Poll: Is Gore Truly Scary?
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John Carpenter would disagree.canadamus_prime said:
I remember watching an interview with him as part of a documentary on the history of horror movies (can't even remember the title, Mark Gatiss was involved, BBC); apparently Carpenter isn't a fan of showing less, expressing a dislike for Val Lewton's techniques in particular (Lewton pioneered using unexpected, but familiar sounds as shock after building up tension, commonly referred to as the 'Lewton bus', due to a scene in his film 'Cat People', in which the protagonist is shocked by a bus suddenly letting off its air brakes)
Not really relevant, just an innaresting perspective.
I can't remember what the series was called, so I can't really give you the source material, but it's a great documentary series.
Not by itself, just seeing a guy get his head lopped off is not scary, and giving it some sort of insane blood effect just makes it silly most of the time. But if used right it can be pretty terrifying, like for example John Carpenter's The Thing, that movie makes even the smallest drop of blood feel like the scariest thing ever.
Ooh. You got me with that one.Genocidicles said:
Yeah, what he said. Movies and games are always a bit stylized and 'clean' when it comes to this stuff, so it never really hits home, but when you see the reality there's some truly gruesome shit out there.
So yeah, I'd say if it's real, then it can be creepy/scary/disconcerting/unnerving/whatever other synonyms you want to use.
If it's fake, not so much, but it can help contribute to an overall atmosphere of dread and hopelessness.
Gore isn't scary. It is unsettling. Horror movies tend to include a lot of gore for some folks gore is what defines the genre (and perhaps why it has gotten rather toothless in some cases), so I'll address the inquiry thus...
I came to a realization some time ago when I went with a friend to see the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. We didn't make it through the first half hour of the movie before we just got up and walked out.
We went there to be scared, not grossed out.
Some time afterward, I picked up 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King, wanting a good creepy vampire read. What I got was more sickening imagery.
In each case I was horrified, but I wasn't scared. These experiences led me to a realization.
Horror isn't scary. It's just unsettling. A better term to describe the kind of scares most people expect from horror would be "suspense" or perhaps "thrills". When going to a horror movie, people expect something that will put them on the edge of their seat and make them scream or jump when something weird happens; Paranormal Activity (cue laughter), The Grudge, The Thing, hell even Critters are good examples of this. They all build tension, bit by bit, and then release it in a bowel-shuddering howl of activity.
Don't get me wrong. Horror movies often include elements of suspense, often some of the best horror movies are full of suspense leading up to knots of writhing gore that serve as the climactic scare, i.e. The Thing. I just think that horror is a misused term as far as entertainment media goes.
I came to a realization some time ago when I went with a friend to see the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. We didn't make it through the first half hour of the movie before we just got up and walked out.
We went there to be scared, not grossed out.
Some time afterward, I picked up 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King, wanting a good creepy vampire read. What I got was more sickening imagery.
In each case I was horrified, but I wasn't scared. These experiences led me to a realization.
Horror isn't scary. It's just unsettling. A better term to describe the kind of scares most people expect from horror would be "suspense" or perhaps "thrills". When going to a horror movie, people expect something that will put them on the edge of their seat and make them scream or jump when something weird happens; Paranormal Activity (cue laughter), The Grudge, The Thing, hell even Critters are good examples of this. They all build tension, bit by bit, and then release it in a bowel-shuddering howl of activity.
Don't get me wrong. Horror movies often include elements of suspense, often some of the best horror movies are full of suspense leading up to knots of writhing gore that serve as the climactic scare, i.e. The Thing. I just think that horror is a misused term as far as entertainment media goes.
Well growing up on violent video games I'm pretty desensitized to it. So it isn't scary but extremely realistic gore can still make me shudder from time to time. But I'm not a horror fan and mixing jump scares, extreme gore and creepiness all in one never sat well with me.
I can handle gore/horror games way better than movies for some reason. Guess because I have control
I can handle gore/horror games way better than movies for some reason. Guess because I have control
Gore to me can just be disturbing if done right in a movie, don't see it as a point to be scary just something to make you go "Blehh".
Well, you get movies like Hellraiser and Evil dead that combine gore and suspense with terrifying results, rather than just chucking a mutilated corpse at you and saying BOO! When you can make someone terrified BEFORE you've even hinted at throwing a corpse at them, you're doing something right. Gore is more... Shocking, than scary. It's like Dead Space Vs Amnesia. Dead Space simply jumps out on you, waves it's bloody tendrils at you, hits you in the face with a brick and you're scared for a second before continuing to live your life (Or not, it happens) whereas amnesia Threatens to wave it's bloody tendrils for a while, and leaves you to imagine ust how bloody these tendrils are, and how much that brick is gonna hurt, and what's gonna happen, and ooo, scared now.
