Disgust ( Middle French : desgouster , from Latin gustus , ' taste ' ) is an emotional response of rejection or revulsion to something potentially contagious or something considered offensive, distasteful or unpleasant. In The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals , Charles Darwin wrote that disgust is a sensation that refers to something revolting. Disgust is experienced primarily in relation to the sense of taste (either perceived or imagined), and secondarily to anything which causes a similar feeling by sense of smell , touch , or vision . Musically sensitive people may even be disgusted by the cacophony of inharmonious sounds. Research has continually proven a relationship between disgust and anxiety disorders such as arachnophobia , blood-injection-injury type phobias , and contamination fear related obsessive–compulsive disorder (also known as OCD).
138-510: Torture Chamber is a 2013 horror film written and directed by Dante Tomaselli . The movie first released on October 10, 2013 at the Sitges Film Festival and was released onto DVD on January 28, 2014. The film stars Vincent Pastore , Christie Sanford, and Lynn Lowry , and follows a family trying to save a teen boy from demonic possession. This marks a change from Tomaselli's usual horror formula, as prior films showed adults in
276-508: A brain scanner . In conservatives , the basal ganglia and amygdala and several other regions showed increased activity, while in liberals other regions of the brain increased in activity. Both groups reported similar conscious reactions to the images. The difference in activity patterns was large: the reaction to a single image could predict a person's political leanings with 95% accuracy. Later, however, such results have been proven to be mixed, with failed replications and questions about what
414-504: A "flash of intuition" and that these affective perceptions operate rapidly, associatively, and outside of consciousness . From this, moral intuitions are believed to be stimulated prior to conscious moral cognitions which correlates with having a greater influence on moral judgments. Research suggests that the experience of disgust can alter moral judgments. Many studies have focused on the average change in behavior across participants, with some studies indicating disgust stimuli intensifies
552-801: A British erotic horror film series is Hellraiser . Alien features heavy erotic imagery, with the design of the Xenomorph by H. R. Giger featuring both phallic and vaginal imagery, intended to symbolize patriarchal guilt as well as sex, rape, and pregnancy. Folk horror uses elements of folklore or other religious and cultural beliefs to instil fear in audiences. Folk horror films have featured rural settings and themes of isolation, religion and nature. Frequently cited examples are Witchfinder General (1968), The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971), The Wicker Man (1973), The Witch (2015), and Midsommar (2019). Local folklore and beliefs have been noted as being prevalent in horror films from
690-417: A certain aspect of morality. Horberg et al. found that disgust plays a role in the development and intensification of moral judgments of purity in particular. In other words, the feeling of disgust is often associated with a feeling that some image of what is pure has been violated. For example, a vegetarian might feel disgust after seeing another person eating meat because he/she has a view of vegetarianism as
828-704: A characteristic facial expression, one of Paul Ekman 's six universal facial expressions of emotion. Unlike the emotions of fear , anger , and sadness , disgust is associated with a decrease in heart rate. It is believed that the emotion of disgust has evolved as a response to offensive foods that may cause harm to the organism. A common example of this is found in human beings who show disgust reactions to mouldy milk or contaminated meat. Disgust appears to be triggered by objects or people who possess attributes that signify disease. Self-report and behavioural studies found that disgust elicitors include: The above-mentioned main disgust stimuli are similar to one another in
966-443: A co-production with Australia and Death Warmed Up (1984) a single production. Early features such as Melanie Read 's Trial Run (1984) where a mother is sent to remote cottage to photograph penguins and finds it habitat to haunted spirits, and Gaylene Preston's Mr. Wrong (1984) purchases a car that is haunted by its previous owner. Other films imitate American slasher and splatter films with Bridge to Nowhere (1986), and
1104-473: A conspecific looking disgusted after tasting a particular food, he or she automatically infers that the food is bad and should not be eaten. This evidence suggests that disgust is experienced and recognized almost universally and strongly implicates its evolutionary significance. Facial feedback has also been implicated in the expression of disgust. That is, the making of the facial expression of disgust leads to an increased feeling of disgust. This can occur if
1242-435: A crime are more guilty. They also associate them as being morally evil and criminal, thus endorsing them to harsher punishment in the setting of a court. Disgust is also theorized as an evaluative emotion that can control moral behavior . When one experiences disgust, this emotion might signal that certain behaviors, objects, or people are to be avoided in order to preserve their purity . Research has established that when
1380-423: A crime from the past committed (an accidental drowning, infidelity, a scorned lover) and a ready made group of victims (camp counselors, students, wedding parties). The genre was derided by several contemporary film critics of the era such as Ebert, and often were highly profitable in the box office. The release of Scream (1996), led to a brief revival of the slasher films for the 1990s. Other countries imitated
1518-896: A desire to avoid the possibility of an open wound on the victim of the aggression. Those sensitive to sexual disgust must have some sexual object present to be especially avoidant of aggression. Based on these findings, disgust may be used as an emotional tool to decrease aggression in individuals. Disgust may produce specific autonomic responses, such as reduced blood pressure, lowered heart-rate and decreased skin conductance along with changes in respiratory behaviour. Research has also found that people who are more sensitive to disgust tend to find their own in-group more attractive and tend to have more negative attitudes toward other groups. This may be explained by assuming that people begin to associate outsiders and foreigners with disease and danger while simultaneously associating health, freedom from disease, and safety with people similar to themselves. Taking
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#17327757118971656-536: A desire to survive and, ultimately, a fear of death. He compares it to a "behavioral immune system" that is the 'first line of defense' against potentially deadly agents such as dead bodies, rotting food, and vomit. Sexual disgust arises from a desire to avoid "biologically costly mates" and a consideration of the consequences of certain reproductive choices. The two primary considerations are intrinsic quality (e.g., body symmetry, facial attractiveness, etc.) and genetic compatibility (e.g., avoidance of inbreeding such as
1794-434: A dislike for dissonance. Skin conductance responses (SCRs), heart rate (HR), and electromyographic (EMG) responses vary in response to emotional stimuli, showing higher for negative emotions in what is known as the "negative bias." When applied to dissonant music, HR decreases (as a bodily form of adaptation to harsh stimulation), SCR increases, and EMG responses in the face are higher. The typical reactions go through
1932-607: A further look into hygiene, disgust was the strongest predictor of negative attitudes toward obese individuals. A disgust reaction to obese individuals was also connected with views of moral values. Tybur, et al., outlines three domains of disgust: pathogen disgust , which "motivates the avoidance of infectious microorganisms"; sexual disgust , "which motivates the avoidance of [dangerous] sexual partners and behaviors"; and moral disgust , which motivates people to avoid breaking social norms . Disgust may have an important role in certain forms of morality. Pathogen disgust arises from
