The terror, the shock, the dread and the fear after a horror film have been the mental disruption in my experience for over a week. This cinematic fear causes me to sprint right back to my bed at night after going to the bathroom. But how can cinematic fear be ‘pleasurable’? As Hanich (2010) mentioned, it is because it consists of “precious moments of subjective intensity”. Which includes:

• Metamorphoses of the lived-body
• Foregrounding of time
• Instances of collectivity

What makes a film horror and why would it generate fear in the first place? Sound plays a big role here in assisting horror aesthetics in relation to the screen. Imagine for instance, if the film shows someone walking in the dark with a harsh lighting but there wasn’t any sound. It might look scary, but it wouldn’t have a significant terror impact. Let alone shocking, as almost all the time that we are shocked is because of the loud ‘bang’ sound that suddenly made viewers (or even just a listener) jump.

Hanich, J 2010, Cinematic emotion in horror films and thrillers, “Pleasures and Counterbalances”, Routledge, New York, pp. 24-36.