Not quite the McCollough effect

Not quite the McCollough effect but the new generation of DVD horror films are very worrying. Trouble is when the mind is faced with a threat (for example) a Black Bear, the brain will assess and adapt to it and - I'm guessing here - elevated pulse and breathing, sudden release of blood sugars and an immediate flight from its vicinity. Contrast the response with a deadly snake. Supression of breathing and heart rate, very slow reluctant movement and even a feeling of faintness.
Its all to do with the brains assessment of the animals capability, the bodies following adaptation to surviving an attack and naturally, temporarily making changes to the metabolism and brief suspension of lower order bodily function.
Modern horror's most shocking genre is the persistantly changing threat, it might have fangs one second, claws the next, or be suddenly multi-limbed and the problem is that as video effect and (God help us) 3D imaging improve the mind is at risk of being fooled into accepting that it is faced with a real threat.
If the brain persistantly changes metabolic rates due to a persistantly changing threat (not possible within Nature) there is a danger of suspension of higher order bodily function - and a fatality probably due to heart failure. The unfortunate outcome of ever greater realism might yet have its price.

a reply to: Cinnamon

I think you would be right if/when the films actually had direct access to those internal systems. But for now most peoples brains are so numbed by the constant barrage of media BS, the neverending supply of corn syrup and fluoride and the staggerring lack of micronutrients in the food supply, the distracting and garbling effect of EMFs on the nervous system etc, that its impossible for a mere film to break through the haze. The amount of people filming with their smartphones when they should be running for their lives indicates that even real life barely gets through to a lot of them anymore. But God help them if VR ever actually became effective enough.

I thought about this after seeing some seriously scary $h17 on DVD a while back, the film was about a medical student looking after an abandoned and deformed child – in the vein of ‘Eraserhead’ and I got to thinking about the nature of horror films and exactly what it is any film maker is attempting to do. Naturally, with the improving special effects it is only going to be so long before imaging tricks the mind (not us being logical individuals, you understand), and physiological effects begin to take place. The brains functions don’t stop at our laptop screen and we are still flesh and blood. If the brain is tricked into dealing with multiple threats then it could divert process away from higher order function with the subject suffering sudden arrest of these functions. I mentioned heart failure but respiratory arrest is equally possible, and affecting perfectly healthy subjects, too.
This also raises concerns about modern advertising, which rely heavily on computer animation. Since people are watching impossible actions and attempting to react to them, it is arguable that todays marketing tools are the use of ‘Horror’ to sell the latest product. I don’t mean adverts for switchblades but womans Makeup or Childrens breakfast cereal.
Switch off the TV- Watch old movies.