2070-428: A good film." Shelley called these films derivative of "American films and presenting generic American material". These films included the horror film productions of Antony I. Ginnane . While Australia would have success with international films between the mid-1980s and the 2000s, less than five horror films were produced in the country between 1993 and 2000. It was only after the success of Wolf Creek (2005) that
2208-543: A greater desire for a social distance from participants. Jones & Fitness (2008) coined the term "moral hypervigilance " to describe the phenomenon that individuals who are prone to physical disgust are also prone to moral disgust. The link between physical disgust and moral disgust can be seen in the United States where criminals are often referred to as "slime" or "scum" and criminal activity as "stinking" or being "fishy". Furthermore, people often try to block out
2346-506: A jump scare in a mirror can further build tension. Tight framing and close-ups are also commonly used; these can build tension and induce anxiety by not allowing the viewer to see beyond what is around the protagonist . The interaction between horror films and their audiences is another significant aspect discussed by Rhodes. He notes that horror films often serve as a safe space for viewers to confront and process their fears. This cathartic experience can provide psychological relief and
2484-422: A lower phonation frequency range). Another study by Baliatsas et al. observed that there is a correlation between exposure to infrasound and low-frequency noises and sleep-related problems. Though most horror films keep the audio around 20–30 Hz, the noise can still be unsettling in long durations. Another technique used in horror films to provoke a response from the audience is cognitive dissonance , which
2622-410: A modern setting and made other horror material which pushed the erotic content of their vampire films that was initiated by Black Sunday . In the 1980s, the older horror characters of Dracula and Frankenstein's monster rarely appeared, with vampire themed films continued often in the tradition of authors like Anne Rice where vampirism becomes a lifestyle choice rather than plague or curse. Following
2760-458: A negative face. Young children tend to associate a face showing disgust with anger instead of being able to identify the difference. Adults can make the distinction. The age of understanding seems to be around ten years old. Because disgust is partially a result of social conditioning , there are differences among different cultures in the objects of disgust. For example, Americans "are more likely to link feelings of disgust to actions that limit
2898-520: A new generation of filmmakers would continuously make horror genre films in Australia that continued into the 2010s. By 2005, New Zealand has produced around 190 feature films, with about 88% of them being made after 1976. New Zealand horror film history was described by Philip Matthews of Stuff as making "po-faced gothic and now we do horror for laughs." Among the earliest known New Zealand horror films productions are Strange Behavior (1981),
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#17327757118973036-475: A new genre nature taking revenge on humanity with The Birds (1963) that was expanded into a trend into the 1970s. Following the success of Willard (1971), a film about killer rats, 1972 had similar films with Stanley (1972) and an official sequel Ben (1972). Other films followed in suit such as Night of the Lepus (1972), Frogs (1972), Bug (1975), Squirm (1976) and what Muir described as
3174-483: A person relates to that specific cultural from then on in their life. The history of horror films was described by author Siegbert Solomon Prawer as difficult to read as a linear historical path, with the genre changing throughout the decades, based on the state of cinema , audience tastes and contemporary world events . Films prior to the 1930s , such as early German expressionist cinema and trick films , have been retrospectively described as horror films as
3312-466: A person's rights or degrade a person's dignity" while Japanese people "are more likely to link feelings of disgust to actions that frustrate their integration into the social world." Furthermore, practices viewed as acceptable in some cultures may be viewed as disgusting in other cultures. In English the concept disgust can apply to both physical and abstract things, but in Hindi and Malayalam languages,
3450-522: A sense of empowerment as viewers face and overcome their anxieties in a controlled environment. The communal experience of watching horror films in theaters or discussing them in fan communities also plays a crucial role in the genre's impact and popularity.[6] Music is a key component of horror films. In Music in the Horror Film (2010), Lerner writes "music in horror film frequently makes us feel threatened and uncomfortable" and intends to intensify
3588-441: A standard tool in measuring disgust response. When given a stimulus intraorally which had been previously paired with a nausea -inducing substance, rats will show conditioned disgust reactions. "Gaping" in rats is the most dominant conditioned disgust reaction and the muscles used in this response mimic those used in species capable of vomiting. Studies have shown that treatments that reduced serotonin availability or that activate
3726-420: A system involved in recognizing social signals of disgust, due to a damaged insula caused by neurodegeneration. Many patients with Huntington's disease , a genetically transmitted progressive neurodegenerative disease, are unable to recognize expressions of disgust in others and also don't show reactions of disgust to foul odors or tastes. The inability to recognize expressions of disgust appears in carriers of
3864-677: A trade-off between the nutritional value of the food items and the risk of infection from the biological contaminants, with the chimps weighing the benefit of the food more heavily than the risk of contamination. In contrast to chimpanzees, Japanese macaques are more sensitive to visual cues of contaminants when there is no accompanying odor. Bonobos are most sensitive to fecal odors and rotten food odors. Overall, primates incorporate various senses in their feeding decisions, with disgust being an adaptive trait that helps them avoid potential parasites and other threats from contaminants. The most frequently reported disgust-like behavior in non-human primates
4002-588: A two-step process of first orienting to the problem (the slowing of HR), then a defensive process (a stronger increase in SCR and an increase in HR). This initial response can sometimes result in a fight-or-flight response , which is the characteristic of dissonance that horror films rely on to frighten and unsettle viewers. Disgust Disgust is one of the basic emotions of Robert Plutchik 's theory of emotions, and has been studied extensively by Paul Rozin . It invokes
4140-814: A whole was a style like film noir and not bound to certain cinematic elements like the Western or science fiction film . The term "gothic" is frequently used to describe a stylized approach to showcasing location, desire, and action in film. Contemporary views of the genre associate it with imagery of castles at hilltops and labyrinth like ancestral mansions that are in various states of disrepair. Narratives in these films often focus on an audience's fear and attraction to social change and rebellion. The genre can be applied to films as early as The Haunted Castle (1896), Frankenstein (1910) as well as to more complex iterations such as Park Chan-wook 's Stoker (2013) and Jordan Peele 's Get Out (2017). The gothic style
4278-523: A young audience featuring teenage monsters grew popular in the 1950s with several productions from American International Pictures (AIP) and productions of Herman Cohen with I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957). This led to later productions like Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957) and Frankenstein's Daughter (1958). Teen horror cycle in the 1980s often showcased explicit gore and nudity, with John Kenneth Muir described as cautionary conservative tales where most of
