quite convincing that demons can imitate humans well enough to deceive folks into thinking that they are the disembodied dead, but I know better. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that I know that, too.

A lot of modern horrors are laughable though. I watched Teeth lately and was probably one of the worst films i've ever seen. I laughed at it more than anything.

I agree with the Poltergeist films though, they creep me right out! Even after its finished and i'm lying in bed!

The shining is really good the first time you watch it because of the tension that builds up and your just waiting and waiting for what seems like forever for the fright that never really comes! lol.
Also with that film though it actually made me think a bit. The mind works in strange ways and I thought what if you built something like this place. Where everything has an effect on the brain. The colour of the carpet, the shape of the corridoors, the layout of the building, the lighting etc etc. If you done it a certain way so that if you lived there you would just crack and go crazy without it realising its even happening! Because of the knock on effect every detail is having on the brain...

I personally can't stand MOST horror films. And by most i'm referring to the unnecesarily bloody/violent ones. I find ALL the Saw movies intensely horrific. Who the hell in their right minds finds that entertainment?! And yes that is a question i want answered. I have two friends who are obssessed with those movies cause "they help you appreciate life"...seriously? I haven't talked to these two chicks since then, they don't seem mentally in the correct place. And you may not step on a spider and still be the most devoted horror fan but when i see that smile on your face and the look of envy whne you see that guy get his jaw ripped off for "the perfect life lesson" i won't believe a word you say. I think horror films do not cause crimes but i do think they have a pretty good way of triggering the idea. That's just me though, i'm the kid who shuts his eyes at the sound of a school fight and runs though but everyone's different, if you like demented murder...go for it i guess, just avoid talking to me and sharing your opinions with me

To answer the question posed, I think it's possible for any type of movie to
affect an unstable person to the extent they may "act out".

Like every film genre, horror films run the spectrum from masterpiece on down to garbage. My favorites are "The Exorcist", "The Shining" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula." (Gary Oldman was great as Dracula)
I never cared for the ultra gory stuff.

Then there's a group of weird, obscure horror movies I love. Badly made stuff like "Gargoyles" and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark".

Yee Haaa!!! My first post

Just a quick note.
Not all horror movies are pure entertainment. Some actually attempt to make a point to an audience that may not normally think about certain subjects (ie. Frontier(s) from France is an commentary about fascism and it's cannibalism of society's 'weak' or Dawn of the Dead (the original) is metaphor for modern consumerism.

Some say that there are better ways/movie genres to tackle more serious topics, but (some) horror writers/producers/directors are trying to reach a particular audience to share a specific message. (Most horror movies ARE entertainment but if you look hard enough there are quite a few that will get into the viewers head visually and mentally).

I disagree with the OP because once you 'censor' something, it's not long before the 'Man' looks for a new target. How long after stopping horror movies do they stop action movies (because action movies are violent and cause speeding and shoot-outs :lol.

I totally agree that there are needless movies made (in all genres, especially horror - Saw, Hostel, Requiem...) but it's a slippery slope.

Ok, I lied, not quite a 'quick note but I think you get what I'm saying.

P.S. ATS should be banned for promoting the questioning of authority.
P.P.S. I saw my first UFO last Saturday.

I recall reading about a study on the link between violence and movies/video games/etc... The study concluded that watching extreme acts of violence does desensitize the viewer, and with enough exposure they don't freak out over it, but it does NOT make them want to out and committ violence.

Personally I have always loved horror films, though it is hard to find good ones. The slasher flicks are not my thing but Hostel and Rob Zombie flicks are awesome (yes sick, and very fun).

I bet if you interviewed violent prisoners convicted of heinous crimes virtually NONE of them are horror film fans, they don't learn that stuff from tv.

It's entertainment and nothing more and a lot of them are actually more than that. Johnius made a good point about the original Dawn of the Dead and the message behind it. George Romero does this with all his movies.

Also, not everyone who likes horror films likes blood and gore. I'm a huge horror fan myself, I have a Freddy Krueger glove autographed by Robert Englund sitting on my desk as I type this, but I also hate blood. I've had a fear of blood since I was a kid. Every time I see blood I feel sick to my stomach. All my friends and family find that hilarious and I do myself actually. Movies on the other hand don't bother me at all because it's not real. I'm so bad with that, that to this day I can't make a hamburger because of the blood you sometimes see when cooking it.

You're taking horror movies too seriously and I'm insulted that you imply anyone who likes them will go nuts and kill people. Books have influenced more killings than movies ever have.

[edit on 3-7-2008 by nightmare_david]

i'm gonna have to say the shining was a very great movie. I saw it on tv for the first time last winter and i thought it was a pretty good movie