Blog 4 !!! [school project]

Finally we're at entry 4/4 on my "history and cinematography of horror films and how the horror genre interprets and represents mental illness (+how horror movies effect the viewer)" project !

in this post i'll be tackling the psychological side of horror films.The main source i'm going to be using and pulling information from for this entry is "Horror Movies and Mental Health Conditions Through the Ages".

• A report of resource used + What you have learned about your topic

Horror films have always been a way for people to distance themselves a bit from average life for a short amount of time and engage in something thrilling or unnerving.Horror,and art in general seem to imitate life (in this case for horror movies,the public views on mentally ill people throughout time).A great early example of this is the 1920 horror movie The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,which shows the correlation between danger and psychiatric conditions.Aside from horror movies that focused on the more supernatural or other worldly side of things,most horror movies seem to highlight the danger or people.How they treat each other,interact one another,hurt each other,etc.The connection between mental illness and horror films roots back to the beginning of the horror film genre as a whole.The 1960s saw the release of alfred hitchcock's infamous 'psycho'.the movie follows a man with DID,who commits several murders.the representation of the condition in this movie was not medically accurate due to DID not being well researched at the time.Because of the non-accurate portrayal of the disorder many viewers thought the main character just had schizophrenia.

"Psycho portrayed a psychiatric condition coupled with a new, heightened level of violence on the silver screen, which perpetuated negative stereotypes of violence by psychiatric patients."

                                              - "Horror Movies and Mental Health Conditions Through the Ages".

In 1975 Don Mancini released the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.The film depicted life inside a psychiatric ward.One of the most reportedly frightening scenes in this movie is one A terrifying scene regarding the use of electro-convulsive therapy.This movie is notable for its writing and for the way it shifts the average evil madman trope into something more grounded and unnerving.

As the horror film genre evolves,so does its varying of 'good' representation.Throughout the 1980s-2000s horror movies mostly focused of deranged slashers,although some late 1990s-2000s movies did try to give the antagonist some humanity instead of boiling the character down to just being insane.

Small note on how horror movies effect the viewer

    "When we watch a horror movie, it stimulates the brain and it responds with the physical and emotional sensations we call fear. And believe it or not, for some people, this is a lot of fun.

After the initial shock of the scare has sunk into our brains, our higher thinking processes then kick in"

                     -What happens to your body when you get spooked?

   By Katherine Brownlowe, MD  Neuropsychiatrist, Clinical Associate Professor Ohio State Wexner Medical Center

While most people find horror movies disturbing and thrilling,others may find strange comfort in the macabre media.Different people react to stress and horror in varying ways,ranging from screaming or crying in fear to finding a deep comfort in the horrors.Overall watching horror films is stimulating both physically and mentally.

• What you have learned about yourself

Ive found out that 1930's horror films dont interest me and while i can appreciate the style and early ways of production for that time of film making,i much prefer the horror films of the 1980s-early 2000s

• What sources of research you used this week

 Horror Movies and Mental Health Conditions Through the Ages

What happens to your body when you get spooked?

• What’s next in your journey

- to do : (complete in person)printed out blog pages for project presentation on cardboard tri fold

• Pictures, vlogs, videos, transcripts, interviews

• MLA citation of your research

-Mancine, Ryley. “Horror Movies and Mental Health Conditions Through the Ages.” American Journal of Psychiatry Residents’ Journal, vol. 16, no. 1, Sept. 2020, p. 17. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp-rj.2020.160110.