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4416-491: Is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes . Broad elements include monsters , apocalyptic events , and religious or folk beliefs. Horror films have existed for more than a century . Early inspirations from before the development of film include folklore , religious beliefs and superstitions of different cultures, and
4554-497: Is a "widespread and engrained acceptance of supernatural forces" in many Asian cultures, and suggests this is related to animist , pantheist and karmic religious traditions, as in Buddhism and Shintoism . Although Chinese , Japanese , Thai and Korean horror has arguably received the most international attention, horror also makes up a considerable proportion of Cambodian and Malaysian cinema. Ian Olney described
4692-521: Is a film subgenre that emerged in the 1970s with films such as Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971) and Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972), which were soon followed by the influential Black Christmas (1974). Defining the Christmas horror genre has been described as challenging, as it has generally been regarded as a sub-genre of the slasher film . Adam Rockoff, in Rue Morgue , noted that
4830-499: Is a horror film trope , where an abrupt change in image accompanied with a loud sound intends to surprise the viewer. This can also be subverted to create tension, where an audience may feel more unease and discomfort by anticipating a jump scare. Mirrors are often used in horror films to create visual depth and build tension. Shelton argues mirrors have been used so frequently in horror films that audiences have been conditioned to fear them, and subverting audience expectations of
4968-415: Is a strong difference in disgust reactions between the two sexes, this difference has not been documented in non-human primates. In humans, women generally report greater disgust than men. In bonobos and chimps, females are not any more avoidant than males of contamination risk. There is some evidence suggesting that juveniles are less contamination-risk avoidant than adults, which is in line with research on
5106-483: Is a subgenre of horror fiction that blends sensual and sexual imagery with horrific themes for the sake of sexual arousal . Erotic horror has had influences on French and American horror cinema. The works of Jean Rollin , such as Le Viol du Vampire and Fascination , are considered quintessential erotic horror films, blending deeply sexual imagery with gore. American cinema has also featured notable erotic horror film franchises, such as Candyman . An example of
5244-463: Is a subgenre of horror film whose common themes are based on religion and focus heavily on supernatural beings, often with demons as the main antagonists that bring a sense of threat. Such films commonly use religious elements, including the crucifix or cross, holy water, the Bible, the rosary, the sign of the cross, the church, and prayer, which are forms of religious symbols and rituals used to depict
5382-428: Is applied to several films throughout the history of the horror film. This includes Universal Pictures' horror films of the 1930s, the revival of gothic horror in the 1950s and 1960s with films from Hammer, Roger Corman 's Poe-cycle, and several Italian productions. By the 1970s American and British productions often had vampire films set in a contemporary setting, such as Hammer Films had their Dracula stories set in
5520-514: Is due to their particular experience of disgust. One's disgust sensitivity can be either high or low. The higher one's disgust sensitivity is, the greater the tendency to make stricter moral judgments. Disgust sensitivity can also relate to various aspects of moral values, which can have a negative or positive impact. For example, Disgust sensitivity is associated with moral hypervigilance, which means people who have higher disgust sensitivity are more likely to think that other people who are suspects of
5658-403: Is easier to view films as cycles opposed to genres, suggesting the slasher film viewed as a cycle would place it in terms of how the film industry was economically and production wise, the personnel involved in their respective eras, and how the films were marketed exhibited and distributed. Mark Jancovich in an essay, declared that "there is no simple 'collective belief' as to what constitutes
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5796-707: Is expelling bad-tasting food items, but even this behavior is not very common. This might be because primates effectively avoid potentially bad-tasting food items, and food that is avoided cannot be expelled, hence the low observation rate of this behavior. Primates, notably gorillas and chimpanzees, occasionally make facial expressions such as grimacing and tongue protrusions after having bad-tasting food. Individual primate preferences vary widely, some tolerating extremely bitter food, while others are more particular. Taste preferences are more often noticed in high ranking individuals, likely because lower ranked individuals may have to tolerate less-desired foods. While in humans there
5934-420: Is further supported by neuropsychological studies. Both Calder (2000) and Adolphs (2003) showed that lesions on the anterior insula lead to deficits in the experience of disgust and recognizing facial expressions of disgust in others. The patients also reported having reduced sensations of disgust themselves. Furthermore, electrical stimulation of the anterior insula conducted during neurosurgery triggered nausea,
6072-422: Is in contrast with human disease avoidance, where avoiding those who appear sick is a key feature. Taken together, studies on the disgust reaction in primates show that disgust is adaptive in primates and that the avoidance of potential sources of pathogens is triggered by the same contaminants as for humans. The adaptive problems that primates faced did not align to the degree that they did for early humans, which
6210-570: Is more costly to perceive a sick person as healthy than to perceive a healthy person as sickly". Researchers have found that sensitivity to disgust is negatively correlated to aggression because feelings of disgust typically bring about a need to withdraw while aggression results in a need to approach. This can be explained in terms of each of the types of disgust. For those especially sensitive to moral disgust, they would want to be less aggressive because they want to avoid hurting others. Those especially sensitive to pathogen disgust might be motivated by
6348-562: Is particularly prominent in the cinema of Japan , Korea , and Thailand , among other countries. Despite being the subject of social and legal controversy due to their subject matter, some horror films and franchises have seen major commercial success , influenced society and spawned several popular culture icons . The Dictionary of Film Studies defines the horror film as representing "disturbing and dark subject matter, seeking to elicit responses of fear , terror , disgust , shock, suspense , and, of course, horror from their viewers." In
6486-466: Is when someone experiences tension in themselves and is urged to relieve that tension. Dissonance is the clashing of unpleasant or harsh sounds. A study by Prete et al. identified that the ability to recognize dissonance relied on the left hemisphere of the brain, while consonance relied on the right half. There is a stronger preference for consonance; this difference is noticeable even in early stages of life. Previous musical experience also can influence
6624-445: Is why disgust manifests differently in humans and non-human primates. Differences in disgust responses between humans and non-human primates likely reflects their unique ecological standpoints. Rather than disgust being a unique human emotion, disgust is a continuation of the parasite and infection avoidance behavior found in all animals. One theory explaining the difference is that since primates are largely foragers and never shifted to
6762-608: The A Nightmare on Elm Street series, while others disassociate themselves from characters and series and focusing on genre auteur directors like Dario Argento , while others fans would deem Argento's films as too mainstream, having preferences more underground films . Andrew Tudor wrote in Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History of the Horror Movie suggested that "Genre is what we collectively believe it to be" In addition to these perspectives, Rhodes emphasizes
