The science of fear
NOVA Presents
00:00
The Neurobiology of Horror Movies
The filmmakers just really got it right. The neural response, that primal fear emotion is what our ancestors used when they were trying to stay alive. It's the same response that has us engaged if you're watching a horror movie about some dude with a hockey mask and a machete trying to kill people. That's what it looks like. We know very little about the actual neurobiology of horror movies. But the thing is those movies are designed to activate that fear system. They bypass all your rationality, all your knowledge about film structure and patterns of editing and cinematography. And they just go straight into that fear central and make you a trembling, cave person once again.
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