It's like that.
It's like that.
I think gore enhances the fear, if done right.
Take The Blair Witch Project ( as an example). There is a scene involving a bloody something found near the end of the film... it still gives me shudders, partly because I don't know exactly what I'm looking at in the scene, and partly because the victim wasn't dead.
Again, gore in and of itself doesn't serve to 'scare' as much as it does to make one uncomfortable, to shake up and upset. It implies physical violence, often something to be feared in and of itself.
Take The Blair Witch Project ( as an example). There is a scene involving a bloody something found near the end of the film... it still gives me shudders, partly because I don't know exactly what I'm looking at in the scene, and partly because the victim wasn't dead.
Again, gore in and of itself doesn't serve to 'scare' as much as it does to make one uncomfortable, to shake up and upset. It implies physical violence, often something to be feared in and of itself.
It can be used well, and like most elements, it is usually used badly.
As a someone who actually knows what the insides of a human body looks like and how it can be torn apart, most gore just looks dumb to me and takes me out of it.
Unless it's very over-the-top, in which case it's silly.
As a someone who actually knows what the insides of a human body looks like and how it can be torn apart, most gore just looks dumb to me and takes me out of it.
Unless it's very over-the-top, in which case it's silly.
It really depends on you. If you've been exposed to quite a bit of actual gore in real life, no Hollywood reproduction is going to scare or disturb you, it's only either going to make you facepalm when it tries and fails to be "realistic" or make you laugh when it goes hilariously over the top... which is why I love the Evil Dead series.
For those of you who have never seen an actual shredded human corpse... I suppose it could be scary. I wouldn't know.
For those of you who have never seen an actual shredded human corpse... I suppose it could be scary. I wouldn't know.
Gore isn't inherentely scary, something like Dead Space 2 proved that, mostly because it's overused in that. Or to quote Yathzee: ''Everyone is as about as attatched to their limbs as that one mountainclimber bloke'' (127 Hours for those who don't remember) So coming at it fro that perspective, no it's not scary. However, it can be used to amplify the atmosphere, and to use an example from he top of my head, like the scene in Cabin in the Woods where the zombie tosses the head of one of the group into the house. That was very good and very well timed.
Gore makes you uncomfortable but I'd never call it scary. It's often used to up the stakes in movies but gore by itself I find very lame. It's why I think the Hostel movies suuuuuucccccckkkk.
For me, gore and blood has to be used as the tell-tale sign that the excriment is about to hit the fan. Let me give you an example, in Fatal Frame you almost never saw any blood smears or gore in the halls on the first day UNTIL you first encounter the long-armed ghost and then it was usually a smear here or there.
However, when you enter the shrine and theres a big-ass pool of blood on the ground infront of the alter, all I could think is 'I am royally boned'. This would come to be the first big ol' boss room with the lead researcher's ghost as the enemy. This is the setup that blood is bad, seeing blood or scratches, or something broken ment that it was getting more intense and that your butt is on the line if you enter/leave/pick something up in this room.
As the game progresses in Day 2 and 3, you see a lot more here and there (especially when its a scripted room for the Blinded ghost, I hate that ghost.) So from this point on it acts as a unconsious trigger for fear when you hear the ambiant music and see a blood smear or scratch, you instantly ponder your chances of survival and ways out of the room. THIS feeling is what makes/breaks a horror game for me, not the wave after wave of zombies, not the unique looking thing that I have to deal with in a specific way, and not the puzzle blocking my path, pure primal terror is what gets my goat and my money for horror.
However, when you enter the shrine and theres a big-ass pool of blood on the ground infront of the alter, all I could think is 'I am royally boned'. This would come to be the first big ol' boss room with the lead researcher's ghost as the enemy. This is the setup that blood is bad, seeing blood or scratches, or something broken ment that it was getting more intense and that your butt is on the line if you enter/leave/pick something up in this room.
As the game progresses in Day 2 and 3, you see a lot more here and there (especially when its a scripted room for the Blinded ghost, I hate that ghost.) So from this point on it acts as a unconsious trigger for fear when you hear the ambiant music and see a blood smear or scratch, you instantly ponder your chances of survival and ways out of the room. THIS feeling is what makes/breaks a horror game for me, not the wave after wave of zombies, not the unique looking thing that I have to deal with in a specific way, and not the puzzle blocking my path, pure primal terror is what gets my goat and my money for horror.
Well I don't think John Carpenter is very good at making scary movies so there ya go.PieBrotherTB said:
Gore is never scary. Especially CG gore. At least in older horror movies, all the pointless gore I could appreciate from an effects standpoint. Now, who cares.