6900-500: The Australian Film Commission to change its focus to being a more commercial operation. This closed in 1980 as its funding was abused by investors using them as tax avoiding measures. A new development known as the 10BA tax shelter scheme was developed ushering a slew of productions, leading to what Peter Shelley, author of Australian Horror Films , suggested meant "making a profit was more important than making
7038-582: The Gothic and horror literature of authors such as Edgar Allan Poe , Bram Stoker , and Mary Shelley . From origins in silent films and German Expressionism , horror only became a codified genre after the release of Dracula (1931). Many sub-genres emerged in subsequent decades, including body horror , comedy horror , erotic horror , slasher films , splatter films , supernatural horror and psychological horror . The genre has been produced worldwide, varying in content and style between regions. Horror
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#17327757118977176-503: The Southeast Asia region, including Thailand and Indonesia . The found footage horror film "technique" gives the audience a first person view of the events on screen, and presents the footage as being discovered after. Horror films which are framed as being made up of "found-footage" merge the experiences of the audience and characters, which may induce suspense, shock, and bafflement. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas noted that
7314-400: The endocannabinoid system can interfere with the expression of a conditioned disgust reaction in rats. These researchers showed that as nausea produced conditioned disgust reactions, by administering the rats with an antinausea treatment they could prevent toxin-induced conditioned disgust reactions. Furthermore, in looking at the different disgust and vomiting reactions between rats and shrews
7452-610: The incest taboo ). Moral disgust "pertains to social transgressions" and may include behaviors such as lying, theft, murder, and rape. Unlike the other two domains, moral disgust "motivates avoidance of social relationships with norm-violating individuals" because those relationships threaten group cohesion. Women generally report greater disgust than men, especially regarding sexual disgust or general repulsiveness which have been argued to be consistent with women being more selective regarding sex for evolutionary reasons. Sensitivity to disgust rises during pregnancy, along with levels of
7590-511: The novel , play and the film's story relying on the supernatural . Newman discussed the genre in British Film Institute 's Companion to Horror where he noted that Horror films in the 1930s were easy to identify, but following that decade, "the more blurred distinctions become, and horror becomes less like a discrete genre than an effect which can be deployed within any number of narrative settings or narrative patterns". In
7728-462: The "Fear of the Demonic" features graphic accounts of satanic rites , witchcraft , exorcisms outside traditional forms of worship, as seen in films like The Exorcist (1973) or The Omen (1976). Some critics have suggested horror films can be a vessel for exploring contemporary cultural, political and social trends. Jeanne Hall, a film theorist, agrees with the use of horror films in easing
7866-413: The "turning point" in the genre with Jaws (1975), which became the highest-grossing film at that point and moved the animal attacks genres "towards a less-fantastic route" with less giant animals and more real-life creatures such as Grizzly (1976) and Night Creature (1977), Orca (1977), and Jaws 2 (1978). The film is linked with the environmental movements that became more mainstream in
8004-527: The 1940s, the horror film was viewed in different terms. Critic Siegfried Kracauer included The Lost Weekend among films described as "terror films" along with Shadow of a Doubt , The Dark Corner (1946), Gaslight (1944), Shock (1946), The Spiral Staircase (1946), The Stranger (1946) Spellbound (1945) while two years earlier, the New York Times described a new cycle of "horror" productions included Gaslight , The Woman in
8142-626: The 1960s and 1970s for horror films from Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain, as well as co-productions between these countries. Several productions, such as those in Italy, were co-productions due to the lack of international stars within the country. European horror films began developing strong cult following since the late 1990s. It is unknown when Australia's cinema first horror title may have been, with thoughts ranging from The Strangler's Grip (1912) to The Face at
8280-484: The 1970s and early 1980s such vegetarianism , animal rights movements , and organizations such as Greenpeace . Following Jaws , sharks became the most popular animal of the genre, ranging from similar such as Mako: The Jaws of Death (1976) and Great White (1981) to the Sharknado film series. James Marriott found that the genre had "lost momentum" since the 1970s while the films would still be made towards
8418-479: The 1990s teen horror cycle, Alexandra West described the general trend of these films is often looked down upon by critics, journals, and fans as being too glossy, trendy, and sleek to be considered worthwhile horror films. Horror films in Asia have been noted as being inspired by national, cultural or religious folklore , particularly beliefs in ghosts or spirits. In Asian Horror , Andy Richards writes that there
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#17327757118978556-485: The 2006 study done by Simpson and colleagues, there was a divergence found in disgust responses between the core elicitors of disgust and the socio-moral elicitors of disgust, suggesting that the makeup of core and socio-moral disgust may be different emotional constructs. Studies have found that disgust has been known to predict prejudice and discrimination. Through passive viewing tasks and functional magnetic resonance researchers were able to provide direct evidence that
8694-610: The American slasher film revival, such as South Korea's early 2000s cycle with Bloody Beach (2000), Nightmare (2000) and The Record (2000). Supernatural horror films integrate supernatural elements , such as the afterlife , spirit possession and religion into the horror genre. Teen horror is a horror subgenre that victimizes teenagers while usually promoting strong, anti-conformity teenage leads, appealing to young generations. This subgenre often depicts themes of sex, under-aged drinking, and gore. Horror films aimed
8832-468: The Huntington gene before other symptoms appear. People with Huntington's disease are impaired at recognition of anger and fear, and experience a notably severe problem with disgust recognition. Patients with major depression have been found to display greater brain activation to facial expressions of disgust. Self-disgust, which is disgust directed towards one's own actions, may also contribute to
8970-594: The International Affective Picture System during f-MRI scans. OCD subjects showed significantly greater neural responses to disgust-invoking images, specifically in the right insula. Furthermore, Sprengelmeyer (1997) found that the brain activation associated with disgust included the insula and part of the gustatory cortex that processes unpleasant tastes and smells. OCD subjects and healthy volunteers showed activation patterns in response to disgust pictures that differed significantly at
9108-563: The Latin-American market employing Mexican actors, Mexican horror films were produced throughout the 1930s and 1940s, often reflecting on the overarching theme of science vs. religion conflict . Ushered by the release of El vampiro , the Mexploitation horror film era started in 1957, with films characterised by their low production values and camp appeal, often featuring vampires, wrestlers, and Aztec mummies. A key figure in
