LogFAQs > #965319023

plasmabeam posted...

I'm still waiting for a definition of "horror movie" we all can agree on.

In the previous topic, somebody said it's a movie that's "frightening," but that's way too subjective.

It was me! I don't know if one singular definition can exist. What I meant by a work should "attempt to be frightening" should not so much be seen from the audience's perspective, but from the intent of the author. Death of the author ensures not everyone is going to find the same things scary, and that's alright. At the same time, horror tends to target broader fears that many can relate to - death, deformation, existentialism, anxiety, depression, grief, torture, powerlessness - but most importantly, I think a sense of the unknown and unexplained plays a huge role in making something horror. The zombies make Train to Busan a horror movie because we struggle with what comes after death; if this mindless, hungering drone is what we become, the zombies become a threat because it's an undesirable outcome. That's the intent of the film - whether you personally find zombies scary anymore, or think they're totally overdone & overexposed is irrelevant. That's what I'm trying to get at when I say "attempt to be frightening".