9246-501: The Living Dead led to an increase of violence and erotic scenes within the genre. The 1970s would expand on these themes with films that would delve into gorier pictures, as well as films that were near or straight pornographic hybrids. Genre cycles in this era include the natural horror film , and the rise of slasher films which would expand in the early 1980s . Towards the 1990s, postmodernism entered horror, while some of
9384-547: The Mexican horror scene (particularly in Germán Robles -starred vampire films) was producer Abel Salazar . The late 1960s saw the advent of the prominence of Carlos Enrique Taboada as an standout Mexican horror filmmaker, with films such as Hasta el viento tiene miedo (1967), El libro de piedra (1968), Más negro que la noche (1975) or Veneno para las hadas (1984). Mexican horror cinema has been noted for
9522-580: The Window (1919) while stories featuring ghosts would appear in Guyra Ghost Mystery (1921). By 1913, the more prolific era of Australian cinema ended with production not returning with heavy input of government finance in the 1970s. It took until the 1970s for Australia to develop sound film with television films that eventually received theatrical release with Dead Easy (1970) and Night of Fear (1973). The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)
9660-603: The Window (1944), Dark Waters (1944), Laura and Phantom Lady (1944). Mark Jancovich wrote in The Shifting Definitions of Genre: Essays on Labeling Films, Television Shows and Media (2008) that the term was virtually synonymous with mystery as a generic term, not being limited to films concerned with the strange, eerie and uncanny. Various writings on genre from Altman, Lawrence Alloway ( Violent America: The Movies 1946-1964 (1971)) and Peter Hutchings ( Approaches to Popular Film (1995)) implied it
9798-411: The activation of the insula in disgust recognition, as well as visceral changes in disgust reactions such as the feeling of nausea. The importance of disgust recognition and the visceral reaction of "feeling disgusted" is evident when considering the survival of organisms, and the evolutionary benefit of avoiding contamination. The insula (or insular cortex ), is the main neural structure involved in
9936-400: The anterior portion of the ventral superior temporal cortex, where cells have been found to respond to the sight of faces. The posterior insula is characterized by connections with auditory , somatosensory , and premotor areas, and is not related to the olfactory or gustatory modalities. The fact that the insula is necessary for our ability to feel and recognize the emotion of disgust
10074-586: The area postrema and the parabrachial nucleus of the pons but not the nucleus of the solitary tract prevented conditioned disgust. Moreover, lesions of the dorsal and medial raphe nuclei (depleting forebrain serotonin ) prevented the establishment of lithium chloride-induced conditioned disgust. Non-human primates display signs of disgust and aversion to biological contaminants. Exposure to bodily excrements that usually elicit disgust reactions in humans, such as feces, semen, or blood, have an impact on primates' feeding preferences. Chimpanzees generally avoid
10212-427: The atmosphere created in imagery and themes. Dissonance , atonality and experiments with timbre are typical characteristics used by composers in horror film music. In the book Dark Dreams , author Charles Derry conceived horror films as focusing on three broad themes : the horror of personality , horror of Armageddon and the horror of the demonic . The horror of personality derives from monsters being at
10350-430: The authors showed that these reactions (particularly vomiting) play a crucial role in the associative processes that govern food selection across species. In discussing specific neural locations of disgust, research has shown that forebrain mechanisms are necessary for rats to acquire conditioned disgust for a specific emetic (vomit-inducing) substance (such as lithium chloride ). Other studies have shown that lesions to
10488-572: The biblical account of the Massacre of the Innocents and more recently in works such as E. T. A. Hoffmann's " The Nutcracker and the Mouse King " (1816) and Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843). Although ghosts have largely been replaced by serial killers, Christmas horror creates an outlet through which to explore "a modern reinvention of the Christmas ghost story". Erotic horror
10626-560: The biggest hits of the decade included films from Japan with the success of Ring (1998). Horror is a malleable genre and often can be altered to accommodate other genre types such as science fiction , making some films difficult to categorize. A genre that emerged in the 1970s, body horror films focus on the process of a bodily transformation. In these films, the body is either engulfed by some larger process or heading towards fragmentation and collapse. The focus can be on apocalyptic implication of an entire society being overtaken, but
10764-524: The centre of the plot, such Frankenstein's monster whose psychology makes them perform unspeakable horrific acts ranging from rapes , mutilations and sadistic killings. Other key works of this form are Alfred Hitchcock 's Psycho , which feature psychotic murderers without the make-up of a monster. The second 'Armageddon' group delves on the fear of large-scale destruction , which ranges from science fiction works but also of natural events , such as Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). The last group of
10902-502: The chapter "The American Nightmare: Horror in the 70s" from Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan (2002), film critic Robin Wood declared that the commonality between horror films is that "normality is threatened by the monster." This was further expanded upon by The Philosophy of Horror, or Parodoxes of the Heart by Noël Carroll who added that "repulsion must be pleasurable, as evidenced by
11040-507: The concept does not apply to both. Disgust is one of the basic emotions recognizable across multiple cultures and is a response to something revolting typically involving taste or sight. Though different cultures find different things disgusting, the reaction to the grotesque things remains the same throughout each culture; people and their emotional reactions in the realm of disgust remain the same. The scientific attempts to map specific emotions onto underlying neural substrates dates back to
11178-767: The development of the disgust response in humans. Coprophagy is commonly observed in chimpanzees, possibly suggesting that chimps do not really have a disgust mechanism the way humans do. Coprophagy is usually only done to re-ingest seeds from one's own feces, which is less risky than ingesting others' feces in terms of exposure to new parasites. Additionally, chimps often use leaves and twigs to wipe themselves when they stepped in others' feces instead of removing it with their bare hands. Great apes almost always remove feces from their bodies after accidentally stepping in it, even in instances where it would be beneficial to wait. For example, when grapes are being passed out to chimps and they accidentally step in feces, they almost always take
11316-563: The early films of Peter Jackson who combined splatter films with comedy with Bad Taste (1988) and Braindead (1992) which has the largest following of the mentioned films. Film producer Ant Timpson had an influence curating New Zealand horror films, creating the Incredibly Strange Film Festival in the 1990s and producing his own horror films over the 2010s including The ABCs of Death (2012), Deathgasm (2015), and Housebound (2014). Timpson noted
11454-410: The emergence of sub-genres like splatter films and torture porn. In a study by Jacob Shelton, the many ways that audience members are manipulated through horror films was investigated in detail. Negative space is one such method that can play a part in inducing a reaction, causing one's eyes to remotely rest on anything in the frame – a wall, or the empty black void in the shadows. The jump scare
11592-404: The emotion of disgust. As mentioned earlier, women experience disgust more prominently than men. This is reflected in a study about dental phobia. A dental phobia comes from experiencing disgust when thinking about the dentist and all that entails. 4.6 percent of women compared to 2.7 percent of men find the dentist disgusting. In a series of significant studies by Paul Ekman in the 1970s, it
11730-469: The emotion of disgust. The insula has been shown by several studies to be the main neural correlate of the feeling of disgust both in humans and in macaque monkeys. The insula is activated by unpleasant tastes, smells, and the visual recognition of disgust in conspecific organisms. The anterior insula is an olfactory and gustatory center that controls visceral sensations and the related autonomic responses. It also receives visual information from
11868-433: The environment reminds them of particular scenes. A 2021 study suggested horror films that explore grief can provide psychological benefits to the bereaved, with the genre well suited to representing grief through its genre conventions. In a study by Medes et al., prolonged exposure to infrasound and low-frequency noise (<500 Hz) in long durations has an effect on vocal range (i.e. longer exposure tends to form
12006-536: The evolution of the horror genre through various cultural and historical contexts. He discusses the impact of socio-political factors on the genre , such as the influence of World War I and II, the Great Depression , and the Cold War , which shaped the themes and narratives of horror films. For instance, the anxieties of the post-war era manifested in horror films as fears of invasion , contamination, and
12144-419: The feeling of wanting to throw up and uneasiness in the stomach. Finally, electrically stimulating the anterior insula through implanted electrodes produced sensations in the throat and mouth that were "difficult to stand". These findings demonstrate the role of the insula in transforming unpleasant sensory input into physiological reactions, and the associated feeling of disgust. Studies have demonstrated that
12282-434: The film's acting but praised the film overall, with Fearnet calling it "a messy, scrappy, sometimes silly horror film that occasionally taps into something old-school scary." In contrast, Fangoria's Chris Alexander and AV Maniacs both praised the film's acting, with Alexander stating that the movie "traps its audience in an environment and won’t let them go until it’s finished with them." Horror film Horror
12420-589: The films stated if you partook in such vices such as drugs or sex, your punishment of death would be handed out. Prior to Scream , there were no popular teen horror films in the early 1990s. After the financial success of Scream , teen horror films became increasingly reflexive and self-aware until the end of the 1990s with films like I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and non-slasher The Faculty (1998). The genre lost prominence as teen films dealt with threats with more realism in films like Donnie Darko (2001) and Crazy/Beautiful (2001). In her book on
12558-438: The first half of the 20th century. Functional MRI experiments have revealed that the anterior insula in the brain is particularly active when experiencing disgust, when being exposed to offensive tastes, and when viewing facial expressions of disgust. The research has supported that there are independent neural systems in the brain, each handling a specific basic emotion. Specifically, f-MRI studies have provided evidence for
12696-613: The focus is generally upon an individual and their sense of identity, primarily them watching their own body change. The earliest appearance of the sub-genre was the work of director David Cronenberg , specifically with early films like Shivers (1975). Mark Jancovich of the University of Manchester declared that the transformation scenes in the genre provoke fear and repulsion, but also pleasure and excitement such as in The Thing (1982) and The Fly (1986). Christmas horror
12834-521: The genre among viewers (ahead of South Korea), according to a 2016 research. In a study done by Uri Hasson et al., brain waves were observed via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This study used the inter-subject correlation analysis (ISC) method of determining results. It was shown that audience members tend to focus on certain facets in a particular scene simultaneously and tend to sit as still as possible while watching horror films. In another study done by John Greene & Glenn Sparks, it
12972-431: The genre continuously evolves, incorporating elements from other genres and responding to contemporary societal fears and anxieties. This adaptability is evident in the various sub-genres that have emerged over the years, such as psychological horror, body horror, and found footage horror, each addressing different aspects of human fear and the unknown. Rhodes also explores the role of censorship and regulation in shaping
13110-597: The genre did not become a codified genre until the release of Dracula (1931). Dracula was a box office success, leading to Universal and several other American film studios to develop and popularise horror films well into the 1940s . By the 1950s , horror would often be made with science fiction themes, and towards the end of the decade horror was a more common genre of international productions. The 1960s saw further developments, with material based on contemporary works instead of classical literature. The release of films like Psycho , Black Sunday and Night of
13248-579: The genre's popularity." Prior to the release of Dracula (1931), historian Gary Don Rhodes explained that the idea and terminology of horror film did not exist yet as a codified genre , although critics used the term "horror" to describe films in reviews prior to Dracula ' s release. "Horror" was a term used to describe a variety of meanings. In 1913, Moving Picture World defined "horrors" as showcasing "striped convicts, murderous Indians, grinning 'black-handers', homicidal drunkards" Some titles that suggest horror such as The Hand of Horror (1914)
13386-475: The group. Arguably, there is a completely different construct of the emotion of disgust from the core disgust that can be seen in Ekman's basic emotions. Socio-moral disgust occurs when social or moral boundaries appear to be violated, the socio-moral aspect centers on human violations of the autonomy and dignity of others (e.g., racism, hypocrisy, disloyalty). Socio-moral disgust is different from core disgust. In
13524-458: The hormone progesterone . Scientists have conjectured that pregnancy requires the mother to "dial down" her immune system so that the developing embryo won't be attacked. To protect the mother, this lowered immune system is then compensated by a heightened sense of disgust. Because disgust is an emotion with physical responses to undesirable or dirty situations, studies have proven there are cardiovascular and respiratory changes while experiencing
13662-500: The horror film have feelings similar to happiness or joy felt with friends, but intensified. Alternatively, audience members with negative feedback regarding the film would typically feel emotions they would normally associate with negative experiences in their life. Only about 10% of the American population enjoy the physiological rush felt immediately after watching horror films. The population that does not enjoy horror films could experience emotional fallout similar to that of PTSD if
13800-485: The horror films of Europe were often more erotic and "just plain stranger" than their British and American counter-parts. European horror films (generally referred to as Euro Horror) draw from distinctly European cultural sources, including surrealism , romanticism , decadent tradition , early 20th century pulp-literature , film serials , and erotic comics . In comparison to the narrative logic in American genre films, these films focused on imagery, excessiveness, and
13938-515: The horror genre" between both fans and critics of the genre. Jancovich found that disagreements existed from audiences who wanted to distinguish themselves. This ranged from fans of different genres who may view a film like Alien (1979) as belonging to science fiction , and horror fan bases dismissing it as being inauthentic to either genre. Further debates exist among fans of the genre with personal definitions of "true" horror films, such as fans who embrace cult figures like Freddy Kruger of
14076-521: The horror genre. The enforcement of the Hays Code in the 1930s and subsequent rating systems influenced the depiction of violence and sexuality in horror films. This regulation often pushed filmmakers to find creative ways to imply horror elements without explicit content, leading to a focus on atmosphere, suggestion, and psychological horror. The relaxation of censorship in the late 20th century allowed for more graphic and explicit horror, contributing to
14214-619: The hunter-scavenger lifestyle with a diet high in meat, they were never exposed to the new wave of pathogens that humans were exposed to, as well as the selection pressures that would come with this diet. Therefore, the disgust mechanisms in primates remained muted, only strong enough to address the distinct problems primates faced in their evolutionary history. Additionally, disgust-like behavior in great apes should be lower than in humans because they live in less hygienic conditions. Humans' clean habits over generations has reduced how frequently we are exposed to disgust elicitors and has likely expanded
14352-399: The idea or concept of cleanliness is made salient then people make less severe moral judgments of others. From this particular finding, it can be suggested that this reduces the experience of disgust and the ensuing threat of psychological impurity diminishes the apparent severity of moral transgressions. In one study, people of differing political persuasions were shown disgusting images in
14490-512: The inconsistent findings suggests that studying the effects of induced disgust on moral judgments alone is insufficient. Instead, the magnitude of experienced disgust appears to be a critical factor. Research by Białek et al. found that self-reported levels of disgust were more predictive of changes in moral judgments than the mere presence of disgust elicitors. This approach may provide a more nuanced understanding of how disgust influences moral decision-making. The effect also seems to be limited to
14628-425: The insula and putamen and it was found that NK's overall response to disgust-inducing stimuli was significantly lower than that of controls. The patient showed a reduction in disgust-response on eight categories including food, animals, body products, envelope violation and death. Moreover, NK incorrectly categorized disgust facial expressions as anger. The results of this study support the idea that NK had damage to
14766-477: The insula is activated by disgusting stimuli, and that observing someone else's facial expression of disgust seems to automatically retrieve a neural representation of disgust. Furthermore, these findings emphasize the role of the insula in feelings of disgust. One particular neuropsychological study focused on patient NK who was diagnosed with a left hemisphere infarction involving the insula, internal capsule, putamen and globus pallidus. NK's neural damage included
14904-626: The insula is largely involved in racially biased perception of facial disgust through two distinct neural pathways: amygdala and insula, both areas of the brain that deal with emotion processing. It was found that racial prejudice elicited disgusted facial expressions. Disgust can also predict prejudice and discrimination towards individuals with obesity. Vertanian, Trewartha and Vanman (2016) showed participants photos of obese targets and non-obese targets performing everyday activities. They found that, compared to non-obese people, obese targets elicited more disgust, more negative attitudes and stereotypes, and
15042-490: The irrational. Between the mid-1950s and the mid-1980s, European horror films emerged from countries like Italy, Spain and France, and were shown in the United States predominantly at drive-in theatre and grindhouse theaters. As producers and distributors all over the world were interested in horror films, regardless of their origin, changes started occurring in European low-budget filmmaking that allowed for productions in
15180-494: The latter horror entries from New Zealand are all humorous films like What We Do in the Shadows (2014) with Jonathan King , director of Black Sheep (2006) and The Tattooist (2007) stating "I'd love to see a genuinely scary New Zealand film but I don't know if New Zealand audiences – or the funding bodies – are keen." After the 1931 release of a US-produced Spanish-language version of Dracula by George Melford for
15318-462: The mashup of classic gothic and romantic themes and characters with autochthonous features of the Mexican culture such as the Ranchería setting, the colonial past or the myth of La Llorona (shared with other Hispanic-American nations). Horror has proven to be a dependable genre at the Mexican box office in the 21st-century, with Mexico ranking as having the world's largest relative popularity of
15456-413: The neural activity that would relate to our own experience of the same emotion. This points to the universality, as well as survival value of the emotion of disgust. At a very young age, children are able to identify different, basic facial emotions. If a parent makes a negative face and a positive emotional face toward two different toys, a child as young as five months would avoid the toy associated with
15594-455: The person just wrinkles one's nose without awareness that they are making a disgust expression. The mirror-neuron matching system found in monkeys and humans is a proposed explanation for such recognition, and shows that our internal representation of actions is triggered during the observation of another's actions. It has been demonstrated that a similar mechanism may apply to emotions. Seeing someone else's facial emotional expressions triggers
15732-427: The popularity of sites like YouTube in 2006 sparked a taste for amateur media, leading to the production of further films in the found footage horror genre later in the 2000s including the particularly financially successful Paranormal Activity (2007). In their book Gothic film , Richard J. McRoy and Richard J. Hand stated that "Gothic" can be argued as a very loose subgenre of horror, but argued that "Gothic" as
15870-554: The process of understanding issues by making use of their optical elements. The use of horror films can help audiences understand international prior historical events occurs, for example, to depict the horrors of the Vietnam War , the Holocaust , the worldwide AIDS epidemic or post-9/11 pessimism. In many occurrences, the manipulation of horror presents cultural definitions that are not accurate, yet set an example to which
16008-412: The pure state-of-being. When this state-of-being is violated, the vegetarian feels disgust. Furthermore, disgust appears to be uniquely associated with purity judgments, not with what is just/unjust or what is harmful/caregiving, while other emotions such as fear, anger, and sadness are "unrelated to moral judgments of purity". Some other research suggests that an individual's level of disgust sensitivity
16146-400: The relationship between dysfunctional thoughts and depression. The emotion of disgust may have an important role in understanding the neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly in those with contamination preoccupations. In a study by Shapira & colleagues (2003), eight OCD subjects with contamination preoccupations and eight healthy volunteers viewed pictures from
16284-430: The release of Francis Ford Coppola 's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), a small wave of high-budgeted gothic horror romance films were released in the 1990s. Also described as "eco-horror", the natural horror film is a subgenre "featuring nature running amok in the form of mutated beasts, carnivorous insects, and normally harmless animals or plants turned into cold-blooded killers." In 1963, Alfred Hitchcock defined
16422-422: The right insula. In contrast, the two groups were similar in their response to threat-inducing pictures, with no significant group differences at any site. With respect to studies using rats , prior research of signs of a conditioned disgust response have been experimentally verified by Grill and Norgren (1978) who developed a systematic test to assess palatability . The Taste Reactivity (TR) test has thus become
16560-434: The role of monster. 13-year-old burn victim Jimmy Morgan (Carmen LoPorto) isn't happy. When he starts exhibiting strange powers, he begins to use them on all of the people that he believes has looked down upon him or did him wrong. His brother Mark (Richard D. Busser) tries desperately to use his skills as a Catholic priest to save Jimmy, but is wildly unsuccessful. Not only does Jimmy manage to escape, but he also transforms
16698-401: The same kinds of stimuli, indicating that the underlying mechanism for this behavior is similar to ours. Chimpanzees generally avoid food contaminated with dirt or feces, but most individuals still consume these kinds of contaminated foods. While chimps do show a preference for food items with lower contamination risk, they do not avoid risk altogether, as most humans would. This may be due to
16836-455: The sense that they can all potentially transmit infections, and are the most common referenced elicitors of disgust cross-culturally. Because of this, disgust is believed to have evolved as a component of a behavioral immune system in which the body attempts to avoid disease-carrying pathogens in preference to fighting them after they have entered the body. This behavioral immune system has been found to make sweeping generalizations because "it
16974-399: The severity of moral judgments. Later studies found the reverse effect, and some studies have suggested that the average effect of disgust on moral judgments is small or absent. Potentially reconciling these effects, one study indicated that the direction and size of the effect of disgust stimuli on moral judgment depends upon an individual's sensitivity to disgust. One effort to reconcile
17112-479: The smells of biological contaminants, but only show a weak tendency to move away from these odors, possibly because olfactory stimuli are not enough to give chimps a high enough threat level to move away. Chimpanzees physically recoil when presented with food items on soft, moist substrates, possibly because in nature, moisture, softness, and warmth are characteristics needed to grow pathogens. These responses are functionally similar to what humans' responses would be to
17250-706: The stimuli of morally repulsive images in much the same way that they would block out the stimuli of a physically repulsive image. When people see an image of abuse, rape, or murder, they often avert their gazes to inhibit the incoming visual stimuli from the photograph just like they would if they saw a decomposing body. Moral judgments can be traditionally defined or thought of as directed by standards such as impartiality and respect towards others for their well-being. From more recent theoretical and empirical information, it can be suggested that morality may be guided by basic affective processes. Jonathan Haidt proposed that one's instant judgments about morality are experienced as
17388-453: The stimuli that would elicit disgust reactions in us. Great apes on the other hand are constantly exposed to disgust elicitors, leading to habituation and a muted form of disgust compared to modern humans. Although disgust was first thought to be a motivation for humans to only physical contaminants, it has since been applied to moral and social moral contaminants as well. The similarities between these types of disgust can especially be seen in
17526-549: The sub-genre sits within a trend of holiday-themed slasher films, alongside films such as My Bloody Valentine (1981) and April Fool's Day (1986). Others take a broader view that Christmas horror is not limited to the slasher genre, noting how it evolved from the English Christmas tradition of telling ghost stories. Christmas in literature has historically included elements of "darkness"—fright, misery, death and decay—tracing its literary antecedents as far back as
17664-406: The time to stop and wipe it off even if it means missing out on food. Unlike in humans, the avoidance of social contamination (ex: staying away from sick conspecifics) is rare in great apes. Instead, great apes often groom sick conspecifics or just treat them with indifference. Additionally, great apes treat products of a sick conspecific such as mucus or blood with interest or indifference. This
17802-429: The town's children into a bloodthirsty army that drags its prey to an abandoned castle. There Jimmy and the children torture their captives in extremely disturbing and horrific ways. Critical reception for Torture Chamber has been mostly positive, with many reviewers stating that the film would have a limited appeal to viewers expecting a more mainstream horror film. Fearnet and Ain't It Cool News both criticized
17940-424: The turn of the millennium. Bill Gibron of PopMatters declared a mixed definition of the psychological horror film, ranging from definitions of anything that created a sense of disquiet or apprehension to a film where an audience's mind makes up what was not directly displayed visually. Gibron concluded it as a "clouded gray area between all out splatter and a trip through a cinematic dark ride." Religious horror
18078-402: The unknown, reflecting the collective psyche of the time. Rhodes also highlights the significance of technological advancements, such as the advent of sound in cinema, which revolutionized the horror genre by enhancing its ability to evoke fear and suspense through auditory effects. Moreover, the horror genre's flexibility and adaptability are crucial to its enduring popularity. As Rhodes notes,
18216-584: The use of faith to defeat evil. The slasher film is a horror subgenre which involves a killer murdering a group of people (often teenagers), usually by use of bladed tools. In his book on the genre, author Adam Rockoff wrote that these villains represented a "rogue genre" of films that are "tough, problematic, and fiercely individualistic." Following the financial success of Friday the 13th (1980), at least 20 other slasher films appeared in 1980 alone. These films usually revolved around three properties: unique social settings (campgrounds, schools, holidays) and
18354-423: The way people react to the contaminants. For example, if someone stumbles upon a pool of vomit, they will do whatever possible to place as much distance between themselves and the vomit as possible, which can include pinching the nose, closing the eyes, or running away. Likewise, when a group experiences someone who cheats, rapes, or murders another member of the group, its reaction is to shun or expel that person from
18492-418: Was a melodrama about a thief who steals from his own sister. During the silent era, the term horror was used to describe everything from "battle scenes" in war films to tales of drug addiction. Rhodes concluded that the term "horror film" or "horror movie" was not used in early cinema. The mystery film genre was in vogue and early information on Dracula being promoted as a mystery film was common, despite
18630-430: Was discovered that facial expressions of emotion are not culturally determined , but universal across human cultures and thus likely to be biological in origin. The facial expression of disgust was found to be one of these facial expressions. This characteristic facial expression includes slightly narrowed brows, waving the hand back and forth although different elicitors may produce different forms of this expression. It
18768-445: Was found that the audience tends to experience the excitation transfer process (ETP) which causes a physiological arousal in audience members. The ETP refers to the feelings experienced immediately after an emotion-arousing experience, such as watching a horror film. In this case, audience members' heart rate, blood pressure and respiration all increased while watching films with violence. Audience members with positive feedback regarding
18906-408: Was found that the facial expression of disgust is readily recognizable across cultures. This facial expression is also produced in blind individuals and is correctly interpreted by deaf individuals. This evidence indicates an innate biological basis for the expression and recognition of disgust. The recognition of disgust is also important among species as it has been found that when an individual sees
19044-483: Was the first Australian horror production made for theatrical release. 1970s Australian art cinema was funded by state film corporations, who considered them more culturally acceptable than local exploitation films ( Ozploitation ), which was part of the Australian phenomenon called the cultural cringe . The greater success of genre films like Mad Max (1979), The Last Wave (1977) and Patrick (1978) led to
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